BUSINESS USE OF IT

Business Use of Information Technology, selected indicators(a), 2006 - 07 and 2007 - 08
			2006 - 07	2007 - 08
Estimated number of businesses(b)		'000	708	711
Businesses with:
	Internet access	%	86.5	86.8
	web presence	%	33.9	36.3
Businesses with Internet access and broadband as main type of connection		%	90.5	93.5
Businesses which:
	placed orders via the Internet or web	%	39.8	42.7
	received orders via the Internet or web	%	23.3	23.7
Internet income(c)		$b	67.6	81.0
(a) Proportions are of all businesses.
(b) Business counts are provided for contextual information only, please refer to Explanatory Notes 20 and 21.
(c) Please refer to Explanatory Note 17.

The proportion of businesses with Internet access remained relatively constant between 2006-07 and 2007-08. However, an increase was observed in the proportion of businesses with Internet access and broadband as the main connection type, from 90% to 94%.

The proportion of businesses with a web presence increased slightly, from 34% in 2006-07 to 36% in 2007-08.

During the year ended 30 June 2008, 43% of Australian businesses reported placing orders via the Internet or web for goods or services, a 3 percentage point increase from 2006-07. While the proportion of businesses reporting receiving orders via the Internet or web remained relatively steady, the income resulting from orders received over the Internet or web increased by approximately $13 billion, a 20% increase from 2006-07.

Business Use of Information Technology, selected indicators, by employment size(a), 2007 - 08
			0-4 persons	5-19 persons	20-199 persons	200 or more persons	Total
Estimated number of businesses(b)		'000	451	197	60	3	711
Businesses with:
	Internet access	%	82.8	92.3	97.5	99.3	86.8
	web presence	%	26.8	48.3	65.4	95.8	36.3
Businesses with Internet access and broadband as main type of connection		%	92.2	95.4	95.9	99.6	93.5
Businesses which:
	placed orders via the Internet or web	%	36.9	50.5	59.3	70.7	42.7
	received orders via the Internet or web	%	20.5	28.6	31.6	28.6	23.7
Internet income(c)		$b	^9.2	^11.6	^19.1	41.1	81.0
^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
(a) Proportions are of all businesses in each employment size category.
(b) Business counts are provided for contextual information only, please refer to Explanatory Notes 20 and 21.
(c) Please refer to Explanatory Note 17.

Internet access

Almost 87% of businesses reported having Internet access during the year ended 30 June 2008. The likelihood of a business using the Internet was greater for each successive employment size range. For example, during the year ended 30 June 2008 almost all businesses with 200 or more persons employed accessed the Internet, compared to 83% of businesses with 0-4 persons employed.

Almost all businesses within the Professional, scientific and technical services, Financial and insurance services, and, Information media and telecommunications industries reported Internet access (all 98%). The industry with the lowest proportion of businesses accessing the Internet was Accommodation and food services, although this was over 70%.


Broadband use

Businesses with Internet access were asked to identify the main type of Internet connection used as at the end of June 2008. The ABS defines broadband as an 'always on' Internet connection with an access speed equal to or greater than 256kbps. Broadband was identified as the main connection type by 94% of Australian businesses with Internet access.

For businesses with Internet access, broadband as the main type of Internet connection was reasonably homogenous across employment size groups, ranging from 92% for businesses with 0-4 persons employed to almost 100% for businesses with 200 or more persons employed.

Broadband as the main connection type was most prevalent among businesses using the Internet in Financial and insurance services (99%) and least common in Other services (88%).


Web presence

A web presence was reported by 36% of Australian businesses as at 30 June 2008; this includes businesses with a website, home page or presence on another entity's website.

A strong association exists between the employment size of a business and the likelihood that the business has a web presence. For example, at the end of June 2008, 96% of businesses with 200 or more persons employed reported a web presence, compared with 27% of businesses with 0-4 persons employed.

At the end of June 2008, Information media and telecommunications had the highest proportion of businesses with a web presence (62%), followed by Wholesale trade (53%). The lowest occurrence of web presence was reported by businesses within the Construction industry (15%).


Internet commerce

The 2007-08 BCS measured the proportion of Australian businesses using the Internet or web to place orders and/or receive orders (i.e. the incidence of Internet commerce). For receipt of orders, an estimate of income resulting from these orders was obtained. Please refer to Explanatory Notes 16 and 17 for the definitions used and information about estimation of Internet income.


Placing orders

The proportion of all businesses placing orders via the Internet or web during 2007-08 was 43%.

As with most other indicators of IT use, there continues to be an apparent relationship between business size (based on employment) and the indicator. For example, during the year ended 30 June 2008, 37% of all businesses with 0-4 persons employed placed orders via the Internet or web, whereas 71% of those with 200 or more persons employed placed orders.

The Information media and telecommunications and Professional, scientific and technical services industries had the highest proportions of businesses which placed orders via the Internet or web (61% and 60% respectively). By contrast, Transport, postal and warehousing had the lowest proportion of businesses placing orders over the Internet or web (28%).


Receiving orders

Measures of receipt of orders via the Internet or web exclude transactions where the initial commitment to purchase is not made via the Internet or web. For example, regular orders made via the Internet for goods or services for which the original commitment to purchase was made using other arrangements are excluded. The proportion of all businesses reporting receipt of orders via the Internet or web during 2007-08 was 24%, with income obtained from these orders totalling an estimated $81 billion.

The proportion of businesses receiving orders via the Internet or web increased successively through the three smaller employment size ranges. However, unlike for other IT use indicators, this pattern does not hold for larger businesses. The proportion for receipt of orders was highest for businesses with 20-199 persons employed (32%), whereas the proportion for businesses with 200 or more persons employed was 29% (the same as for businesses with 5-19 persons employed).

Businesses in the Information media and telecommunications and Wholesale trade industries were the most likely to receive orders via the Internet or web for their goods or services (41% and 40% respectively). The industry with the lowest proportion of businesses that received orders via the Internet or web was Health care and social assistance (11%).

These results suggest that the uptake of Internet commerce (i.e placing and receiving orders via the Internet or web) is closely linked with the nature of business activity within an industry division.

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