eCommerce is growing fast in Canada and retailers can still take advantage of this promising window of opportunity to increase their sales online. According to the eMarketer report “Canada Retail Ecommerce Forecast“, published in February 2011, Canada has an expected online sales growth of between 12% and 14% on average over the next four years.

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If you are looking to promote your business, attract new customers, and retain loyal customers without necessarily making a huge upfront investment, coupons are definitively worth looking into.

You may not have noticed this, but recently, out of nowhere everyone seems to be crazy about coupons.

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Internet Retailer just released the 2008 edition of their now famous Top 500 Guide to the most successful US online merchants.

Having purchased and intensively used the 2007 edition myself in more than one instance, I can only recommend that you purchase this exhaustive and very affordable (under $100) source of competitive information.

This guide will reveal the sales and conversion rates of the best 500 online retailers. You will be able to analyze and compare within 14 retail categories the profile and practices of the best performing merchants.

As well as forecasting major trends for 2008, the guide also takes a macro view of the eCommerce industry and points out what worked and what did not in the past year. Read More

The success of an eCommerce website greatly depends on how easy it is for customers to go through checkout and purchase an item. Online shopping carts are a feature that “brick and mortar” owners tend to take for granted but which has a huge impact on sales conversion.

It is now common knowledge that more than half of online shopping carts are abandoned before customers check out. The main reasons are usually related to usability issues but lately more price conscious consumers tend to spend more time browsing and price comparing before actually making a purchase. Read More

SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization” and it relates to the science of fine tuning a website and its content so that Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN can better analyze (or “crawl”) and rank the website in search results. Another aspect of SEO is to increase your online presence on other websites that would link back to your website – a concept called “link building”.

Having an eCommerce website is not enough. Customers must be able to find you in the galaxy of hundreds of online retailers. The better your website is ranked in search engines and referenced on other websites (such as blogs or social networks), the more traffic you will get, which will then lead to more sales conversions. Read More

Statistics Canada has just released its “Electronic commerce and technology” report for 2007.

In 2006, online sales in Canada reached $49.9 billion, a staggering increase of almost 40% compared to 2005 with $31.4 billion sales related to B2B and $15.1 billion related to B2C.

Here is what the report reveals for 2007:

• Online sales have increased 26% in 2007. This is the sixth consecutive year confirming a sustained two digit growth in eCommerce in Canada.

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eCommerce websites of leading online retailers are usually a great example of how to empower customers and how to generate higher conversion rates (from browser to buyer) and lower shopping cart abandonment.

Here is a list of the 20 most successful Web features addressing all aspects of the eCommerce life cycle.

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eCommerce websites of leading online retailers are usually a great example of how to empower customers and how to generate higher conversion rates (from browser to buyer) and lower shopping cart abandonment.

Here is a list of the 20 most successful Web features addressing all aspects of the eCommerce life cycle.

MERCHANDISE PROMOTION

1. Online & offline coupons
Create buying incentives by displaying or sending coupons that can be redeemed online (through promotional codes) or in store (with flyers).

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Retailers who have embraced online marketing and eCommerce are reaping the benefits of experienced consumers who use the Internet channel to search and discover products before making a purchase decision. The most noticeable outcome is that online browsing converts consumers into store buyers.

In a recent report on Multi-Channel Retailing in the US, Jeffrey Grau, senior analyst for eMarketer says that: “US consumers now routinely use various combinations of a retailer’s stores, website and catalogues, even during the course of a single transaction. One consequence of this is that online product research is driving more store sales than online sales.“

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A lot of attention has been given lately to the amazing double digit growth of eCommerce in the US.

Forrester Research has released a couple of critical reports that explain this phenomenon:
- State of Retailing Online 2008 (in association with Shop.org)
- U.S. E-Commerce Forecast: 2008 to 2012

Online retail will increase 17% in 2008

Forrester sets the trends for the next 5 years with online retail sales in the US of:

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It is very popular to come up with a host of predictions at the outset of a new year.

Here are 10 of the best predictions I have found relevant to eCommerce. Some of them have been adapted or inspired by other trends in the Web Industry.

1. Impact from a much feared recession in the US

The fluctuation of the dollar and the state of the economy in the USA will impact online retailers on both sides of the border.

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To follow-up on my latest post, here is some fresh information from eMarketer.com whose latest article is on “Holidays season eCommerce projections” in the US.

Even though the holiday season sales are expected to slow down in the US, TNS Retail Forward predicts that:

“[...] online sales would be the bright spot for retailing, bringing in nearly $42 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, up from $35 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006.”

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With Christmas around the corner, retailers should be gearing up to take advantage of the biggest seasonal buying rush of the year.

Here are a few statistics from the US Census Bureau on eCommerce during the fourth quarter of 2006. This gives an idea of the sales potential during the holiday season:

• $33.9 billion total U.S. retail e-commerce sales for the last quarter of 2006
• 32 % increase compared to the third quarter of 2006
• 25 % increase from the fourth quarter of 2005 while total retail sales increased 4.0 % in the same period
• eCommerce sales in Q4 of 2006 accounted for 3.3 % of total retail sales

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I’ve conducted an eCommerce study based on a list of 110 major retailers in Canada (not including food retailers) that I found in a Kubas Consultant study on “Retail Market Status”.

I’ve narrowed the list down to 104 retailers because some retailers belong to the same company and/or have the same website.

The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate the options Canadian consumers have when they want to buy online.

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The University of Michigan introduced the “American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)” in 1994, a methodology that measures Customer Satisfaction and Purchasing Intent which are both invaluable metrics for multi-channel retailers. The ACSI has become the leading indicator of consumer behavior, measuring the satisfaction of consumers across the U.S. economy

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