”People are always going to go shopping. A lot of our effort is just:
‘How do we make the retail experience a great one?’ “- Philip Green
Black Friday was adopted in Canada to compete with U.S. retailers to cut the number of consumers shopping abroad. Though e-retailing in Canada started developing slower than in the U.S., today, Canadian e-commerce counts for one of the highest penetration rates of contactless POS. 2015 is a perfect opportunity for Canadian retailers to make Black Friday more popular among consumers, thus raising their own business revenue.
Modern Canadian E-Retailing
Forrester, an independent technology and market research company, believes online spending is going to count for 10 percent of Canadian retail spending in 2019. On a percentage basis, this will be equal to the 11 percent expected in the U.S.
Today, 45 percent of online shopping conducted in Canada goes to the U.S. and sites operating overseas, with about $1.100 average annual purchase amount per shopper. Canadian retail e-commerce sales are expected to reach $42.7 billion by 2018, with an annual growth rate of 12 percent.
These days, consumers are looking for safe and convenient payment methods. Thus, it is vitally important for merchants to choose the right payment processor on the market. Turning to EMB, Canadian merchants can be sure to reach their expectations through competent payment processing and account management.
All interested Canadian merchants, in partnership with EMB, can open a highly secure Canadian merchant account and enjoy incredible profits.
Black Friday In Canada
Black Friday began in the U.S. as a retail event to celebrate on the day after American Thanksgiving. The latter is a national holiday celebrated on the last Thursday in November.
This year, unlike 2014, the Canadian dollar has dropped, but retailers in Canada are getting prepared for Black Friday with great excitement. A Black Friday Deals Store has recently been launched by Amazon.ca.
Paul Merrick, Vice President of Field Operations at Purolator, Canada’s top integrated freight and parcel solutions provider, believes Dec. 16th will be the busiest day of 2015. The company is planning to have more than 1 million shipments daily – on Dec. 16th and Cyber Monday that follows it.
According to Yorkdale, Canada’s premier shopping center, 90% of 3.500 shoppers surveyed are planning to shop on Black Friday. In 2014, the percentage was 80%, and in 2013, it was 53%. The center will be open for 2 hours more, which will be the longest period throughout Yorkdale’s history.
It is interesting to note that 44% of these shoppers are going to take a day off to shop for Black Friday. 93% are going to shop in Canada because of exchange rates. Clothing and accessories to be purchased are going to count for 91%, holiday gifts – 49%, and electronics – 39%.
Michael LeBlanc, Retail Council of Canada spokesperson, thinks 2015 will grant retailers a fine opportunity to raise consumers’ awareness of the event.