By doing over 20,000 interviews on the topic!

By: Maureen Atkinson, Senior Partner, J.C. Williams Group

Last month we had the honor of speaking at the Real Estate Forum in Toronto. This is one of the largest gatherings of its kind, where both the investment and leasing arms of Canada’s largest owners and managers of real estate get together. My challenge was to give a ten-minute talk that focused on innovation in real estate. Here is a summary of my presentation.

J.C. Williams Group has been tracking Canadian consumers’ e-commerce shopping habits since 2013. We call this survey the Canadian E-tail Report. Currently, we interview more than 5,000 Canadians a year for this purpose. Since we have a significant amount of data, boiling this information down to a 10-minute talk was challenging, but forced me to think about what is really important to know about e-commerce in Canada. Here are my choices for the top 5 learnings.

#1 The Consumer Isn’t Who You Think It Is:

The general perception is that the biggest e-commerce customer is the young millennial who is always on their mobile—they love online shopping, but they also love stores and malls so their spending tends to be split. Instead, it is the young to middle aged working mother who is the most avid user of online shopping. She doesn’t have time for experiential shopping—and often does her spending after her kids go to bed. The other big change that we have seen is that older Canadians (+55 years) have also become much more active online. So everyone is out there using these tools. For retailers, this is a wake-up call—nobody can ignore this channel.

#2 No Product is Immune:

When we first started doing our research in 2013, Entertainment (books, music etc.) and Electronics had the highest online penetration. Since then, we have seen categories of Jewelry/Watches, Clothing, Footwear and Toys significantly increase their penetration. Lately, Sporting Goods and Leisure Equipment have really moved up. When this penetration reaches the 20% level, we see disruption in stores. We saw it in Books and Music and now it’s happening in the U.S. with Sporting Goods.

#3 Customers Love Amazon:

Amazon regularly gets top marks from customers for trust and service. They are the de facto source for price comparisons. This is just as true for Canadians as it is for the U.S. and Europe. In J.C. Williams Group’s research, we find them as the number one location for online purchases. Furthermore, their Prime membership has made inroads into Canadian households with almost one-third of Canadians having access to Prime. To summarize, they are trusted, they have access to many Canadians, and they continue to innovate. They are not going away anytime soon.

#4 Food is the Next Frontier:

To date, e-commerce penetration into the food sector has lagged most other categories. Now that is about to end. Loblaws knows it. They recently announced that they are going to start testing food delivery in major Canadian markets. It had to happen. Food is one of the largest regularly purchased product categories and it is ripe for disruption. Canadian food retailers have not kept up on the e-commerce front but Amazon is about to jump into this area. We know that more than one-quarter of Canadians have bought food online, but these purchases tend to be more shelf stable products. Now, that is about to change.

#5 E-commerce Brings New Roles and Opportunities to Those Who Pay Attention:

This learning relates to how retailers have reacted to e-commerce trends and technology. This can best be illustrated by three retailers that have shown how to use online and in-store capabilities to reach their customers and demonstrate their brand. Here they are:

Bonobos

This online retailer’s stores are where you can try on their products, but everything is ordered online and shipped to the customer. These showrooms help the customer understand the fit and get a clear idea of the brand—then everyone is driven to their website.

Nordstrom Local

This is a new concept with no inventory that Nordstrom is testing. The customer meets with a wardrobe advisor who will order products either from a nearby Nordstrom store or from their website. This is all about service and experience.

Amazon Books

This store is relatively small and has a very narrow assortment that is focused on the online behaviour of the local neighbourhood. The full Amazon book assortment is available through store terminals and online perks (like reviews) can be accessed either through store terminals or via the Amazon app. Products are NOT priced but prices can be accessed through the app or terminals.

MY FINAL COMMENT:

It is not the strongest of the species that survives nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change!

This statement most certainly applies to retail now more than ever!

Comments

Melody McKinnon

December 15, 2017

Your observations reflect our own and your closing statement couldn’t be more true. Canadian businesses have been painfully slow to fully embrace the Internet and all it has to offer them. We do face unique challenges in this country, but they aren’t insurmountable.

Hiring the right person to lead them on their journey can make a world of difference. It isn’t easy to find people who are talented and experienced in eCommerce and online marketing in Canada, but it can be done if leaders open their mind to remote hiring. There is no need to bring someone into their office for either of these positions. It can all be done remotely and economically, especially at the small business level.

Unfortunately, we’re going to lose many small businesses if they don’t start working the Internet into their business plan. With small businesses being the backbone of the Canadian economy, it’s a truly frightening thought.

