8166.0 - Summary of IT Use and Innovation in Australian Business, 2013-14 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 18/06/2015   
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INTERNET COMMERCE


Internet commerce is the term used in respect of the placement and receipt of orders via the internet. The ABS defines an order via the internet as a transaction where the commitment to purchase goods or services is made via the internet. The commitment to purchase is the agreement to purchase whether or not the payment is made via the internet. The scope of receiving orders is not limited to orders solely received from Australian households, businesses or government but also includes orders received from overseas customers. Income from the receipt of orders is referred to as internet income.

PLACING ORDERS

During the year ended 30 June 2014, results show over half of all businesses placed orders via the internet (56%).

Graph: proportion of businesses placing orders via the internet, by employment size, 2011-12 to 2013-14. The likelihood that a business placed orders via the internet increased with each successive employment size range.

Graph: proportion of businesses placing orders via the internet, by industry, 2013-14. Businesses in the Transport, postal and warehousing industry were the least likely to have placed orders via the internet, at 30%.

Businesses in the Information media and telecommunications industry were most likely to have placed orders for goods or services via the internet (76%). By comparison, 30% of businesses in the Transport, postal and warehousing industry placed orders via the internet.

RECEIVING ORDERS

Measures of receipt of orders via the internet exclude transactions where the commitment to purchase is not made via the internet. For example, regular orders made via the internet for goods or services, where the original commitment to purchase was made using other arrangements are excluded.

The proportion of businesses that received orders via the internet during 2013-14 was 33%, with income obtained from these orders totalling an estimated $267 billion.

Graph: proportion of businesses receiving orders via the internet, by employment size, 2011-12 to 2013-14. The likelihood that a business received orders via the internet increased with each successive employment size range.

Overall, the proportion of Australian businesses that received orders via the internet increased three percentage points between 2012-13 and 2013-14, from 30% in 2012-13 to 33% in 2013-14.

Graph: proportion of businesses receiving orders via the internet, by industry, 2013-14. This varied across industries, ranging from 17% to 60% - the highest being recorded by the Wholesale trade industry.

Businesses in Wholesale trade were the most likely have received orders via the internet during 2013-14 (60%). More than half of businesses in the Information media and telecommunications and the Manufacturing industries (both 52%) received orders via the internet. Less than one in five businesses in the Agriculture, forestry and fishing (19%) and the Health care and social assistance (17%) industries received orders via the internet.