Businesses embrace opportunities of the internet

By KEVIN TAYLOR

New Zealand businesses are flocking to the internet, a survey shows.

First figures from an internet survey commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Development were revealed at an e-commerce forum in Wellington yesterday.

Waikato University professor of management communications Shirley Leitch said that in the 21 months since the last ministry survey the use of the internet by businesses had risen sharply.

Of the firms surveyed with six or more staff, 56 per cent had their own website and 91 per cent used email.

Comparative figures between the two surveys are not yet available because the results for firms with five or fewer staff in the 1000-strong survey have not yet been compiled.

Three-quarters of firms with more than 50 full-time staff now have their own website and 95 per cent have a domain name, according to the survey.

"There are clear signs that e-commerce is becoming bedded in - it's no longer just emails," Leitch said.

The number of firms using e-commerce "often" or to the "maximum extent possible" had risen substantially.

Unsurprisingly, the survey showed almost all firms used their sites to advertise.

But only 11 per cent of websites could take payments online. Thirty-seven per cent could take orders and about 20 per cent allowed some form of secure transaction.

The full survey results, including the figures for small businesses, would be available in about a month.

* A new website, nzecommerce.co.nz, was launched at the conference. It replaces the Ecat (Electronic Commerce Action Team) website.

The new website will have information from the Ecat site, and has new resources for business.

The Ecat group was set up to support the Government's e-commerce strategy, boost electronic commerce and improve business's capabilities.

nzecommerce.co.nz