Canadians are among the least likely consumers to shop online, according to a new Ipsos study commissioned by RetailMeNot.ca.
Of the 11 countries surveyed, Canadian and Italian consumers proved to be the least digital shoppers, with 22% of Canadians stating they “never buy anything online.” By comparison, just 6% of German and British consumers and 4% of Chinese consumers said they “never” shop online.
“Canadian consumers have yet to embrace online shopping at the levels of consumers in the U.K. and Germany,” said Josh Harding, vice-president of global operations for RetailMeNot, which just launched in Canada. Harding said Canadians are also likely to consume marketing materials offline, noting the shopping study highlighted behaviour “consistent with Canadians looking for deals and discounts offline in their weekly flyers versus online.”
Of the Canadians surveyed, 15% never look for shopping deals online. Canadians were similarly the least likely to visit a price comparison site before making a purchase.
The study showed men are more likely than women to shop primarily online, with 31% of men shopping via PCs and mobile devices versus 22% of women.
Within Canada, consumers in Quebec have been the slowest to adopt online shopping with 29% of respondents saying they never shop online, seven percentage points higher than the rest of the country.
The results of RetailMeNot’s study are in line with previous research efforts including a January 2013 report by PwC that showed 25% of Canadians “rarely if ever” shop online and just 7% use social media to shop.
One factor hindering the adoption of online shopping is likely shipping prices, as a Forrester Study released this spring showed 68% of Canadians found shipping prices at online retailers too high.
Consumers surveyed for that study also report further gripes with shipping, with 65% wanting to return products in-store rather than sending them back and 48% desiring the ability to pick up online purchases in store.
