4th November, 2022
For every $100 invested in taking a business from no to low digitisation, or low to moderate, can return upwards of $240 according to new modelling.
New modelling conducted by Infometrics and commissioned by MYOB shows that a small shift towards more digital processes among small and medium businesses (SMEs) could deliver a gross benefit of $8.5 billion to the New Zealand (NZ) economy — that’s around 2.6 percent of GDP.
That’s because Aotearoa’s SMEs continue to suffer from a ‘digital lag’, with around 80 percent still using manual tools for tracking payments and only 35 percent using a digital solution for invoicing.
In fact, CPA Australia’s Asia Pacific Small Business 2021-2022 Survey ranked NZ’s SMEs among the lowest in the region for the use of digital tools and processes.
While the digital lag compared with APAC peers is significant, that also means it only takes minor shifts to deliver significant benefits, with MYOB’s new whitepaper detailing an ROI estimate of up to 2-4 -3.1:1 when it comes to digital solutions for those businesses with no or low levels of digitisation.
“Many of New Zealand’s SMEs have taken great strides to digitise some of their operations, but what this latest modelling shows is that engagement with digital business tools and solutions remains fairly limited in scope and application,” said MYOB’s Head of Go To Market Jo Tozer.
“It’s clear there’s a real opportunity to build on efforts to date and initiatives like Digital Boost, by introducing measures which address existing barriers to digitisation for some SMEs, like cost.
“Taking action to facilitate a better pathway for more of our local businesses to improve their digital fluency will be crucial in ensuring their sustainability, growth and wellbeing.”
In particular, the whitepaper highlights the value of contemporary business solutions like eInvoicing, which has the potential to reduce the time businesses spend on invoicing by 5.7 hours per month, resulting in a nationwide productivity-cost saving of about $1.7 billion (NZD).
“We know that a digitised economy is a strong progressive economy, and the returns are significant,” said Tozer.
“One of our recent Snapshots revealed that of local businesses that had digitised, 69 percent believed it made them more profitable.”
Learn more about how digitisation benefits businesses as well as the entire economy with this FREE download, ‘Boosting SME productivity and wellbeing’.