Surprise: 20 Million Small Businesses Use the Web

Jupiter Research is out with a study on small businesses and online behavior.  The study itself is a paid research report, so I have not read the entire thing, but here are some highlights from the press release:

JupiterResearch, a leading authority on the impact of the Internet and emerging consumer technologies on business, reports that 78 percent, or almost 20 million small businesses, currently use the Internet on a regular basis. According to a new JupiterResearch report, “Market Profile: Understanding Online Small Businesses,” 82 percent of small businesses will have Internet access by 2011, of which 88 percent will utilize broadband connections.

“Small businesses spent over $43 billion in 2005 in business purchases online,” said Sonal Gandhi, JupiterResearch Analyst and lead author of the report. “Their online influenced off-line spending is likely to be considerably higher.”

Large vendors by now have a pretty good picture of the small business market’s use of the Web, but smaller companies that market to small businesses still may be operating under the impression that other small businesses are Web laggards.  Au contraire. The Jupiter research shows just how large a role the Web plays for small businesses.