MLA East Midlands urges museums to embrace the internet

Many people use the internet to purchase unusual and striking gifts from museum gift shops and, as a recently published report shows, e-commerce opportunities offer significant potential for museums to trade and market their attractions.

The report was commissioned by Museums, Libraries and Archives East Midlands (MLA East Midlands) as part of the ERDF-funded Museum 2 Business project and considers a range of opportunities for trading online, including merchandise, exhibition tickets, venue hire, and location hire for film/photographic shoots and images. The report also explores issues including profit versus sales, setup costs, sustainability, partnerships and consortia and skills.

One of the key findings of the report is the clear need to engage with the internet - whether as a marketing tool to reach new audiences or as a commercial tool to offer goods and services, as report author Selina Fellows commented, “The internet is a business tool for museums.  Any museum which is not actively engaged with the internet risks losing opportunities to raise their profile and therefore awareness and potential visitors to the collection – whether physical or virtual.  There is no other option than to engage with it.”

The report, executive summary and appendices are available to download from the
our work section of this website.