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ShopToIt

Media Coverage

Medicine Hat News, December 7, 2006.

Shoppers logging on for gifts

By James Neeley

Shoppers logging on for gifts

There’s a new phenomenon revolutionizing the cookie cutter shopping centres and strip malls — the powerful web-to-store shopper.

This is more than your average browser — live or online — this is a super-shopper.

“The consumer that researches online, then walks in to the store with often more education on the products then the clerks,” is how Clark Johannson, president and CEO of shoptoit.ca describes the master shopper.

Shoptoit.ca is Canada’s only online shopping search engine and Johannson says the industry continues to boom with no ceiling in sight. His company expects web shopping to increase by $15 billion in 2006 to eclipse the $50 billion mark.

Basketry Bug Inc. is one example of a Gas City business cashing in on the Internet market.

“It’s definitely been good exposure as an online advertiser,” said owner/operator Crystal Zens.

In two-plus years, basketrybug.com has helped her successful niche boutique expand within the area and beyond.

“It’s really grown. We have nearly doubled the size of our website over that time,” she added.

Basketrybug.com is locally created and maintained, helping to develop a vibrant online shopping market and overall economic growth in the city and area.

“Everybody is now jumping on the bandwagon,” said Marlyn Quast-Thera, owner/operator of Gaslamp Village Web Design (www.gaslampvillage.com).

She understands the web-to-store shopper phenomenon and sees it fueling the online market.

“A lot of times people are turning to the Internet to get more information before they’re phoning the business,” added Quast-Thera.
Gaslamp Village has about 50 clients in the Medicine Hat area.

“As lot more people are beginning to take it seriously because they understand it’s here to stay,” she continued.

“As a business owner, they may not want a website to sell anything, but to stay up with the competition.”

The eyes of the Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce are open to the new wave of shopper says president Jason Mutschler.

“It’s an excellent avenue for our members to market themselves,”  he explained.

“Our businesses need to be aware of that market, and make their presence felt.”

This he says is vital, because online shopping can have an adverse effect on local businesses.

“Your website is to benefit your customers in your area to give them the opportunity to look at you,” said Rick Brink, owner of Weddingstar, which receives more than 1 million visitors to their website a year.

“At least if retail stores have a website you have a chance to make a sale. Otherwise you have zero chance.”

Getting your business to the top of the search engine list is the major challenge.

“If you aren’t on the front page, its basically useless,” added Brink. “You’re a needle in the hay stack.”

According to Statistics Canada, Albertans and British Columbians were by far the heaviest users of e-commerce, with 45 per cent of adult Internet users in the two provinces placing an order for goods and services online in 2005.