The market for ecommerce in Québec is hot, according to a new report by National Bank.
The study found one quarter of consumers in Québec have made more than 10 online purchases a year, with men leading the charge. The percentage of men in this category of frequent online shoppers, 29%, was higher than the overall average (25%).
The survey results contradicted other pieces of conventional wisdom, too, such as the notion it’s only young people shopping online. The study found more than half (58%) of respondents over age 65 have made between two and five online purchases in the last year. Overall, 44% of Québecois consumers fell into that category (though many younger consumers may have fallen into the frequent, 10 or more online purchases a year category).
Online Shopping Habits Across Quebec (CNW Group/National Bank of Canada)
Nearly half of respondents (48%) listed better prices as one of the key reasons they shop online versus in brick-and-mortar stores. In Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec, many also listed local availability as a factor driving their purchases online, with 66% of respondents in those areas saying they purchases not available in store in their region online.
As for deterrents, just 16% listed getting “swindled” by an online retailer as a reason not to shop online. Respondents were more concerned about the size or quality of products, which 36% listed as a downside to ecommerce.
While consumers in Québec are flocking to ecommerce stores, their local businesses are not following them online. According to the Québec Retail Council of Commerce (QRCC), 80% of small retailers in the province have yet to launch an online store. Overall, just 13% of businesses in the province have ecommerce operations, according to the Québec-based digital firm CEFRIO. Last year QRCC estimated that $2.6 billion is spent by consumers online annually in Québec – and half to 65% of that money goes to businesses operating outside the province. The firm also estimated that just 2.4% of sales by Québecois retailers happen online.
While Canada was slow to adopt ecommerce initially, online sales have been picking up across the country. By 2019, Forrester Research projects 10% of all Canadian retail spending will happen online, up from 6% in 2014. That would bring the market nearly up to speed with the U.S., which is currently projecting 11% online sales by 2019.
Interesting article. Those of you like myself that have run Canadian based national multi-language e-com sites know that the level of fraud (both friendly and otherwise) is rampant in that province, especially in the CE channel. Most of that fraud is attached to males,
In my case to the point where we’d double check each and every PQ order manually despite the fact we had some serious fraud prevention software running. Believe our make up was about 85% of all of our online fraud in Canada originated in La Belle Province.
Food for thought
Tuesday, August 23 @ 3:46 pm |