Many small retailers based in serviced office space are neglecting to use Twitter and other types of social media as part of their business strategies, according to the Centre for Retail Research.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, said that it was a “sharply segmented market”. He had noticed that it was larger retailers that were putting a lot of effort in social media.
Recent research from Virgin Media Business supports this assessment.
It found that out of the 500 retailers it surveyed, only nine per cent had used Twitter for business purposes.
However it did find that 36 per cent of businesses interviewed had used other social media websites like Facebook and blogs.
Professor Bamfield said: “It’s probably true that the smaller stores have not got on this bandwagon yet, but this may simply reflect the fact that they’re very busy, they don’t have the skills and they don’t see why they should bother.”
Professor Bamfield added that Facebook may be a more effective platform than Twitter for companies looking to develop a social media presence.
The Centre for Retail Research gives businesses and public-sector organisations authoritative research and consultancy on retail, financial services, service industries and training.
