Facebook is one platform you should never ignore, and Yomdel is able to extend its managed live chat service to your page. With over two billion active users worldwide, its dominance in the social media sector is hard to deny. As of the end of the year, there were 65 million business pages on Facebook, all hoping to grab the attention of its average 1.37 billion daily users.

By Andy Soloman, CEO, Yomdel

It's that time again! Another cracking Competition Tuesday with £1,000 worth of live chat prizes to one lucky winning ecommerce business. All you have to do is visit and like the Yomdel Facebook page and then complete this simple sentence:

Having survived the widely anticipated Mayan apocalypse  and, I assume, any holiday excesses, we can now safely turn our minds to the dawn of 2013. Let’s be grateful we’re still here and instead of wallowing in guilt-driven detox diets why not focus on four steps a successful ecommerce businesses can take to drive growth into the New Year and beyond.

It's not that customers have suddenly become impatient, but our instant social media and other communication channels are creating a sense of expectation. If companies fail to engage quickly, openly and honestly they are leaving themselves open to, at best, criticism, and at worst, unhappy customers who swiftly head off to the competition.