Canadian Retailer - The Technology & e-Commerce Issue - 32

E-COMMERCE

"THAT [E-COMMERCE GROWTH] IS GOING TO
PUT PRESSURE ON THE BRICK-AND-MORTAR
NETWORKS OF THE EXISTING STORES BECAUSE
THERE TENDS TO BE A LOT OF FIXED COST IN
THE SYSTEM. AND SO, YOU NEED TO REALLY
THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT HOW YOU CAN
RESTRUCTURE, RATIONALIZE OR MAKE USE OF
YOUR PHYSICAL NETWORK TO BE VIABLE."
- MATT MACKENZIE
Boston Consulting Group

GLOBAL MARKET
E-commerce enables an increasingly global retail
marketplace. Research published by Forrester
predicts that by 2022, cross-border shopping will
make up 20 per cent of e-commerce ($630 billion USD), with 45 per cent of all online shoppers
opting to purchase from international retailers.
China will account for half of all cross-border purchases, and half of all cross-border transactions
will take place between Asia Pacific and North
America. Europe and the Middle East will also
emerge as promiscuous shoppers forsake local
retailers in hopes of getting better service and
products from stores located far and wide.

As Dan Bodley, Principal at Boston Consulting
Group (BCG), explains, the limitations on Canadian
e-commerce isn't with consumers, who are ready
and willing to e-shop, it's with retailers.
"The consumer demand is there," he says. The
supply isn't-or, at least, it isn't yet. Bodley expects
that to change as more Canadian retailers find their game
and start playing in the e-commerce space.
"We expect the Canadian e-commerce market to take off
in the next five years as more retailers and companies start
to take a close look at the space," he says.
Channel Loyalty

BCG's newest research into Canadian e-commerce suggests that retailers have to contend with a new facet of consumer behaviour. The customer's loyalties are changing.
And it isn't loyalty to brands that retailers have to worry
about. They need to worry about channel loyalty.
Certain customers in certain buying situations-like repeat
purchases-are becoming increasingly loyal to a channel. Once
the customer's become comfortable shopping online, they don't
go back to brick-and-mortar. By not offering products online,

retailers lose out on the customer and
the channel.
"Retailers are in effect ceding large
swaths of business they otherwise
used to have," says Matt MacKenzie,
Partner and Managing Director of
BCG's Toronto office.
Once customers are out of the store
and on the web, they become targets
for Amazon, the default choice for
many online shoppers. With the level
of investment players like Walmart,
Amazon, and other major e-tailers
around the world are making, retailers
need to figure out how to attack the
channel and provide offerings that

LOOKING BACK ON E-COMMERCE
Books.com, based out
of Cleveland, opens
the first webstore with
credit card processing

1992

Netscape unveils Netscape Navigator,
a browser with SSL encryption
Amazon.com and ebay.com launch

1994

1995
Wells Fargo is the first bank to offer
interactive online bank account services

32 |

CANADIAN RETAILER

| THE TECHNOLOGY & E-COMMERCE ISSUE

PayPay launches,
offering a new way to
transact over the web

1998
Google arrives

The Internet
loses its shine
(briefly) when
the dot com
bubble bursts

2000

http://www.Books.com http://www.Amazon.com http://www.ebay.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - The Technology & e-Commerce Issue