Net Boom Brings Australian Business Realities.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 2001 JAN 15 (NB) -- By John Stackhouse, Computer Daily News. Australia gained 1.89 million Internet users between 1999 and 2000, for a total of 7.4 million, market research firm IDC Australia reckons. Meanwhile, e-commerce spending grew to US$2.9 billion in 2000.

IDC's latest report on the Australian Internet Economy, "Lessons Learned in 2000," expects the market to be worth more than $37 billion by 2004.

Senior analysts Brooke Galloway and Lisa Shishido highlight the top 10 lessons the industry has learned in the past 12 months.

These include:

1. The Internet is not a fad;

2. Financial reality met the dot-com world;

3. The Internet is just another channel, not a separate business;

4. EDI (electronic data interchange) is not dead;

5. A customer's experience doesn't end at the Web site;

6. Internet services and content are not free;

7. An Internet strategy is not an IT strategy, it's a business strategy;

8. E-marketplaces need buyers AND suppliers;

9. Consumers care about their privacy and security; and

10. E-commerce failed to capture the attention of the SME market.

"Bricks-and-mortar businesses with an Internet arm have learned that integration is key to success" said Galloway. "More and more customers expect to be serviced through whichever channel is most convenient and comfortable for them at any given time."

"Enterprises should not think of themselves as running two separate businesses but one business which delivers through different channels."

Reported By Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com.