Canadian Retailer - Fall 2013 - 6

PUBLISHER'S DESK

Delivering expectations
Canadian retailers and consumers drive need
for same-day delivery

6|

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

THERE has been a lot of conversa-

tion in Canada over recent years
about the country's lack of e-commerce activity. And, as part of this
conversation, there have been a lot
of questions posed, back and forth,
regarding the suitability of the Canadian retail market to an increase
in e-commerce activity. Does the
consumer actually want to order
online or in-store for home delivery? Are Canadian retail operations
equipped to handle orders coming
through all of the available channels? Is the country's geography
spread too far across the land to
conceivably deliver to all regions,
remote and otherwise? Is there a
delivery system within the country
that will be able to deliver on the
promise of e-commerce? The debate
has shifted, like a pendulum, seemingly passing the responsibility of
the online world from retail ability,
to consumer demand to delivery
capacity. The answers to these questions, however, and the direction
that Canadian e-commerce is moving in, may ﬁnally be clear.
For an indication as to the e-commerce innovation that's happening
within Canada, one needn't look any
further than the Canada Post E-Commerce Innovation Awards, which
were held this past September. Seven retailers were named as winners,
spanning categories for Best Multichannel Retailer, Best e-tailer and Most
Innovative e-commerce Retailer. All of
the winners exemplify what it means
to embrace the omnichannel retail
environment, and each are certainly
innovating, blazing a trail of best
practices for the rest of the industry
to become inspired by.
Add to this the fact that a day prior

FALL 2013 | VOLUME 23 ISSUE 5

Sharon Armstrong
editor-in- chief

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

Scope Media
www.scopemedia.ca
contributors

Andrew Hind, David McPherson,
Robert Price
d i r e c t o r o f p u b l i c at i o n s

to the awards gala, Canada Post announced the launch of a pilot-the
very ﬁrst of its kind in Canada-in
which the delivery service provider
will be testing the same-day delivery
waters to gauge its viability in Toronto and to set a benchmark for delivery
across the country. This is a huge step
forward for e-commerce in Canada
and another piece of the puzzle that
seems to be falling into place.
What is no longer in question is
the appetite of the Canadian consumer for online shopping-it's
here and becoming more voracious
every day. With innovative logistics
solutions now coming into play, the
e-commerce tipping point seems to
have ﬁnally arrived. Retailers are
ready to tackle the online market
like never before this holiday season, beginning with Black Friday
and Cyber Monday, and all the pillars now seem in place for a full-on
Canadian omnichannel revolution.
Shop on!
Sincerely,

Diane J. Brisebois
President and CEO
Retail Council of Canada

canadian retailer | fall 2013 | www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

Bob Phillips
rphillips@naylor.com
project manager

Alana Place
aplace@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
www.retailcouncil.org
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

Naylor (Canada), Inc.
300 - 1630 Ness Avenue,
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 3X1
Phone: (800) 665-2456 | Fax: (800) 709-5551
www.naylor.com
Canadian Retailer is published six times each
year by Retail Council of Canada. Members
receive complimentary copies of the magazine
with membership. The annual subscription rate
for non-members is $36.75 + tax.
Publication Mail Agreement No. 40063389
Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to:
Circulation Department, 1255 Bay Street, Suite
800, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2A9
cdnretailer@retailcouncil.org
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.
http://www.scopemedia.ca http://www.retailcouncil.org http://www.naylor.com http://www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer
Canadian Retailer - Fall 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Fall 2013
