The time to enter the digital era is now!
We ran across an interesting CTV News article recently that talked about how COVID-19 is changing Canadians’ lifestyles. Referencing polling by market research firm Leger, the piece noted that, “the pandemic has acted as a springboard for the digital era.”
First-timers on the digital frontier
That’s probably not a surprise to anyone reading our blog. But something we found a bit more eye-popping from Leger’s Executive Vice President Christian Bourque was:
Since the start of the pandemic, 55 percent of Canadians who participated in the survey did at least one online purchase for the first time or began purchasing online more often.
Bourque said 18 percent of Canadians began purchasing online for the first time in their lives during the pandemic.
“I think for brick and mortar, to some extent, those who were suffering coming into the crisis will suffer even more coming out of it,” he said.
“The champions of retail will remain the champions of retail.”
Bourque said this trend will force smaller independent local stores to increase their online presence.
That’s quite the shift in how Canadians are making their purchases!
And the last line rings particularly true to us. Smaller, local businesses and organizations who thought they could put their move into the digital era off for another day are rapidly re-evaluating that stance!
The rise of Canadian e-commerce
All of this squares with a more historical look at e-commerce from the folks at Statista who noted:
The e-commerce market, where consumers and businesses can buy and sell products and services exclusively through electronic channels, has been continuously developing in the past decade. Retail sales from worldwide electronic commerce are forecast to grow from 3.53 trillion U.S. dollars in 2019 to over 6.54 trillion in 2023. Thanks to its sizeable digital population, Canada has become a particularly profitable market in recent years.
A look at this graph from Statista’s report shows that we’re actually in what they projected to be the height of e-commerce growth in Canada. The onset of COVID-19 has only accelerated that process!
Find more statistics at Statista
Getting into the digital game
If you’ve been thinking of powering up your digital presence, now is the time to do it.
If that seems like a daunting task, drop us a line!
Communicatto has extensive experience working with a variety of clients on digital strategies. We can help you put together and implement a plan that will get you into the digital game, whether you’re a local business, a nonprofit, or a professional association!