Reply

Real Estate & Community Master Planning

Your vision for a thriving business is integral to any economic infrastructure; your customers are at the centre of all planning and decisions. Creating a clear and concise roadmap that factors every facet of the customers’ experience is crucial for success. Your plan must consider vendors, tenants, landlords, developers, government agencies, and other facilities that your retail space will benefit or affect. Your collaboration with the JCWG team will ensure a detailed master plan that includes clear objectives supported by extensive research that considers every component of your business community.

Resources and Techniques:

Retail demand calculations
Trade area analysis
Market gaps and opportunities
Zoning and space requirements
Retail supply audits
Trade area psychographics and demographics
Pedestrian and traffic counts

Expert Witness & Advisory Services

There are many moving parts in a customer-centric business, and you may encounter legal setbacks and disputes at any stage of your business journey. Your collaboration with the JCWG team will provide you with expert reports and testimony in trials and hearings while advising legal counsel to ensure that you have the necessary resources required to manage and support litigation impacting every aspect of your case.

Resources and Techniques:

Discovery
Expert report preparation
Trial testimony
Business strategy review
Determination of damages

Concept Development & Space Planning

Concept Development services include background research, branding, right-sizing, capital budgeting all the way to detail design. JCWG can work from an idea or join a design process to enlighten, validate and support implementation. A vacant property can also be best filled from a concept development exercise.

It may be your idea, our research results, or both. Once a potential retail concept is identified is needs to be developed and validated. The JCWG team has the capacity to develop the concept characteristics from aesthetic & functional planning, design standards, location requirements, capital requirement and validation through demand, trade area and benchmarking analysis.

Resources and Techniques:

Functional planning and programming
Concept design and development of design standards
Detailed design services including base building requirements
Marketing plan and strategy execution
Management and staffing selection
Tenant mix and product curation
Short term and long term KPI definition and monitoring
Operational audits
Expertise sourcing and partnering
Site selection, design development and project enduring, operations human resources, start up inventories, and capital costing
Physical programming and concept design

Branding & Marketing

Winning brand equity must happen on so many platforms in today’s retail world with a consistent message and quantifiable return. JCWG understands comprehensive internal and external brand messaging that identifies the uniqueness and market advantage of a retail busines. Your collaboration with the JCWG team will strengthen your marketing strategy to build stronger connections with your audience through your brand.

Resources and Techniques:

Brand assessments
Unique selling proposition, noble purpose, and differentiation authentication
Brand and marketing implementation
Communications plans
Insightful transition to row market share from research
Customer feedback and product evaluation

Research & Insights

The amount of data available to customer-centric businesses can be overwhelming. Understanding the metrics’ influence on strategy is imperative to success. An experienced eye can save a lot of time and misguided investment to provide relevant and actionable insights.

The JCWG project team collaborative approach provides access to unparalleled experience to mine and capitalize on.

Resources and Techniques:

Custom market studies and benchmarking
Market sounding and listening
Case studies
Global resources through our International partners, The Ebeltoft Group
Demand assessment and market share analysis
Daytime population data, tracking, and analyzing where consumers are and when
Quantitative consumer data gathering, both published and unpublished, from various external sources and our personal database gathered from industry projects
Qualitative data gathering and insights
Interviews (consumer and executive), focus groups, online surveys, and social listening
Employee and customer motivational metrics
Research validation and interpretation to insights

Retail Strategy

JCWG supports retail-related businesses with a proprietary approach that is based on a strategic model developed through nearly 50 years of experience guiding clients. Retail strategy must translate vision into a plan which addresses the client’s resources to implement. JCWG focuses on delivering strategies with vision and is supported by a ‘nuts and bolts’ approach to operationalizing. JCWG applies strategic thinking processes and market research to develop or revitalize your strategy.

Resources and Techniques:

Definition and prioritization of client goals, needs and wants
Thought starter and results oriented workshops to enhance planning team input and integration of JCWG research and expertise
Current situation snapshot, trade area analysis, market gap, and competitive audits (physical and digital)
Tenant and product curation, clustering, and right sizing
Tailored processes to match client cultural, operational, and financial needs
Productivity metrics and comparisons
Active, fun, and energized learning, sharing, and strategizing experiences
Financial modelling incorporating research findings
Risk analysis and mitigation
Threat and opportunity analysis
Omnichannel platform harmonization
Stakeholder and financing approval support

5 Things That I’ve Learned ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤAbout E-Commerce in Canada

By doing over 20,000 interviews on the topic!

By: Maureen Atkinson, Senior Partner, J.C. Williams Group

#1 The Consumer Isn’t Who You Think It Is:

#2 No Product is Immune:

#3 Customers Love Amazon:

#4 Food is the Next Frontier:

#5 E-commerce Brings New Roles and Opportunities to Those Who Pay Attention:

Bonobos

Nordstrom Local

Amazon Books

MY FINAL COMMENT:

Comments