A guide to Canada’s ecommerce market including payment methods, logistics, digital users, social media and growth projections
Economy
Canada is home to 37.59 million people with a total GDP of US$1.65 trillion and GDP per capita of US$45,870, which is expected to reach US$54,726 by 2025.
Digital User Insights
There are currently 27.6 million ecommerce users in Canada, approximately 64% of the population. With a total ecommerce market value of US$32 billion, the current revenue per user is US$1,175.
Product Categories
Total Canadian ecommerce revenue across all product categories is US$32 billion, and is expected to grow to US$40 billion by 2025. Electronics & Media is currently the leading product category in Canada, accounting for US$9.8 billion market share, followed by Fashion, which generates US$9.4 billion in sales.
By 2025, Fashion will be the most purchased online category, with an estimated value of US$12 billion, and second favorite, Electronics & Media will have an expected worth of US$11.2 billion.
Where do Canadians import from?
Canada imports mostly from United States (US$252 billion), China (US$47.2 billion), Mexico (US$21.3 billion), Germany (US$12.7 billion), and Japan (US$10.2 billion).
Preferred Payment Methods
Payment methods vary, but credit cards are preferred with 54% of shoppers using them to make online purchases. Ewallets are steadily increasing, estimated to account for 27% of online payments by 2025.
Internet and Device Usage
Internet penetration in Canada is currently 87%, and should reach 88.3% by 2025. Smartphone penetration is almost equal at 87.6% , and is projected to grow to 88.19% in the next four years.
32% of online shoppers in Canada buy via desktop, with laptop (50%) smartphone (53%) used more frequently and tablet (24%) not too far behind.
Advertising
In 2021, an estimated US$7.73 (CAD$9.58) billion of Canadian ad spend will be spent on digital advertising.
For more market insights, check out the ESW series of blogs covering a range of emerging ecommerce markets.
*Insights derived from ESW data, Statista, WorldBank, OECD and other industry sources.
