Have UK SMEs settled for sub-par internet connectivity as the norm? asks Zen Internet who carried out a national survey of SME’s internet usage
UK, 26 November 2024: A recent study has revealed that an overwhelming 94% of small businesses in the UK experience poor internet connection while 91% 1 encounter internet outages; and a staggering quarter of businesses don’t have any backup in place if internet connection goes down.
The survey by Zen, which included responses from 500 SME decision-makers across the UK, highlighted several key findings:
- While seven in 10 (72%) of SMEs agreed3 that having failover internet connectivity is critical to business operations, nearly a quarter (23%) don’t have any backup in place to support continued operations during an internet outage.
- Having no back up in place rises to two fifths (38%) in businesses between one and nine employees, leaving these companies more susceptible to the productivity challenges and hidden costs that come with an internet outage.
- Almost half (48%) of those surveyed agreed3 that the internet performance at their business has negatively impacted productivity, and almost two-thirds (65%) said they find connectivity issues within their business stressful4.
- On average, SMEs could be losing up to three hours per month in productivity due to internet outages or poor internet connection.
Commenting on the findings, Dean Burdon, Customer Experience Director at Zen, said:
“The investment in new infrastructure is crucial; however, many businesses still rely on outdated copper networks, which have a higher fault rate. For businesses heavily dependent on consistent uptime, it’s essential to consider the cost-benefit of investing in backup systems, as well as using a reliable internet provider, versus the potential financial impact of downtime. Businesses rely on internet connectivity for everything from processing payments to operating security systems – the cost of outage is likely to massively outweigh the cost of having a backup in place.”
The impact on Customer Experience – 40% of respondents agree3 that the internet performance at their business has negatively impacted customer experience.
The ramifications of unreliable internet extend beyond internal operations and productivity, and significantly affect customer satisfaction. Zen’s survey found that the top five ways that poor internet performance at businesses has impacted customer experience, are:
- Issues with processing online orders or payments (45%)
- Longer wait times for loading product images or website content (45%)
- Slower response times for online inquiries or customer service requests (42%)
- Difficulty processing in person card payments with card machine ‘out of range’ (42%)
- Difficulty accessing or navigating the company website (37%)
The impact on Business Operations – 92% of respondents said5 that business tasks become challenging when they experience internet issues.
The top tasks affected by internet outages SMEs highlighted as damaging to their business were:
- Issues accessing cloud-based services such as voice (54%)
- Difficulties with online banking transactions (47%)
- Not taking card payments (39%)
- Being unable to generate quotes and invoices (33%)
Zen’s Dean Burdon, added:
“For the UK to enhance productivity and ensure a positive customer experience, it must confront these connectivity challenges. Reliable internet is fundamental to all aspects of business operation, from attracting customers to streamlining service delivery.
“While internet technology is becoming more and more reliable, the simple fact is that it’s not bullet proof and sometimes things can go wrong due to external factors such as weather or physical damage to cables. That’s why service providers have solutions in place such as 4G Backup that will ensure continued operations should your internet service drop out during business hours.
“Zen’s 4G Backup uses multi-network SIM cards enabling customers to connect to one of three major networks depending on the network availability at location. This means businesses can have access to the strongest available signal, regardless of geographic location enhancing reliability and minimising downtime.”
For more information, visit: Navigating business challenges for business resilience (zen.co.uk).
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About Zen:
Zen Internet is the largest B Corporation certified telecommunications and network connectivity provider in the UK. Zen provides a full range of broadband, data, voice, hosting and infrastructure services to homes and businesses across the country. The company also delivers complex network and cloud solutions for a wide range of large businesses and corporate customers through its strategic partnerships with AWS and Cisco.
As the only Which? recommended provider for broadband for three consecutive years, Zen is renowned for delivering excellent customer service and technical support and has been awarded Best Broadband ISP in PC Pro’s Technology Excellence Awards for 20 consecutive years. Other accolades include Sustainability Winner in Comms National Awards 2021 and Highly Commended in CRN Tech Impact Awards as Sustainable Vendor of the Year.
As a proud member of the B Corp community – balancing profit with people and the planet – Zen is carbon neutral and is working towards achieving Net Zero status by 2040. The company is also a recommended Best Buy in Ethical Consumer’s latest guide to broadband.
Zen has offices in Rochdale and employs more than 500 people. The organisation puts great emphasis on maintaining a people-centric business and was named a Great Place to Work® in November 2021 and again in November 2023.
About the research
The research was conducted by Censuswide with 500 18+ Decision Makers in Businesses with 1-249 emps who are responsible for connectivity between 02.05.2024 – 10.05.2024. Censuswide abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles and are members of The British Polling Council
1”Often” and “occasionally” answers combined
2”Good “ and “Excellent” answers combined
3”Strongly agree” and “somewhat agree” answers combined
4”Very stressful” and “quite stressful” answers combined
5Inverse of “N/A there are no such business tasks”
Photo by Studio Republic on Unsplash
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