In Canada, web influence outstrips online sales, Forrester says
Canada lags the U.S. in the penetration of online purchasing, according to new data from Forrester Research Inc., with only 2.3 million, or 19%, of Canadian households identified as web buyers, versus about one-third of U.S. households. Though the web may so far be a less prevalent sales channel in Canada than in the U.S., it wields considerable power as an influencer of sales, Forrester says.
Canadians who are online say 40% of their computer hardware, 35% of consumer electronics, and 24% of home, garden and office supply purchases are influenced by the web, independent of whether they purchase offline or online, Forrester says. Canadian buyers surveyed by Forrester had a greater tendency than U.S. counterparts to say retail web sites don’t provide enough information, that their prices are too high, and that they can’t find what they want online. Yet a greater proportion of Canadian households have broadband web access than in the U.S.: 57% compared to 40%, and Forrester’s research has shown that consumers with broadband access use the web for product research to a greater extent.
To capitalize on this finding and on how Canadian consumers prefer to use the web, Canadian retailers should offer online tools that support online research to drive additional sales to both online and offline channels, according to Forrester. For example, suggests Forrester, Canadian multi-channel retailer Indigo Books & Music could put current inventory by store online to save shoppers the trouble of phoning in to check availability or driving around to the retailer’s different stores to find a title. “Until that happens, e-commerce shy shoppers will forgo buying books that they don’t want to purchase online and aren’t willing to search for far and wide,” says Forrester analyst Christopher Kelley.
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