Members of a traders' association attending a special meeting were told to start selling their goods online if they wanted to stay competitive.

Leaders of The Lanes Business Network in Brighton teamed up with Hove-based software company Dreamteam Design to promote e-commerce.

Dozens of businesses attended the event, called Everything You Need to Know About Selling Online, at the Mint Restaurant in Meeting House Lane.

A slump in consumer spending on the High Street over the past 12 months has contrasted sharply with a massive rise in internet shopping.

Yet only two per cent of shops in Brighton and Hove sell online.

Malcolm Duffitt, managing director of Dreamteam Design, outlined every aspect of e-commerce from the different software available to taking payments.

Speaking after the event he said: "We had watched various attempts at providing information about e-commerce to retailers by way of seminars and conferences that invariably turn into a sales pitch. We already know retailers are at different stages of e-commerce whether still thinking about it, or whether they already have an online store and therefore every retail business has slightly different requirements.

"We educate our customers on a daily basis, not only about the merits of e-commerce but in how best to approach selling online for their own, unique business.

"This seminar was an altruistic opportunity to share our ten years' experience of ecommerce with Brighton's retailers, which we hope gives retail-owners the information they need from which to make an informed decision about how e-commerce best suits their needs."

Margaret Hodge, the Minister of State for Industry in the Regions, Department of Trade & Industry, sent a statement to the Lanes Business Network encouraging those present to "learn from those who have already taken the plunge and to pick up best practice" and to "make the most of the opportunity" presented by e-commerce.

She said: "While local shops can offer a different retail experience that attracts customers, they cannot ignore the fact that their competitor nowadays might not be in the same street or town, and may not even be in the country. Nor can they ignore that it is increasingly easy for customers to seek out products and services via the internet."

Dreamteam Design now plans to engage with regional government support agencies like Sussex Enterprise to help fund more e-commerce initiatives.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics for 2003-4 showed internet sales rose by 81 per cent to £71.1 billion, having doubled in the previous year.

The Interactive Media in Retail Group started tracking internet sales in April 2000 and claim they have gone up by 1,500 per cent compared to an increase in total UK retail sales of 20 per cent. The most common purchases were holidays, videos and DVDs, CDs and event tickets.