With online retailing, it’s now a case of the quick and the dead.

Early adapters that jumped on the internet bandwagon ahead of the rest have reported revenue growth over the past year, but those slower to embrace online selling had gone backwards.

Sales grew by about five per cent in the last year for small and medium businesses that have sold online for at least a year, a Roy Morgan study finds.

But sales dropped four per cent for those firms that started selling online more recently – or that still don’t.

The boom for online retailers means they have managed to lure extra costumers that the traditional retailer hasn’t, Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman says.

“The awareness has been raised because consumers have moved to the online space and retailers are getting that now.

“They are also trying to attract the consumer that wouldn’t traditionally come to their door because they weren’t in that locality, or entice them to come to the (shopfront),” he said.

However, he vast majority of small Australian businesses don’t have a presence online as only a third of those surveyed have been selling on the internet since July las year.

And that’s largely because they lack the technology or the resources to support online sales, the study shows.

“The problem for a small retailer is they’re not necessarily going to be tech-savvy,” Mr Zimmerman says.

“This is new technology they are struggling with and there’s a lack of understanding as to how it works – how do go I get those search hits? What are the drivers to make my site look better?” Mr Zimmerman said.

He said those retailers could outsource these tasks.

The study’s publication comes on the same day that the National Australia Bank Online Retail Sales Index was released, showing online spending in June was up 19 per cent from June 2011.

The Roy Morgan study surveyed 200 small and medium businesses listed in the ARA database.