Shopping Habits of Canadians Revealed

New Survey Suggests Companies Need to Adapt Retail Strategies

Results from a recent survey by J.C. Williams Group, Multi-Channel Retailing: Canadian Style, provide revealing insights into the shopping habits of Canadians. According to the study, E-commerce is going strong in Canada as Canadians are going online to shop and research products. For companies willing to adapt their retail strategies and market their products through a variety of channels, including stores, catalogues and secure online environments, there are a wealth of opportunities.

Satisfaction Key to E-commerce Growth
The survey of 2,000 online Canadians, co-sponsored by Canada Post, HP Canada and Visa Canada, shows that online shoppers spent an average of $447 in the past six months with 80 per cent of them making two or more purchases online. Improved product selection, superior customer service, and guaranteed merchandise return methods are essential in creating repeat customers online.

“Almost nine out of ten consumers surveyed who shop online are satisfied with their experience,” says Ralph McNeil, vice president, Consumer Marketing, HP Canada. “And HP understands that integral to that satisfaction is choice. HP not only offers consumers the choice to shop online via hpshopping.ca, but also works with our retail partners to create a great shopping experience on their web sites by making rich product content available to them, enabling informed and easy purchasing decisions.”

Enhancing Online Security Reduces Barriers
One of the main barriers to E-commerce remains concern over security. Online Canadians who had not shopped on the Internet indicated that the security of their credit card and personal information is critically important, and some are still uneasy about providing this information over the Internet.

According to Mike Bradley, vice president of New Products and Platforms at Visa Canada, “over half of online purchases are completed using a Visa® card, and we are committed to enhancing payment security to facilitate continued E-commerce growth. Visa offers multiple layers of security protection because Canadians are more confident shopping online when they know their payments are secure.”

Bradley believes that by offering enhanced Visa security features through programs like Verified by Visa® and CVV2, the three-digit code on the back of the Visa card, merchants both build their business securely and provide consumers with added peace of mind.

Multi-Channel Behaviour Integral to Purchasing Decisions
Canadian online shoppers are also receiving more catalogues. There was a 14 per cent increase in the number of catalogues they received between 2004 and 2005. More than one out of seven purchased in-store after having received a catalogue and as high as 83 per cent researched online prior to buying in-store. Frequent catalogue recipients reported the highest levels of online spending; indicating that cross-marketing with the web and catalogues can translate into higher overall sales.

“Retailers in Canada have an extraordinary opportunity to grab hold of a rapidly expanding market,” said Pat Bartlett, vice president of Canada Post’s direct marketing division. “The study clearly shows that Canadians are savvy consumers whose lifestyle behaviour demands multiple channels to shop and a breadth of brands to choose from. In our experience of working with leading Canadian and US retailers, by introducing an additional channel, such as a catalogue, a retailer can expand their product offering to three times that of a traditional store and stands to gain as much as 20 per cent more of their customers’ wallet share.”

Mainstream Shoppers to Fuel Future Growth
Leading the way in E-commerce are women, representing 55 per cent of Canadians purchasing online. Also, the per centage? of Canadians buying online is almost equal across age groups between 25 and 64, demonstrating a tremendous opportunity with such widespread penetration.

“In order to sustain high growth rates, it is important for us to observe E-commerce buying behaviour among mainstream Canadian shoppers, especially the female head of household”, says Jim Okamura, senior partner at J.C. Williams Group. “Canadian retailers need to provide more than merely store locators on their websites. They need to leverage their multi-channel capabilities through catalogues, the Internet and stores by providing solutions and tools for shoppers.”

About the Study
During the week of April 10th 2006, two thousand web-enabled Canadian consumers representative of both online buyers and non-buyers were surveyed for Multi-Channel Shopping: Canadian Style. Findings are accurate to +/- 2.6 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

About J.C. Williams Group
Founded in 1974 J.C. Williams Group (www.jcwg.com) works actively with all aspects of retail and related industries throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. The J.C. Williams Group has gained recognition in the fields of strategic marketing, branding, multi-channel strategy and custom retail research. A full-service retail and marketing consulting firm with offices in Toronto, Montréal, and Chicago, J.C. Williams Group brings its clients a collective and exceptional in-depth knowledge of retailing and marketing, including up-to date know-how and techniques to help make retail operations better and more profitable.

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