With the end of Halloween signalling the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season, new figures confirm the growing trend towards online shopping.
According to the Canadian Internet Use Survey, nearly 84 per cent of Canadian Internet users bought goods or services online in 2018, spending $57.4 billion, up from $18.9 billion in 2012. Canadians aged 25 to 44 are the most likely to shop online, with 94 per cent having done so. Canadians aged 65 and over are the least likely with 64 per cent having done so.
On average, each Canadian spent $2,554 online in 2018.
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Among Canadians who do not shop online, 22 per cent worried about security or privacy concerns, 21 per cent had a lack of confidence, knowledge, skills or training on how to order online, and 21 per cent simply felt they need to see, hold or try the product before purchasing. Notably, the leading category of goods and services purchased online was clothing, jewellery or accessories, tactile items that generally require additional inspection. Almost six out of 10 online purchases (58 per cent) were in that category, followed by travel arrangements (50 per cent), tickets for entertainment events (46 per cent), video downloads and streaming subscriptions (35 per cent) and music downloads and streaming subscriptions (34 per cent).
More than half of all online shoppers (54 per cent) used their mobile phones to make purchases, and online payment services were the most popular mean of paying at 39 per cent, followed by electronic bank transfers at 22 per cent.
Almost one-quarter of Canadians (24 per cent) pay for ride-services to get around town and 17 per cent used accommodation services like Airbnb, when looking at peer-to-peer services.
Other sources offer a comparable picture. Admitad, an online marketing platform, said in a recent report that more than 72.6 per cent of the Canadian population made online purchases. The proportion of online purchases promises to exceed 75 per cent annually, according to the report.
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