THERE has been an impressive take up rate of electronic commerce by Australian businesses, the latest Yellow Pages Small Business Index has found.
But Communications Minister Richard Alston said half of the firms surveyed said they could not make use of e-commerce.
“Many will have valid reasons for their belief – e-commerce may simply not suit every business on every occasion,” Senator Alston said. “But Australian companies cannot afford to dismiss e-commerce out of hand.
“No business person wants to suddenly find their competitors have gained an edge from technology.
“The message for business people from today’s report is that they should, at the very least, carefully examine whether and how the Internet and e-commerce could benefit their business.”
Senator Alston said a high level of survey respondents expected no Y2K effect – 81 per cent of small businesses and 75 per cent of medium firms – and that virtually all business were now aware of the problem.
“It is good news if these businesses do not expect a Y2K problem as a result of having checked their computer and Y2K-affected systems,” he said. “It is bad news if these businesses have simply dismissed the problem.”
