Canada Post revealed in 2015 that 76% of Canadians shopped online in 2014. In 2013, 13% of businesses were selling online. Online shopping was dominated by large retailers, many of which were based in the US, theglobeandmail.com reports.
Consumers expect personalisation, with best-in-class service and greater transparency on product and price than they typically would at physical stores. Online retailers manage a vast inventory of products and each order is delivered to the customer’s home.
Traditional retailers send out one mass flyer a week. Ecommerce requires personalised marketing e-mails sent at a frequency and volume determined by individual customers, regular marketing and merchandising updates, as well as the constant evolution (and cost) of search-engine optimisation and marketing, not to mention managing content on affiliate sites.
The cost of picking and packing thousands of goods is no different than paying store employees, but the cost of distribution to individual homes across Canada is a much greater cost to the retailer.
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