Australian Businesses Not Online

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Alarming results from the latest MYOB Business Monitor Survey indicate that Australian businesses are slow to get online.

Just 35% of Australian businesses have any website presence at all, indicates the most recent MYOB Business Monitor survey.  And only 18% engage with social media via platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.   When it comes to writing e-newsletters or blogs, a mere 13% exploit these channels.

“Social media has received a lot of hype in Australia over the last 12 months,” said Tim Reed, MYOB CEO, “so it’s quite interesting to see such a low adoption rate of these online platforms by Australian businesses.  Rather than being well established, the results indicate that online marketing is just emerging in Australia.”

The survey also discovered that:

• 40% of businesses in West Australia have a website, with 25% using this site for marketing and sales/e-commerce purposes.  However only 32% of Queensland businesses utilise a website, with 17% using it for sales and marketing.
• 22% of NSW business owners belong to online business networks, compared to 11% in West Australia.
• South Australian businesses are more likely to use social media to promote their businesses at 27%, compared to NSW businesses at 15%.

Interestingly enough, the survey revealed that  female business owners are slightly more online savvy than their male counterparts.  39% of female business owners have a website, while only 32% of male business owners do.  Female businesses owners are also more likely to utilise social media for business promotion (20% of the ladies, compared to 17% of men).

I guess that means it’s time for me to publish this story and Tweet about it!

Article by Elisabeth Lambert

Elisabeth is an editor and content creator for The Media Pad, publishers of Power Retail. As a writer and blogger, she is rapt that she is able to channel her passion for online retailing into Power Retail. She also loves writing about rugby, pop culture, travel and anything baby related. Having spent most of the last decade in Japan, Elisabeth still immerses herself in as much Japanese crazy as possible, and when she has time, Elisabeth likes to cook, ski and train for triathlons.

One Comment

• • 
  • Simon
  • 30th September

  Working with many retailers of all sizes, the challenge they face is finding the value in creating a online store.

  Once they understand the multi-channel approach and how a online store can help acquire new customers they are enthusiastic to increase their communication to attract new customers and increase sales.

  Reply