Via Traffick, Statscan has announced that year-over-year Internet sales have grown by 80 percent from 2004 to 2005.

Retailers reported online sales of $5.4 billion in 2005, up 80% from $3 billion in 2004, according to the report. Retail sales accounted for 14% of total online sales of $39.2 billion in Canada last year. That compares with 10.6% of total online sales of $28.3 billion in 2004.

The percentage of retailers with web sites rose to 42% in 2005, up 10.5% from 38% in 2004. Overall, 38% of private retailers reported having a web site last year, up from 37% in 2004, according to Statistics Canada.

Here at Work Industries, we’re tickled to hear StatsCan validate what we’ve known for years: the web works as a direct sales channel for Canadian retailers. Canadians have some of the highest adoption of the Internet anywhere in the world and they’re starting to use it in increasing numbers and increasing volume to do their shopping.

What the retail numbers don’t account for is the huge volume of purchases made where the web plays a key roles in influencing and facilitating the sale.

A friend of mine is searching for a used car right now. I’ve shown her how to use the web to notify her of cars for sale that meet her criteria, the right model, model year, geographic location, even colour. Now matches are delivered to her and she can see the tons of cars available out there for sale that meet her criteria, along with the asking price. She can check the service record of that make, model and year. What do people say about their experience owning it? Now she knows her marketplace much better. She’s more confident. She’s increased her chances of getting the right car for the right price.

I bought a pair of eco friendly shoes this week. I had been meaning to buy a new pair of shoes but hadn’t seen the right pair. I wanted to make a good, natural-world friendly purchase and would have never known about the shoes I ended up buying (on sale to boot!) without the web.

So what can your business do to capitalize on shoppers using the web in their purchase process? Here’s some starting thoughts:

• Do you have a website? Is it well-constructed, easy to use and easy to find? Does it appeal to your clients?
• Does your website have a purpose that’s clearly articulated, with specific goals and performance indicators?
• Do you track your website performance on a regular basis? Do you use the information from your performance indicators to make decisions on the tactics you use?
• Do you know your market beyond the boundaries of your own website?
• Are you engaged in the online conversation that’s going on out there on the web?
• Do you know what your clients know and don’t know about you, your products and your company?

If you answered ‘no’ to any of the questions above, we should talk. Contact us. Leave a comment and we’ll contact you. Learning is the first step to doing. If an 80 percent increase in sales is any indicator, this Internet thing isn’t going away any time soon.