In 2023, has e-commerce become the norm?

Online sales seem to have grown tremendously over the past few years. The vast majority (77%) of businesses in Quebec has a website. If this can be called a standard in 2020, can the same be said for e-commerce?

The pandemic could certainly have changed things. That said, in February 2020, only 36% of all businesses had a transactional site. The exception is in corporate branches where nearly half have one.

This percentage can partly be explained by the low proportion of online sales. On average, establishments generate 4% of their sales online, including those who do not do any at all. The Montreal region shows the highest rate with 6%. Among establishments that engage in e-commerce, the average proportion of online sales is 12%.

Challenges

The last few years will certainly have changed consumption habits. Consumers inquire in store before making an online purchase from another merchant. Indeed, businesses must inevitably compete with the competitive prices of Web giants like Amazon™.

In this sense, some retailers will have diversified their offer in order to increase their competition. Visibility, however, remains an important issue, which initiatives such as NATURAL REFERENCING at GOOGLE™ are responding to.

The lack of qualified resources is one of the main constraints to setting up a transactional site. These businesses therefore rely on a personalized in-store customer experience. Moreover, some activities lend themselves more difficult to online commerce, increasing the obstacles to the implementation of such a system.

The health crisis will undoubtedly have changed employers’ plans in terms of e-commerce. This could have had the effect of encouraging latecomers to invest time and resources to create their website or make it transactional. As the vast majority of 18-34-year-olds buy online, e-commerce could increase in the coming years.

A large number of Quebecers have tasted online commerce more often during the pandemic and they intend to keep up the pace!