Canadian e‐commerce

Examines the importance of e‐commerce in the retail economy. The analysis is placed in the broader context of economic and social change and provides a theoretical framework for evaluating the growth of e‐commerce as a major distribution channel. By exploring the results of the recently released “Household Internet survey of Canadian households”, the paper documents the actual shopping behaviour of Internet shoppers from a variety of perspectives. The Canadian experience should provide analysis with a series of benchmarks and trends on which to evaluate the adoption of e‐commerce in other markets.