The Government will begin a new national strategy designed to encourage small and medium sized firms to do more of their business online in the new year.

A key part of the strategy will be a review of the legal framework to determine how it acts as a barrier to e-commerce. A marketing campaign will also be launched to encourage small business to use information communication technologies (ICTs), according to tender documents published by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment recently.

The tender shows that a Government project group has already found that a lack of awareness and uncertainty about the legal framework is undermining confidence on the part of business and consumers to undertake online trading. It recommended undertaking a detailed study to determine which aspects of the legal framework are of most concern to people.

Following the results of the study into the barriers posed by the legal framework in Ireland the Government plans to launch an information campaign to build awareness of the legal basis for conducting online trading. This would "reassure those businesses that have been reluctant to make optimum use of ICT", says an outline of the strategy.

The strategy would also encourage greater consumer internet usage by reassuring consumers who have been reluctant to buy online because of legal uncertainties, it says.

The tender for consultants to perform the review outlines that they should gather more information on: the level of knowledge among businesses about the law applicable to online trading; trustmark schemes; concerns of consumers (whether or not they have bought online); and the sources of information that businesses use to find out about the law for online trading.

Almost half of Irish people have access to the web in their home and the uptake of broadband services should result in an increase in e-commerce.

But new figures from ComReg show the level of e-commerce has been static for the past six months, with 42 per cent of people making purchases over the web.

The most popular products and services purchased over the internet by Irish consumers are currently airline tickets, concert tickets and books, says ComReg.

Christmas is traditionally the busiest time for online retailers. The consultancy Jupiter said this week that online sales in the US alone would total $21.6 billion in November and December. This is a 9 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2003.