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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Do you have an email marketing or newsletter strategy?
If you don’t, you’re seriously missing an opportunity to make more money.

Email marketing, or the science of sending out newsletters to your customers or audience, is one of the oldest online marketing tactics and remains to this day, the most rewarding initiative you can implement for your business or organisation. Read More

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

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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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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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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eCommerce is the fastest growing retail channel in North America as buying on the Internet is becoming more and more appealing to consumers. However, not all customers feel comfortable buying online compared to physically buying in traditional stores.

A study from Allurent, an eCommerce platform provider who released a Merchandising Survey in September 2006 gives us some insight into the buying habits of online customers in the US.

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I’ve spent hours looking for trustworthy sources of information in order to give you the low down on online customers and their buying potential. I’ve found more behavioral information on Canadians than on US citizens but I believe that the trends are fairly similar.

I’m not stating anything new by saying that “understanding your market is key in defining your business strategy”.

Here are some figures for North American Internet Users that I borrow from eMarketer.com‘s “Online Climate Change in Canada” article:

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Even though a bit dated the “eCommerce” buzzword is still around and it is growing in awareness. eCommerce has however evolved from just describing the fact of “selling online” into a billion dollar market. eCommerce is not just a website with a shopping cart anymore, it is the “fastest retail sales channel” in the USA.

Here are a few dazzling figures that I borrowed from InternetRetailer.com and the 2007 edition of the Top 500 Guide:

• in 2006, online retail sales in the US reached $136.2 billion, an increase of 25% compared to 2005.
• most if not all of the major US retailers are selling online through what is called the “online channel”.
• the Top 500 largest retail sites in the US cover $83.6 billion (61%) and range through 14 different retail categories.

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