Last month we had the pleasure of having Canada Post’s Danielle Doiron, Director of Parcel & eCommerce Market Development, present as a guest speaker at our monthly eCommerce Vancouver Meetup. There she spoke about the state of eCommerce in Canada. The insights we learned from Danielle were incredible.
With a full house, the room was buzzing with all the new information being passed out. If one thing is for certain, it's that eCommerce in Canada is growing, fast.
To prove just how big eCommerce is becoming in Canada and with Canadian consumers, we’ve put together 10 key insights taken from Danielle's talk and our own online research. Enjoy!
In 2015 Canadians started spending a lot more online–15% more. And, one of the fastest growing markets is from our neck of the woods, Vancouver, with 19% annual growth. Canada Post, the top shipping provider for the majority of online B2C Canadian retailers, says the growth is due to a maturing online shopper base.
At 31% year over year growth, sporting and outdoor goods outperformed traditional industries such as fashion. With rapid growth in new and emerging segments, it shows that Canadians are now comfortable branching out and making online purchases of all sorts.
Amazon hosted its first Prime Day in July 2015 which of course inspired many online retailers to follow suit. Traditionally, brick-and-mortar stores experience all the back-to-school shopping frenzy, but in August of 2015, online retailers got in on the action. eCommerce businesses selling fashion items, sporting/outdoor goods and housewares/home furnishings saw an increase in sales.
Latching onto the idea of Cyber Monday in the US, Canadians pumped up the volume and turned it into Cyber Week. Canada Post reported a 32% increase in parcel volume during the 2015 cyber week.
78% of Canadians made an online purchase in 2015!
First time buyers are turning into frequent online shoppers. As Canadian online retailers start to offer better shipping options and return policies, shoppers are having great experiences purchasing online. This is evident as 21% of first time buyers in 2014 became frequent shoppers in 2015.
Leaving frequent shoppers in the dust, hyper shoppers are taking over! Canadian households that received 25 or more eCommerce shipments in 2015 grew by 38%.
Breaking down the Canadian demographics, Millennials are spending more than any other age group according to an Ipsos Reid study. In 2014 a whopping 92% of Canadians aged 18-34 made online purchases, while respectively 82% of Gen Xers, aged 35-54 and 74% of Baby Boomers, aged 55 and older shopped online.
Canadians spent $28.77 billion online in 2015. Ranking them the 8th highest eCommerce market in the world while still only being 21st for Internet penetration.
16.2% of all Canadian eCommerce purchases in 2015 came from a mobile device. And given that Canadian mobile eCommerce is expected to grow by 142% in 2016, having a mobile optimized eCommerce website is going to be any Canadian brand's secret weapon this year.
A study from Forrester projects that by 2019 Canadian eCommerce will account for nearly 10% of all retail spending. Growing much faster and nearly catching up to the US, which is predicted to be at 11% by 2019. The growth in Canadian eCommerce is promising for online retailers and brands looking to make the shift online. And as an eCommerce web design agency, it’s exciting to see this recent surge in growth for Canadian eTailers and our clients.
Your turn! Are you a Canadian eCommerce brand? How has the eCommerce growth impacted your business?
Image courtesy of William Iven