To say that online shopping is popular in Canada is to make a major understatement. Year after year, studies show that the love that Canadians have for the online store is growing. If you’re a Canadian business owner, there are certainly some statistics that are worth paying attention to. For example, on CBC.ca, David James Friend of The Canadian Press reveals that Canadian business owners sold $136 billion worth of merchandise online in 2014.
The statistic, which comes courtesy of Statistics Canada, is just one of many that prove that Canadian consumers are eager to spend their money on e-commerce. Are you offering your customers the convenience of online shopping? Investing in an e-commerce solution for your business has never been more important. Friend goes on to note that more than three quarters of our nation is made up of online shoppers.
76 per cent of Canadian households shopped online in 2014. Of these households, 25 per cent are considered “frequent” online shoppers. Friend equates this to the purchasing of goods and services via the internet taking place between four and ten times a year. Danielle Doiron is the director of parcels and e-commerce market development at Canada Post. “Consumers are dipping their toe into e-commerce, testing the waters, and becoming very quickly converted,” she is quoted as saying.
Shipments of toys and games rose by 37 per cent in the first quarter of 2015, compared to the previous year. This statistic, which was arrived at by Canada Post, reflects the growing desire of Canadian shoppers to have their entertainment items shipped to them instead of having to pick them up in stores. Friend notes, however, that e-commerce customers are generally given the option to pick items up themselves, if they choose.
On MarketingMag.ca, Deborah Aarts of PROFIT reveals that a lot of Canadian businesses are simply missing out on the growing phenomenon of online shopping. She cites Canadian Business columnist, Peter Nowak who believes that the widespread neglect to offer consumers e-commerce options is something that needs to change in this country. He is quite critical of business owners who have no online stores.
“The slowness to adopt new technologies is generally attributed to companies’ conservatism, which means they aren’t quick to innovate but would rather watch what others do first,” writes Nowak. “That conservatism is at odds with how Canadians use the Internet, which is quite liberally.” Canada is a web-savvy country, Aarts explains, noting that “nearly one-third of Canadian internet users (31%) spends more than 10 hours per week online.”
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