E-commerce is finally gaining steam in the Canada. Last year e-commerce only counted for about 6 percent of all retail spending, which is about 3 percentage points behind the U.S. E-commerce experts say there are a variety of reasons for this trend, which include web infrastructure, and high transportation costs. Still Canadian consumers have started to make more purchases online from both domestic and foreign retailers. According to Forrester Research Inc., by 2019 online sales will account for 10% of Canadian retail spending. The United States is projected to increase by 11%.
So what has to happen to accelerate online sales in Canada to satisfy this prediction? First, Canadian consumers have to believe that online ordering is a viable choice and that their merchandise will come at a consistent and timely pace. Many Canadians experience major delays in package deliveries due to transportation issues. In Canada, the cost of shipping is a percentage of the sale. For many retailers, it’s simply not worth the cost to deliver to some Canadians. According to Jeff Booth, president of BuildDirect.com, some retailers wind up paying more for delivery than the cost of the item; therefore losing money on some sales.
Still many Canadian and U.S.-based retailers have decided to combat online sale problems. Major U.S.-based retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Amazon.com Inc., and Best Buy Co. Inc. have started to move into the market. Even though Canadians have not purchased much from Canadian retailers, they still shop online with U.S.-based merchants or with merchants from other countries, generally because they can’t find what they want from Canadian merchants.
Canada is predicted to significantly increase its online sales in the next few years. eMerchantBroker has helped many online merchants reach their financial goals. Now Canadian online merchants can be propelled into sustainable profits as they enter a new era of payment processing with the assistance of eMerchantBroker. Remember that despite owning a high risk business, you still deserve to work with a competent and safe payment processor for your Canadian venture.