Technology adoption among Australian small and businesses continues to lag behind its APAC counterparts, according to CPA Australia’s latest small business survey.
Aussie small businesses lag behind their neighbours on three main fronts:
- Online revenue – Only 39 per cent of Australian small businesses generated more than 10 per cent of their revenue from online sales compared to 96 per cent of small businesses in Mainland China.
- Social media usage – Australia’s small businesses ranked the second least likely to use social media for business purposes, well behind other markets that include Mainland China and Vietnam.
- Adoption of new digital payment options – Australia’s small businesses ranked second last in receiving more than 10 per cent of sales through new digital and payment technologies such as PayPal and Apple Pay (49 per cent compared to 96 per cent of Mainland Chinese small businesses).
Tech investment isn’t improving profitability
One probable reason for Australian SMEs’ low investment in technology is the poor short-term returns.
Only 26 per cent of Australian small businesses reported that their technology investments last year improved their profitability – the second-lowest result among the surveyed markets.
In contrast, 88 per cent of Vietnamese small businesses saw profitability gains from their 2024 technology investments.
Compounding this matter is the finding that only 18 per cent of small businesses sought advice from IT consultants or specialists in their technology adoption efforts.
Laissez-faire attitude towards cybersecurity
Australian business owners also lag behind their global neighbours on cybersecurity. Only 39 per cent of them have proactively reviewed their cybersecurity measures within the past six months, compared to the survey average of 50.8 per cent.
This puts Australian small-business owners as the least proactive nation of business owners when it comes to cybersecurity measures.
But there could be a good reason for this – of all the APAC countries surveyed in this report, Australia’s business owners were the least likely to have experienced a cybersecurity incident over the past year. In fact, just 8.7 per cent of surveyed businesses said they lost time and/or money due to a cybersecurity incident in the past 12 months, compared to a high regional average of 39.6 per cent. Perhaps the slower uptake of tech among Australians is actually to their advantage.
This comparatively lower risk of cybersecurity incidents seems to be impacting Australian business owner attitudes: 23 per cent of Aussie small businesses expect a cyberattack this year, compared to the survey average of 41 per cent.
“Australian businesses have fallen well behind our friends in Asia and a comprehensive plan to urgently address this is needed from the next government,” said CPA Australia’s Business Investment and International Lead, Gavan Ord.
“The Singaporean government recently committed $150 million to support businesses adopt AI… . Our research from Singapore shows a link between the government’s announcements on funding and increased technology adoption by small businesses. The investment from the Singaporean government is paying off.”
