Statistics Canada
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Shopping online

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Shopping online has by no means eclipsed shopping in person, but it continues to gain popularity.

More than 8.4 million Canadians aged 16 and older made an online purchase in 2007, compared with nearly 6.9 million Canadians aged 18 and older in 2005. (In 2007, online shoppers aged 16 and 17 accounted for about 2% of online orders and 1% of their dollar value.)

Canadians placed 69.9 million online orders worth almost $12.8 billion in 2007.

Many people logged on to research products. Internet ‘window-shopping’ complements traditional shopping: in 2007, 64% of those Canadians who window-shopped on the Internet later purchased directly from a brick-and-mortar store. The items most window-shopped for were consumer electronics, large appliances, furniture, clothing, jewellery and accessories.