According to MYOB, the number of Australian businesses online grew since last November, with Western Australia named as the state with the greater percentage of businesses with a website.

The number of Australian businesses with an online presence has grown from 35% last November to 39%, found the latest MYOB Business Monitor Online Special Report.  According to the study, Western Australia leads the way with 43% of its businesses having a website, followed by New South Wales with 41%, Victoria with 40%, Queensland with 39%, Tasmania with 35% and finally South Australia with only 34% of its businesses online.

According to the report, more Australian businesses are also using social media to market their products and services. Leading the way for social media use are Victorian businesses with 25% followed by Queensland with 24%, on the other end are South Australian Businesses with 14%.

The report also finds that more businesses with a website had an increase in revenue (32%) than those without (22%). Businesses with a website also have a greater intent to grow their activity (58%) than those without (49%).

“It’s great to see the numbers of Aussie businesses getting online increase and even more pleasing to see that 32% of those businesses with a website are selling products and services online,” said Tim Reed, MYOB CEO.

Still, the majority of Australian businesses still don’t have an online presence and aren’t taking advantage of the internet to grow, a scenario that it is still more alarming in the cases of South Australia and Tasmania where 66% and 65% of businesses don’t have a website.

The report also found that 45% of the businesses without an online presence don’t have the intention of creating a website and 26% believes a website won’t bring them any benefit.

“These findings indicate there are still a large number of Aussie business owners who are not yet convinced of the benefits of getting online,” stated Tim Reed.

“I’m concerned for Australia’s future international competitiveness if business owners don’t do more to embrace the online economy. It’s important Aussie business owners take action now to make sure they don’t lose market share to global competitors,” he added.

Global competitors that don’t seem to alarm Australian business owners with 47% of them stating they don’t feel threatened by global online commerce and with 33% of them stating they don’t believe the NBN will increase the amount of global internet competition.

“Overall the report card has seen a positive shift in the numbers of businesses getting online but it is very concerning to see that nearly half of our local businesses are not focused on the threat posed by international competitors online,” concluded Tim Reed.

Other findings

The report finds that those businesses more likely to sell products and services online are in Retail, Hospitality, Manufacturing and Wholesale. The business owners more likely to create a website for their business are those between the ages of 18 and 39 who own a start-up.

According to the report 62% of businesses are using online banking, 36% pay suppliers bills online but only 19% are accepting online payments.