ASET Technology Alberta Winter 2020 - 13

feature

DIGITAL
MARKETPLACE
Trends and tips around
the e-commerce industry
There's a running theme of adaptation in
the goods and services industries. For
enterprises exposed to a breakneck pace
of new technologies, the rule of thumb
appears to be: keep pace and thrive; lose
step and lose business. This philosophy
applies to new buying and selling models,
and arguably the biggest button many are
pushing is labelled " E-commerce. "
Online retail has been moving in a steady upward trajectory
the last few years. According to a report from Statistics Canada, the percentage of retail sales in the country coming from
e-commerce sat at 1.7 in 2014. By 2018 this percentage had
doubled to 3.4.
As of April of 2020, the proportion of online sales spiked to
11.4 per cent. While this dramatic jump comes at least in part
from the physical store closures across the country during
the lockdown, e-commerce has been taking increasingly bigger slices of the pie every year for a while now.
" Prior to the pandemic, e-commerce retail sales increased
almost every single month on a year over year basis. This is
a trend that continued well into the pandemic, " says Omar
Youssouf, senior analyst with Statistics Canada.
Youssouf recently coauthored a report on the rise of retail
e-commerce because of COVID-19. Discussing the report's
findings, the most interesting takeaway he had was that the
online spending didn't slow down, despite the uncertainty of
the times.
" While this is somewhat reasonable given store closures, it's
really interesting that consumers still chose to spend at a
wide variety of store types, given the economic uncertainty
that we all faced in the start of April 2020, " he notes.

No matter the circumstances, the digital money train rolls on.
This year-by-year, month-by-month increase is something
those involved in the web sales industry have noticed for a
long time now.
Dragan Marjanovic is the CEO and owner of Mediashaker, an
Edmonton-based web development company. Marjanovic
says that as far back as a decade ago, he noticed companies
of all kinds dipping into these digital waters.
" From 10 to 12 years ago, you started seeing companies that
historically weren't very technical, wanting to not only move
into a niche but wanting to go all in, " Marjanovic says, " and
what we've noticed is, companies that have invested in that
direction then, are leaders today. "
This lead isn't just in the digital sphere. With big hitters like
Amazon and Alibaba sitting comfortably among the world's
most profitable companies, it's clear these sellers have
staked out a permanent spot in larger markets.
Part of this success stems from the geographical advantage
vendors find with an online customer-base. Removing the
limitation of consumers needing to be in the immediate vicinity of a business means that business stands to make explosive headway in customer acquisition.
Scott Cunningham is the founder and managing director of
Social Lite Communications, a digital marketing company
based in Edmonton. Cunningham points to the geographical
angle as one of the most compelling reasons for brick and
mortar stores to consider throwing their goods up online.
" If you're selling anything, really, and you have the capacity to
sell to customers outside of your region, then it makes absolute sense, " Cunningham says.

TECHNOLOGY ALBERTA | WINTER 2020 | 13

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=2010006501 https://www.forbes.com/global2000/#1c22c929335d https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00064-eng.htm

ASET Technology Alberta Winter 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASET Technology Alberta Winter 2020