Technology Trends for Canadian Retailers in 2017

Habitually as soon as Halloween is over, most Canadian retailers will start preparing for the holiday season. After the rush of the holiday season, the retailing business starts to quiet down, providing Canadian retailers with an opportunity to gear-up for the coming year. In 2017 there will be some exciting trends and technologies that Canadian retailers should be on the lookout for. MONEXgroup seeks to investigate the upcoming enhancements in retailer technology and related Canadian retailer trends that business owners can expect in 2017.

Canadian retailers are rolling up their sleeves and putting in extra effort to support online grocery shopping. According to Forrester Research, online grocery shopping is expected to grow to about $3.6 billion per year by the next three years. Loblaw’s tested their online shopping model and came out with “click and collect” service in 2014, serving the purpose of allowing online customers to pick up their grocery orders. The supermarket giant aims to roll out their service to 100 of its stores by the end of this year. Wal-Mart Canada is also expanding their click and collect model with introduction to 37 stores in Toronto. One potential reason Canadians might reject this service is because they’re unsure of the product quality when it comes to ordering fresh food online (Statistics about Future Online Shopping).

Absolunet, a Digital Marketing and E-Commerce agency, observed the following trends in terms of technology for Canadian retailers that will increase in popularity over the years.

Click & Collect is basically where customers click for the items they want to purchase via an E-Commerce website and then collect their order in-store. Loblaw’s is introducing this option at a number of their stores, as is Wal-Mart in an ongoing battle to offer their customers with utmost convenience.

Order management system (OMS) software is used to automate and streamline order processing for businesses. To simplify operations, boost efficiency and sustain profitability, retailers should invest in OMS because it helps to organize orders from customers, maintain stock levels, and improve coordination of logistics.

As more and more customers spend time on “pre-purchase research” online, retailers are wise to invest in product information management. PIM functions as a product data hub where instant updates are sent to numerous websites simultaneously to manage multiple catalogue listings, ERP systems and electronic data.

For over a decade now, retailers have been using the Internet for advertising. Different avenues of Digital media have become prevalent and opened up new opportunities for Canadian retailers to communicate their message.

During the year of 2016, many stores have already witnessed the introduction of innovative technologies on the sales floor. This may include digital posters that send personalized messages to a customer’s mobile.

Brands will create more original content because materials will be repurposed over and over again; each text and copy will appeal to a different set of audience.

89% of Canadian Smartphone users search for local information and 67% of consumers use mobile to find store locations. Third-party site listings such as Yelp and Google Maps, receive 80% of usage amongst Smartphone users. Therefore, Canadian retailers need to put their locations on the map, so it will become easier for consumers to find them.

When Canadians need to buy something, they will typically read online reviews before making a decision. Statistically speaking, more than a quarter of Canadians do this routinely. Ignoring negative tweets or not responding to customers’ feedback would likely hurt your sales. Hiring someone to track your social media presence is a wise business move. Canadian businesses use Free Canadian Email Address for their email need for their businesses.

Business to Business E-Commerce is expected to grow beyond 2016 as tools continue to evolve to cater to this area of expertise. Traditionally, more digital efforts have been focused on consumers, and not as much on B2B or government departments.

Several prominent Canadian retailers such as Lululemon and Hudson’s Bay will leverage their digital infrastructure to expand into foreign markets, most notably the U.S.

Instead of just using social media to create an online presence and to recruit staff, Canadian retailers will start using social media channels to maintain and conduct customer service.

According to Ernst & Young this year, holiday sales for Canadian retailers are expected to grow 3.5%. Canadians are less likely to cross the border to go to the States because it is now more expensive to shop in the States, as a result of the decline of Canadian dollar.  According to Accenture Canada Holiday Shopping Survey, most shoppers surveyed are looking forward to shop in-stores rather shop online because they can assess and judge the item better in person than online. Researchers found that 27% of consumers consider the store’s reputation to be very important so they are more likely to shop there, but long lineups deter customers from wanting to shop and in fact, 57% of customers face this problem. 65% of Canadians will abandon their purchase if they have to wait longer than 10 minutes. Now that online shopping is an option, 41% of shoppers said they would abandon the long lines and shop online instead. Most of the shoppers surveyed are looking forward to shopping in-stores rather than online in the upcoming holiday sales. Furthermore, it was found that 41% of consumers use their Smartphones in-store to compare prices, whereas, 74% of shoppers plan to “showroom” meaning visit a store in person to review a product before ordering it online, and 76% plan to shop for a product online before buying it in a store.

At MONEXgroup, we strive to provide customized and scalable Canadian merchant services for large and small Canadian retailers alike. We are committed to helping our merchants succeed. Our payment processing services are ideal for Canadian retailers because of the first-class professionalism of our knowledgeable and friendly Sales Agents who are always happy to assist. Additionally, our merchants are supported by our highly trained customer service team and our national technical support coverage that delivers swap terminals within 2-4 hours to your store should you require it. MONEXgroup is trusted by thousands of small businesses across Canada and when you partner with us, you can rely on us to provide you with the tools for the success of your small business!

MONEXgroup boasts a wide variety of POS machines for Canadian retailers to choose from, regardless of the nature of your business. Our Countertop terminal such as the Clover Mini which has the Tap & Go feature is an excellent selection for a brick-and-mortar store; the Clover Flex which operates on WiFi and LTE networks is wireless and is an ideal choice for restaurants.