Speaking Sensis

So you think office workers sit at their computers writing Word docs all day? Forget that. According to the latest Sensis® eBusiness Report, we’re all going shopping!

There’s something distinctly Escher-like about the Sensis® eBusiness Report.

Okay, so comparing the mind-bending explorations of the impossible created by Dutch artist Maurits Cornelius Escher with an Internet survey might sound a stretch (although the cover of the Sensis® eBusiness Report does have a freaky picture on it).

But, there is method in my madness.

The thing is, the longer you look at the Sensis® eBusiness Report, the more interesting little tidbits pop out at you.

Just like Escher, eh?

Every year around August, the Sensis® eBusiness Report comes out and gets its fair share of headlines – usually focussing on one or two key observations.

This year was no different. The main focus of reporting was on the uptake of mobile data services by Australian consumers.

But some other really interesting findings hit me as I stared at the report recently. They relate to the way eBusiness has evolved in Australia.

The rise and rise of eBusiness
First up, it’s clear that eBusiness has had a real growth spurt over the last two years.

There’s four distinct activities related to eBusiness measured by the Sensis® eBusiness Report: two (research and buy) sit on the ‘buy side’, while two (sell and promote) sit on the ‘sell side’.

And, as the table below shows, all of these activities have really packed on the muscle over the last two years: albeit at different rates. In fact, researching potential purchases has reached the point of near-ubiquity in Australia, with the buying and selling activities not far behind them.

Businesses placing almost a third of their orders online
The second observation is that the SMEs who have cottoned onto online ordering are using the web for an average almost a third (31%) of their orders.

Ponder that for a moment. 78% of Australia’s SMEs are placing, on average, almost a third of their orders online.

That’s staggering and it underpins just how far eBusiness has come in this country.

Having said that, it does look like online’s share of orders may have hit a bit of a ceiling. While the number of SMEs placing orders online has grown rapidly since 2007, the average percentage of orders they’re placing (31%) has remained static.

Around the world? Nup… around the corner
One final observation. Back when the web was a toddler, the talk was of globalisation. If I recall, the thinking went something like ‘anyone could sell anywhere so everyone will sell everywhere’.

And while the web certainly has given birth to a new generation of multinationals, it pans out (perhaps not surprisingly) that the overwhelming bulk of businesses remain focussed on their neighbourhoods.

In fact, it turns out that two thirds of SMEs mainly sell to local customers – in the same city or town. 11% mainly sell elsewhere in the state, 12% interstate and 4% overseas.

So there you have it. A growth spurt in the uptake of eBusiness; a high (although static) share of purchases being placed online and a real focus on the customers just around the corner.

The Internet may not have changed the face of business in the way we once believed, but it sure has changed the way we do business.

Anyway, enough said. I’m off shopping (click, click, click).

Some great commentary was generated by the recent Sensis® e-Business Report. As a small sample of the many discussions occurring in both main and social media, here’s a couple of articles published over the last day or so.

Peter Switzer… “Don’t get left behind online”

Claire Heaney of the Herald Sun… “Businesses flocking to technology“

Well, it’s that time of the year again. The 14th annual Sensis® e-Business Report has hit the shelves. The report continues to track the technological journey of Australia’s small businesses, while providing some insight into consumer adoption of technology as well.

This year, we’ve extend our coverage of mobiles and, I have to say, the results are really interesting.

Check out these resources:

An overview of the latest report from report author, Christena Singh. Includes video if you’re a fan of the moving picture.

A look at the rapid growth of the mobile internet. Can you believe that half of Australia’s young adults have already used it?

For a free copy of the latest report, it will be live here during the day on 20 August.

Sensis has been releasing an annual e-Business Report since 1995 looking at how businesses and now consumers utilise technology.  With the 2009 report just released, report author Christena Singh tells us how things have changed …

I don’t know about you, but I find it pretty mind-boggling to go back to our 1995 report and see that 48 per cent of businesses had no intention of getting on to the internet, mostly because they saw no business use for it!

Back in 1995 Sensis released its first “Special Report into Technology” which looked at how Australia’s small and medium businesses were using computers and the like.  Actually, it was pretty much just computers, and a bit of internet.  There was no talk of e-business in those days.  “The Internet” had a capital “I”, because it was kind of special, and maybe a bit intimidating!

Move forward to 2009… the internet doesn’t get a capital these days!  Now we see 97 per cent of Australia’s SMEs with computers, and despite what they might have thought back in 1995, 95 per cent of them are on the internet.  Of those, 96 per cent have a broadband connection.

And businesses certainly have found a use for it – many in fact!  While e-mail remains the number one use for businesses at 97 per cent, other top uses include looking for information on products and services (92 per cent), getting reference information and research data (91 per cent), internet banking (86 per cent) and access online directories, such as our beloved Yellow Pages® Online (83 per cent).

Now we see some 74 per cent of SMEs using the internet to buy goods and services, and 56 per cent using it to sell their products and services – with both of these applications growing further over the past year.

But for me the most interesting finding this year for businesses is that 26 per cent of Australian consumers are now accessing the internet on their mobile phones.  If you look at the top three mobile internet uses – looking for information on products and services, using social networking sites and looking for suppliers of products and services – it is interesting to note that two of these top three are commercial-based activities.  Definitely something for businesses to be thinking about when planning their business strategies for 2009 – and beyond!