2005 Canadian online sales jump 34 percent
In the year 2005, Canadian online sales had a record fourth straight year of double-digit growth according to Statistics Canada.
Online sales recorded a huge growth rate in 2005 but e-commerce was just over one per cent of total operating revenues for private firms.
Statistics Canada reports that combined online sales in the private and public sectors increased 38.4 per cent to $39.2 billion. Online sales by private firms increased 37.2 per cent to $36.3 billion, while those by the public sector increased 55.4 per cent to $2.9 billion.
There is a long way to go yet for web - based selling, but it is growing at a faster rate then retail sales.
This was the fourth straight year that the overall value of e-commerce sales in Canada increased by 38 per cent or more - six times the rise in overall retail sales in Canada in 2005.
The strong growth rate for online sales is contrasted to the slow adoption of basic information and communication technologies: In 2005, 82 per cent of all private firms used the Internet, unchanged from the previous year, and about 38 per cent had websites, up from 37 per cent.
Stats Canada says this seems to indicate that these basic technologies have reached at least a temporary saturation point in the Canadian market, much like the use of personal computers did a couple of years earlier.
We will probably see continued strong growth in online sales, as it will continue to outpace retail sales (brick and mortar companies)
Based on article I first read at Canada.com