BT study highlights Social Commerce Software

VIRGINIA, USA: SMBLive, a leading provider of social commerce software for SMBs, on Thursday released a British Telecom (BT) business case study highlighting the extraordinary success that BT has had in bringing SMBLive's 1StoreFront software -- branded Tradespace by BT -- to market.

1StoreFront is a one-stop, easy-to-use solution that demystifies online marketing for SMBs and enables them to promote their products and services, socialize with customers, and transact commerce on the Web. Large broadband providers, such as BT, license, brand and deliver 1StoreFront to their SMB customers as a means to build trusted relationships with SMBs and to grow their own businesses.

"All of our research highlighted a simple fact: most SMBs are overwhelmed by the sheer number and complexity of online marketing options," said Ivan Croxford, General Manager, BT Tradespace. "Some SMBs have created a MySpace page, many have hired out the development of a Web site, but everyone is confused by online marketing. How do I get my business to be featured on page one of a Google search? How do I manage Google Adwords? How do I establish secure online credit card processing? How do I get listed on various online marketplaces without having to establish a profile on every single one?"

BT turned to SMBLive with an urgent interest in finding a way to help their millions of SMB customers more effectively conduct business online. Once BT made the SMBLive solution available, small businesses began signing up in large numbers.

"We had 200 SMBs sign up by the end of February," added Croxford. "Sixty days later, 2,500 SMBs had signed up and were actively using it. The amazing thing is, we hadn't spent anything on advertising! People had just found the site on the Web, signed up and started using it."

One year later, BT Tradespace has over 100,000 registered businesses using the software to grow their businesses. "We've exceeded all of our first year goals," continued Croxford. "We've validated the idea, proved out the solution and achieved healthy adoption."