Some 40,000 small businesses in New Zealand go digital

New Zealand’s digital skills programme has attracted over 40,000 small businesses in New Zealand, according to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE). 

The Digital Boost programme is a free training programme aimed at small businesses to improve their digital skills in areas like e-commerce, digital marketing, business analytics, and cloud-based accounting, where content is delivered through formats such as videos, case studies, Q&A sessions, podcasts and learning summaries.

The programme has benefited small companies since its launch in January, resulting in a 20% increase in the number of small businesses with a website since then, said MBIE Digital Boost director Malcolm Luey.

MBIE designed the programme in partnership with The Mind Lab, an education provider.

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The programme has also helped 70% of users feel more confident towards their move to digital. Businesses involved are interested in e-commerce (21%), while 20% of firms have adopted cloud and software services. There has been an increase of 16% of companies that have moved to a cloud payroll system.

Altogether, 93% of the 40,000 small businesses currently using the programme intend to continue doing so with no or minimal changes.