The charity, which has 400 high-street outlets nationwide, is to soft-launch a site this week that reflects Help the Aged's new-look branding, which was introduced earlier this year.
According to Alison McCormack, head of new media at Help the Aged, the roll-out of the site will lay the groundwork for a major revamp of the charity's digital services.
McCormack said the site's content management system would let the charity explore digital platforms that would make its services more accessible to the community, such as iTV.
She explained: "The web site launch is the first part of a long-term strategy to upgrade e-commerce and increase the take-up of digital media among older groups. We have looked at how they will access it and we will hopefully extend onto different platforms if there is enough demand. Interactive TV is a friendly technology."
While charities such as Red Cross and Comic Relief have used interactive TV ads, Help the Aged would be one of the first UK charities to launch a permanent iTV service. According to McCormack, the charity's immediate plans include ramping up its e-commerce and information services.
The charity, which generated £70.1 million in overall income for the year ended 30 April 2001, hopes to see online donations increase by about 70 per cent by 2003 and a further 35 per cent by 2004.
To promote the new-look site, McCormack said the charity is set to distribute promotional posters and postcards to each of its high-street stores.
Developed by e-business consultancy cScape, the site (www.helptheaged.org.uk) will allow users to focus on regionalised and local Government content, which is split into four separate segments for users in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
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