Canada has been experiencing many ups and downs since the economic recession, and recent findings from two different studies show that while overall retail sales decreased in December, Canadian consumers are increasingly going online to purchase items. This means that to boost sales, merchants should put more effort into making their ecommerce platforms more effective.

The Financial Post reports that research from Statistics Canada found that throughout December, retail sales dropped 2.1 percent. This follows five consecutive months of slight increases. The sales figures for the last month of 2012 are the biggest drop since April 2012, the source reports. Weaker price gains also contributed to the declines in retail sales, and some analysts are predicting that growth will continue to be painfully slow in the coming months.

On the other hand, businesses got a boost in sales from ecommerce purchases in 2012, as research from comScore revealed that Canadian consumers are taking to the internet to browse for and buy items. Internet Retailer reports that the study discovered that spending through retail websites reached $22.3 billion last year, representing a 9.9 percent jump from 2011. Transactions also increased, coming to a total of 105.3 million in 2012 compared to 90 million the previous year, the source notes.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, March 8th, 2013 at 7:57 am .