According to the latest research by MYOB Business Monitor, Australian businesses are losing the big race to get online. This report shows that 65% of Australian businesses don’t have a website and, because of that, are coming behind their global competitors.
Two thirds of Australian businesses are not present on the world wide web, reveals the latest research by MYOB Business Monitor, thus not claiming their share of the world’s online shopping market.
“This Christmas saw local retailers face a perfect storm as a strong Aussie dollar and higher consumer confidence in online shopping led more Australians to purchase goods online,” said CEO MYOB Tim Reed.
“The market is changing and we encourage business owners to act to make the most of the new conditions, because their competitors are no longer just in their local area.”
The MYOB Business Monitor also found that 30% of businesses with an online presence experienced growth over the last 12 months, while only 23% of businesses without a website reported growth in the same time frame.
“It is no longer effective to just place an add and hope that the phone will ring. The bar has been raised as more consumers become used to new technology,” stated Mr Reed.
Despite the Government’s multi-billion dollar investment in the National Broadband Network, it seems that business owners don’t know what to do with it. The fact is that Australian businesses are falling behind in the race to get their online market share and risk loosing customers to global sites like Amazon.
“We urge Australian businesses to get online and start learning,” concluded Mr Reed.
Other key findings
The MYOB Business Monitor research also found that businesses launched more than ten years ago are less likely to have a website.
Businesses in manufacturing and wholesale are the most likely to have an online presence, while businesses in agriculture, forestry and fishing are the less likely.
While 57% of business owners think that the internet is a critical channel for marketing, 44% of them think that they will increase their revenues if they used the internet for marketing.
