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Case Studies by State

Advancing with e-commerce

Early in 2001 the National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE) commissioned professional services firm Ernst & Young to examine small businesses in Australia that had introduced e-commerce into their operations. The purpose of the project was to demonstrate the business benefits of e-commerce and assist small business to undertake their own cost-benefit analysis of e-commerce. The result of the project is 34 case studies in which small businesses, from a wide range of industries around Australia, share their experiences with e-commerce.

To provide more information to small business about the costs and benefits of adopting e-commerce, these case studies show how some small businesses introduced e-commerce, overcame challenges and enhanced their profitability. The case studies were not designed to represent all e-commerce activity in Australian small businesses.

The report summarises the case studies by looking at the common e-commerce experiences of these small businesses, including the main hurdles encountered, establishment costs, ongoing costs and the financial and non-financial benefits of e-commerce. It also examines different experiences according to the level of e-commerce investment.