Australian businesses received online orders worth $189 billion in the twelve months to 2010/11, soaring 32 per cent from $143 billion in 2009/10.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has just released its latest research into how domestic businesses connect with the internet.
The $189 billion figure includes orders received from Australian households, business and government, as well as orders received from overseas consumers.
Over half of Australian businesses (51 per cent) reported placing orders via the internet, representing a jump of nine per cent from the previous year.
The proportion of businesses that reported receiving orders via the internet also increased by 13 per cent to 28 per cent.
Half or more of the businesses in wholesale and manufacturing reported receiving orders online, with figures at 52 per cent and 50 per cent respectively.
The retail sector came in sixth place at 35 per cent.
Nearly all large businesses had a web presence (97 per cent) compared to one-third of micro businesses.
The ABS also found large businesses were more than twice as likely to undertake innovation activity than micro businesses.
Over half of all business in wholesale reported being innovation-active, the highest of any industry.
The figures have prompted Google Australia to urge small businesses to expand online.
Google Australia head of local business Claire Hatton said one in five Google web searches are local in nature, jumping to one in three on mobile devices.
"For the next financial year the priority for every Australian business owner has to be get online and make sure that your customers can find you, quickly and from any device.”
The search giant has launched a joint initiative with MYOB to allow businesses to create their own website within 15 minutes.