Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 4

PUBLISHER'S DESK

STORE's Retail 360
IF anyone is questioning the impact
of mobile, social media and online
growth on the retail sector and on
consumer shopping habits, then the
following statistics will feel like a
bolt of lightning:
Smartphone users worldwide will
hit the 1.75 billion mark this year.
That's roughly 25 per cent of the
world's population. By 2017, nearly
50 per cent of the world will be using
smartphones! It's also reported that
Canadians will consume 800 per
cent more mobile data by 2018 than
they currently do-an increase from
1.3 GB of data per month to 9 GB.
And, it is estimated that mobile ad
revenue will reach $11.4 billion this
year-compared to $9.6 billion in
2013. 2016 mobile ad revenues are
expected to climb to $24.5 billion.
There are 19 million Canadians
who access Facebook at least once
a month and 14 million who log in
every single day. The number of
users who log in with a phone or tablet
at least once a month now approaches 15 million, up about 15 per cent
from 13 million over the past year.
Facebook says about 70 per cent of
its North American users who log in
monthly have willingly connected
with a local business. And its Canadian President, Jordan Banks, says
most Canadian businesses are now
using Facebook for marketing.
According to its filings in late
2013, Twitter had more than 215 million monthly active users, 100 million of them daily active users, who
generated 500 million Tweets every
day. There are also more than 6 million websites that have already integrated with the Twitter platform.
In early April, the Globe & Mail
reported that Amazon.com had
launched new items on Amazon.ca
in two more categories: wireless accessories and musical instruments.
The article stated that it brought the
number of product categories that
it offers in this country-more than
20-to nearly the same number as

SPR ING 2014 | VOLUME 24 ISSUE 2

publisher

Diane J. Brisebois
s e n i o r v i c e - p r e s i d e n t, m a r k e t i n g
& c o m m u n i c at i o n s

Sharon Armstrong
editor-in- chief

Sean C. Tarry
(416) 922-0553, ext. 286
starry@retailcouncil.org

its offering south of the border.
As all of these statistics illustrate,
there is a lot going on. And the staggering growth can make for a complicated world for retailers. So, Retail Council of Canada decided to
dedicate a large portion of its June
3/4 2014 STORE Conference to retail's future growth-its challenges
and opportunities.
From the heads of Facebook, Google, Yahoo and Twitter sharing their
views on the future and senior analysts from Retail Net Group (RNG)
providing key insights on Amazon,
to iconic Canadian retailers sharing their vision and great entrepreneurs and consumer goods experts
openly discussing our changing
landscape and the need to be relevant to consumers 24/7-STORE
2014 has gone the extra mile to give
the industry the greatest platform
to learn, be challenged and to share.
The industry has never faced so
much change so quickly. We believe
that STORE 2014 (www.storeconference.ca) provides retailers and partners with an opportunity to be inspired and stimulated. So we hope
to see you there. It is without a doubt
a worthwhile investment.
Sincerely,

Diane J. Brisebois
President and CEO
Retail Council of Canada

canadian retailer | spring 2014 | www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

art direction

Scope Media
www.scopemedia.ca
contributors

Karl Littler, David McPherson, John
Orr, Robert Price, Michael Turscanyi
d i r e c t o r o f p u b l i c at i o n s

Bob Phillips
rphillips@naylor.com
project manager

Kim Davies
kdavies@naylor.com
sales manager

Bill McDougall
bmcdougall@naylor.com
editorial office

1881 Yonge Street, Suite 800
Toronto, Ontario M4S 3C4
Phone: (416) 922-6678 | Fax: (416) 922-8011
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a d v e r t i s i n g/ p r o d u c t i o n o f f i c e

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Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 3X1
Phone: (800) 665-2456 | Fax: (800) 709-5551
www.naylor.com
Canadian Retailer is published six times each
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We welcome your article suggestions and
any photographs pertaining to retailing in
Canada. Please note the opinions expressed
in Canadian Retailer do not necessarily
reﬂect those of Retail Council of Canada. For
article reprints, contact Naylor (Canada) at
1-800-665-2456.

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Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014

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