Canadian retailers’ online sales grew 13.4% year over year from January to April, according to estimates from Statistics Canada, Canada’s national statistics agency. Those online sales totaled just more than C$5 billion ($3.8 billion) during the period.
Online sales by Canadian merchants accounted for 2.82% of total retail sales in Canada during the four-month period, up from 2.56% in the comparable period in 2017. Statistics Canada figures do not take into account transactions made by online merchants based outside of Canada but that sell to Canadian consumers. It is a measure of sales made by Canadian merchants; customers can be located anywhere.
While online sales grew 13.4% overall from January to April, the online growth of Canadian merchants appears to be losing some steam. Looked at by the month, year-over-year sales growth in January and February was 16.6% and 17.0%, respectively. It dropped to 12.0% in March and 8.8% in April. Total retail sales by Canadian merchants over the same period grew 3.0%. Canadian e-commerce growth figures in 2017 regularly exceeded 20%, and total retail sales growth was also higher.
Online sales by Canadian merchants totaled C$15.69 billion ($11.99 billion) in 2017, according to Statistics Canada.
There are 29 Canadian merchants ranked in the Internet Retailer Top 1000. The largest are Hudson’s Bay Co., No. 36, and Lululemon Athletica Inc., No. 90.
