Canada is becoming a hotbed for online grocery shopping, with the announcement by Amazon.com last week that they will start offering non-perishable grocery goods for sale from its website for the Canadian market. The move by Amazon comes just months after a similar one by retailing giant Wal-Mart.
Analyst are predicting that Wal-Mart will suffer against Amazon's competitive entry into the market, but they fear that overall the pressure from both of the international giants could prove too much for small and medium grocers in an industry that already operates on slim margins. It could be only a matter of time before Amazon and Wal-Mart eventually compete not only on non-perishables, but on fresh grocery items as well.
Both company's entry into the Canadian online grocery market come as Canadians are increasingly turning to the Internet for their shopping needs, since recent Canadian government statistics found $18.9 billion in orders placed in 2012. According to Statistics Canada the average Canadian made 13 online purchases and spent about $1,450 that year. To read more, click HERE.
