Consumers are Using E-Commerce Are You?

THUNDER BAY – Business Solutions – Online business and e-commerce is increasingly important for business. In Thunder Bay, all it takes is a trip south to Grand Portage and a visit to Ryden’s Border Store to see how much online shopping impacts local business.

Stacks of boxes greet a visitor to the warehouse at Ryden’s Border Store. People in our city have headed south on long weekends for shopping trips to stock up on deals. The next major shopping weekend will be ‘Black Friday’. 

Online purchases impact local economy

Consumers making online purchases outside of our local market impact our local economy.

For local businesses across Northwestern Ontario, having access to the Internet and a presence online that allows customers to do more than simply research is critically important. 

On October 20th to 26th, during BDC Small Business Week™, there will be a number of workshops for local business. 

Good Deals Engage Consumers

A majority (84%) of those in 25 countries would rather ‘spend time looking for a good deal,’ while only 16% would rather ‘pay more to make a quick/efficient purchase.’ The findings reflect a new poll of 18,503 online respondents conducted by Ipsos OTX – the global innovation center for Ipsos, the world’s third largest market and opinion research firm.

Eighty-six percent of Canadian consumers are looking for a good deal. The Internet offers a way for that to happen.

The countries with the highest proportions of those indicating they would rather spend time looking for a good deal are from: Hungary (94%), Spain (94%), Great Britain (93%), Argentina (92%), Belgium (91%), France (91%) and Germany (91%). This group of deal-chasers is followed by: Australia (90%), Italy (90%), Mexico (90%), Japan (88%), South Africa (87%), Canada (86%), Poland (86%), the United States (85%), China (81%), Russia (81%) and South Korea (81%). The lower group includes: India (79%), Brazil (76%), Saudi Arabia (76%), Norway (75%), Sweden (75%), Turkey (74%) and Indonesia (58%).

Those with a lower household income (88%) are most likely to spend time looking for a good deal. Even those with middle (84%) and high (79%) levels of income, however, would take the time to find a better price. Similarly, those with a low level of education (87%) are more likely than those with a medium (85%) or high (80%) level. Women (86%) are more likely than men (83%) to go hunting for a sale while there is no variability among age group.