The latest figures on the use of internet by Maltese enterprises shows that while they have totally embraced computers and the internet, especially mobile devices and e-government services, they are still not selling or buying online to any significant degree.
18.7 per cent of enterprises using the internet also carried out sales via e-commerce
A survey on ICT Usage and e-Commerce in Enterprises published by the National Statistics Office (NOS) showed that during 2012, 96.6 per cent of enterprises employing a minimum of 10 people made use of computers, while 95.2 per cent were also using the internet. However only 18.7 per cent of enterprises using the internet also sell online and only 24.6 per cent buy online, and these reflect a slight drop from 2011.
Results showed high levels of computer use throughout all enterprise size classes. Enterprises involved in the construction industry increased their level of computer use by 2.7 per cent, while the highest level of computer usage was recorded in the wholesale and retail trade sector (98.6 per cent).
During the same period, 95.2 per cent of the surveyed enterprises had access to the internet and the majority made use of broadband internet – mainly DSL connections. Increases were recorded among all types of internet connections when compared to the previous year, with the exception of dial-up connections. The largest increase of 13.9 per cent was recorded in the use of mobile broadband connections, while DSL and other connections (including cable internet) increased by 5.1 and 10.3 per cent respectively.
The NSO report revealed that 18.7 per cent of enterprises using the internet also carried out sales via e-commerce. Decreases were registered throughout all economic activities, with the exception of real estate and renting activities. On the other hand, purchases via e-commerce were carried out by 24.6 per cent of enterprises using the internet, down by 2.4 per cent over 2011.
This is mostly in line with the latest survey commissioned by the Malta Communication Authority (MCA) published last October which showed that 23 per cent of Maltese businesses are selling to individual consumers online. However, business-to-business online transactions seem to have taken off and are the norm in some sectors. 23.4 per cent of respondents do not know how much of their total sales are made online. Compared to a similar survey published by the MCA in May 2012, e-commerce was up from just 15 per cent at the time.
Nevertheless both the NSO and MCA surveys confirm that e-commerce by Maltese enterprises is yet to take off in terms of sales to consumers (business-to-consumer) in stark contrast to the fact that most Maltese users do buy online, but from foreign and not Maltese e-tailers.
The 2012 NSO survey also included an ad hoc module on the use of portable devices for internet access for business use. Results showed that out of 1,231 enterprises using the internet, 41.8 per cent also did so using portable devices. Of these, 83.8 per cent were using a portable computer, while 88.5 per cent used other portable devices such as smart phones or PDA phones.
The main reasons for making this facility available were to provide employees with remote access to the enterprise’s e-mail system (95.9 per cent) and to access publicly available information over the internet (88.1 per cent). Out of the total work force, 6,102 employees, or 22.5 per cent, had access to the internet from a portable device for work purposes. The overall usage of e-government services stood at 93.3 per cent, a decline of 1.5 per cent when compared to 2011 levels. A majority of 96.1 per cent of these enterprises used e-government services to obtain information during the reference year while 89.7 percent used e-government services to download forms. On the other hand, 63.5 per cent of the enterprises said that they also used e-government services to submit filled forms electronically – an increase of 4.5 per cent when compared to 2011.