The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released their yearly summary of IT use and innovation in Australian business last week with it showcasing how Australian businesses have taken to the internet to do business.
The report revealed that around 55% of of Australia’s 770,000 businesses lacked any sort of online presence and are potentially missing out on the billions of dollars of trade generated online each year.
It’s especially interesting considering that the same report indicated that 91% of business have an active broadband connection.
The report showed the amount generated from the sale of goods or services via the internet in Australia increased by 25% in 2010-2011 from $189 billion to $237 billion in 2011-12.
This report only counts actual orders via the internet where there was a commitment for purchase and doesn’t touch on the untold sum that online marketing plays in promoting Australian businesses.
No matter how you look at it, this is a growing market that you cannot afford to ignore especially with the ease nowadays of setting up a website running blog software such as WordPress or even simply setting up a social media page.
Having an online presence is an aspect of your business that you cannot afford to neglect as it can and will cost you business in the long run.
As traditional business adapt to the internet business model, we can hope to see more Australian businesses being represented online to complement traditional brick and mortar stores.
Watching Australian businesses such as Kogan thrive in the online marketplace should be a wake up call for any sceptic of the power of online businesses.
How have you and your business adopted to using the internet in day to day business?
Check out the full ABS report here