If Tesco is at it then there’s a good chance it’s time for others to do the same. The supermarket giant has been working hard to expand its on-line business arms and this week comes news that it is about to launch a new property website venture.

Tesco has joined forces with estate agency Spicerhaart for a solely on-line project iSold.com. The estate agency service, which will not have a high street presence in the foreseeable future, will be aimed at buyers and sellers in the Bristol area.

It’s fair to suggest that Tesco’s new venture is further confirmation that on-line companies, whether service-based or ecommerce, continue to be the future of business in Britain. Well, that’s our opinion, in any case.

Another major high street retailer is aiming to grab their share of the on-line sales market. News has just been revealed that UK fashion retailer Gap is to launch an e-commerce store in the UK later this year.

The on-line store, which will cover Britain and nine other western European countries from a distribution base in the UK, will sell Gap-branded fashion items and its Banana Republic clothing.

Gap has already dipped its toes in the e-retail marketplace after debuting via major ecommerce retailer Asos in 2009. It clearly liked what it found and is now keen to expand its on-line sales.

So, another positive story in the fast-expanding world of on-line sales stores and ecommerce sites.

A new report brings further evidence that businesses are cutting their marketing budgets with more mainstream outlets, such as radio, TV and print, while aiming to build their on-line brand reputation. The joint research, by Econsultancy and Exact Target, estimates that there will be a 17% increase in digital marketing spending by the end of this year.

It’s thought that businesses are keen to direct their efforts into more on-line marketing strategies because they are cheaper than more traditional forms of advertising. It could also be that on-line marketing is more accessible and appears fresher and more exciting.

More than 70% of participants in the survey said they were increasing budgets for social media marketing through sites such as Facebook and Twitter, while 65% plan to increase their budget for on-site social media.

Other findings include:

* 41% of marketers plan to decrease spending on print and radio marketing in 2010.

* 64% of companies plan to increase budgets in SEO.

* 56% plan to increase budgets for mobile marketing.

* 54% plan to increase budgets for email marketing.

* 51% plan to increase budgets for paid search.

A survey has backed up the theory that if e-tailers are hoping to boost business then “discounted”, “free”, “free delivery” and “vouchers” are great keyword attractors.

The report by Hitwise looked at how searches for these promotion-type terms increased dramatically at period such as Christmas.

Interestingly it was also revealed that these kind of searches tended to be among more affluent on-line shoppers.

So, here’s a tip for on-line business: If you’re hoping to increase revenue, and especially during the festivities, why not try throwing in a few attractive freebies. Make sure your “free” and “promotion” keywords are easily searchable – and then keep track to find out if on-line interest/sales rise.

Twitter is the big buzz word at the moment, especially in the world of on-line business marketing. But perhaps you are still not convinced about the values of this social media network. Here we bring you some of the reasons why we believe tweeting is becoming even more important for your on-line company, whether you’re selling products or services.

1. Twitter lists: The Lists gadget could be the key to getting your tweets to appear all over the web. Better still, if you can get tweets to appear on relevant/niche websites and blogs then you’ll be preaching to an already converted audience. Ideal is you’re competing against other companies to sell better/cheaper products or services.

2. It’s an open market: Social media is an “open” place where messages are shared among a range of sites including Facebook. Twitter is the way of getting a message out but it’s likely that other people, using other social media networks, will also end up reading the message, too. An analogy would be: Woman chats to friend she meets in the street about a new dry cleaning service she thinks is very good. The friend then tells another woman at the school gates while picking up her child, which is also overheard by a parent standing nearby, who goes home and tells her husband. Just imagine how this type of chat would spread on twitter and social media networks.

3. A passion: One of the key aspects of Twitter is that it links people with niche interests. While Twitter will bring you lots of random traffic it is also very good at relaying traffic from people who are passionate about your topic or subject, too. If you have successfully tweeted about a reputable product or service to sell then your aim is to get people retweeting – that is, tweeting about your tweet. If people retweet then it shows they like your product or service and they are willing to vouch for it on the open web. Everyone likes a recommendation, don’t they?