The report, Summary of IT Use and Innovation in Australian Business 2012-13, found that only 19 per cent of businesses within the finance industry receive orders online compared to 52 per cent within the information media and telecommunications industry, 48 per cent in the manufacturing sector, and 50 per cent in wholesale trade.
Commenting on the report, DST Bluedoor executive director Karen De Angelis said it is critical that financial services organisations “invest more in IT to keep pace with the competition and the development of technology”.
“As more Australians move to mobile devices and transact over the internet, the financial services sector needs to lift its game and conduct more of its own processes online, including receiving orders over the internet,” she said.
Ms De Angelis also said she expects to see an increase in online business-to-business processing, given the new SuperStream initiatives which are being introduced from July this year.
“This is aimed at improving the efficiency of back-office operations,” she said.
“The most successful financial services firms in the future will be those that innovate and invest in IT to meet the quickly evolving needs of their customers,” she added.
The report also indicated there was a rapid change in the use of social media, with more than a quarter of all businesses having a social media presence, almost double from a year earlier.
