Adoption of Internet technologies and e-commerce by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Western Australia

Following failures in the 'business to consumer' (B2C) market, 'business to business' (B2B) sector is now seen as offering high growth potential, the assumption being that B2B transactions can take place vertically throughout a supply chain as well as horizontally across similar sized businesses. But very little is known about the number of businesses that are online, their level of online business activities or their experience with Internet technologies. This paper benchmarks the level of adoption of Internet and related technologies by small and medium businesses in Western Australia in 2001. Australia has a high level of Internet uptake and, in many respects, Australian results will be applicable to several OECD (Organisation For Economic Co-Operation And Development) countries. A study of 193 businesses in a metropolitan City in Australia showed a moderate to high level of computer usage and Internet connectivity. However the proportion of businesses actively using the Internet for business transactions or generating business through a web presence was significantly less when compared to other conventional tools such as telephone and fax. The Internet was used mostly for information gathering. Factors such as the size or the nature of business did not seem to impact on the level of online transactions. Business owners were also skeptical about the applicability of online transactions to their business.