Skip navigation

Breaking News from The Globe and Mail

Internet shopping surges

By TERRY WEBER

Thursday, December 11, 2003

Globe and Mail Update

Canadian spending on the Internet surged 35 per cent last year -- nearly nine times the growth rate of new households logging on to the Web -- as shoppers looked further a field for ways to part with their cash, a new Statistics Canada report said Thursday.

In terms of what people were buying, travel emerged as one of the new front runners in the agency's latest survey, displacing items such as clothing and jewelry to rank second behind reading material.

Overall, household spending on Internet shopping in 2002 totalled $2.4-billion, up dramatically from the $1.8-billion spent the year before. On average, so-called e-commerce households spent an average of $876 annually on-line, up dramatically from $146 in 2001.

The 35-per-cent overall spending increase far exceeds the overall number of people logging on. According to Thursday's report, the number of households that accessed the Internet from any location rose about 4 per cent during the same period.

In total an estimated 2.8 million Canadian households managed to find time for on-line shopping in 2002, placing a total of 16.6 million orders.

“The $2.4-billion in orders placed over the Internet represents only a tiny fraction of the $656-billion in total personal expenditure in Canada last year,” Statscan noted.

“However, the new figures confirm that households are increasingly using the Internet as a method of purchasing products from Canadian and foreign vendors.”

Of every $10 spent on-line by someone in this country, about $6.36 went to a Canadian website.

About $884-million was spent at sites located outside Canada.

Although spending was on the increase, the number of browsers remained steady. About 1.7 million households used the Internet for window shopping last year, about equal to the level seen in 2001.

As well, the report suggested that, although more people were paying for purchases on-line -- that figure rose about 28 per cent -- many were nervous about the prospect.

More than three-quarters of Canadian households that paid for a purchase on-line said they were either “concerned or very concerned” about completing the transaction.

By region, Ontario represented the biggest proportion of Internet shoppers, with spending in that province accounting for nearly half of the $2.4-billion total. In 2001, spending in Ontario represented about 47 per cent of the national total.

British Columbia households represented the second biggest market for on-line retailers, with purchases in that province accounting for 18 per cent of the overall figure.

© The Globe and Mail

Search the News
Search using one or more of the following options:
    Symbol  Lookup
Search:
 
 
 
 
 
* Can only be used when searching The Globe and Mail and the newswires. Search Tips 

GlobeinvestorGOLD.com

Only GlobeinvestorGOLD combines the strength of powerful investing tools with the insight of The Globe and Mail.

Discover a wealth of investment information and and exclusive features.

Free E-Mail Newsletters

  • Morning news headlines
  • Morning business headlines
  • Financial highlights
  • Tech alert
  • Leisure

Sign-up for our free newsletters



Back to top