OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says online sales are set to hit a record this year, amid limits on in-person shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new data is in line with Statistics Canada’s estimates from the spring, when retail e-commerce sales more than doubled from February to May.
The agency says online shopping fell this summer from its high of $4 billion in May, as more stores opened to in-person shopping.
Nonetheless, Statistics Canada says that 2020 could beat 2019’s online shopping sales of $305 billion, a figure that has more than doubled since 2013.
Meanwhile, several Canadian retailers, including Le Chateau, Mountain Equipment Co-operative, GNC Holdings, and Aldo, have filed for bankruptcy protection this year, and local municipalities across Canada are once again tightening restrictions or even banning in-person shopping.
The report says that up until last year, online sales represented about eight per cent of revenue for Canadian businesses with five or more employees.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2020.
