Online shopping clicking in Canada

OTTAWA — More goods and products are moving via the information highway than ever before in Canada.

Good news for parcel delivery carriers like UPS and FedEx and similar LTL fleets, Stats Canada reports that Internet orders in 2007 hit $12.8 billion — a whopping 61 percent spike from 2005.

This increase was driven by a larger volume of orders, which rose from 49.4 million in 2005 to 69.9 million in 2007 as more than 8.4 million Canadians aged 16 and over made an online purchase (accounting for 32 percent of Canadians in this age group).

The proportion of orders placed specifically with Canadian vendors declined slightly, however, from 57 percent of the total in 2005 to 52 percent in 2007.

With the way holiday shopping is going this year,
companies will sell their goods anyway they can.

Though, not all online consumers participated equally. The top 25 percent of "online consumers," who spent an average of $5,000 during 2007, were responsible for 46 percent of orders and 78 percent of the total dollar value.

Regionally, Internet users from Alberta were the heaviest online shoppers in 2007, with one-half placing an online order.

Demographically, Internet users aged 25 to 34 were the heaviest online consumers, with more than one-half (51%) ordering online.

But long-haul for-hire carriers shouldn’t fret. The study found that for many Canadians, the Internet has become more of a supplement to traditional retail shopping than a substitute. In fact, it’s thought that the latter action actually spurs visits to the malls or big box stores.

In 2007, 43 percent of Canadians logged on to do research on products, or to "window shop." Of these, a majority (64%) reported that they had subsequently made a purchase directly from a store.

The most popular items for browsing, the survey found, were consumer electronics, such as cameras and VCRs; housewares, such as large appliances and furniture; and clothing, jewellery and accessories.