Online sales have increased considerably in Canada over the past eight years. The practice has something for everyone—sellers, buyers and even workers, who have a variety of new occupations open to them.

E-commerce, a true business opportunity

Two years ago, 50% of companies believed that their goods and services were not appropriate for selling on line, while today, only 39% think this. Thanks to the Internet, large companies can expand their market, and reduce their marketing and production costs. Small companies can square off against larger ones, experiment with new marketing techniques and launch new products. Traditional activities such as agriculture and crafts can also use it to boost their sales. In Canada, online sales increased by 17% in the public sector between 2005 and 2006, and by more than 45% in the private sector to reach $46.5 billion. Overall, consumers like this new way of buying products and services: no line-ups, opening hours, middlemen, with less expensive products and more discounts. . . E-commerce still has its non-believers, associated with the security of payments, delivery time frames and consumer protection concerns.

E-commerce success by thinking outside the box

The Internet and the disappearance of borders have prompted the necessity of working differently, thinking of new business strategies, and creating new supply or distribution networks. A firm's competitiveness will be increasingly based on its ability to manage its relationships with its customers, suppliers, and partners as opposed to its capital. Companies will have to offer a quality product adapted to the specific needs of their customers, who may be located all over the world. The success of e-commerce will require more interactivity than currently exists to share its experience, specific approaches and strategic advantages. Networks are starting to appear to connect companies that are active online.  

New jobs and new occupations

Online selling is synonymous with wealth creation for companies and for developing countries or regions with a lower cost of labour. Online sales, which for now represent only 1% of global retail sales, translate into massive job creation—new jobs to satisfy increasing demand, along with new occupations to ensure the smooth operation of the e-business component of companies. More than 46% of retailers have a website, including more than 88% of companies with more than 100 employees. Launching a commercial site requires new technical skills for an effective back and front office including an online catalogue, access plan to points of sale, a search engine, shopping basket, secure payment and order tracking system. New occupations include the following:

-  Webmarketers – develop e-commerce site traffic metrics

-  Online store managers – manage a product line, launch new products and track orders and claims

-  Webcammers – help Web surfers shop by walking through large stores with camera, portable computer and cellular phone in hand

-  Relationship marketing analysts – decode customer behaviour

-  Forum moderators – ensure the smooth conduct of discussions and create activities to develop discussions

-  Traffic managers – plan the use of advertising space

-  E-commerce managers – define the goods and services marketing strategy

-  Websurfers – index, rank and update e-commerce strategies

One might think that the above list of jobs is comprehensive. This is not the case, however, as new occupations in this field seem to pop up more quickly than websites. New job titles like feedback giver or virtual community manager cannot be far behind. . .

Interview with Michelle Leblanc 

e-commerce and Internet marketing consultant and speaker

"Companies should set up a commercial site only if they know where they are going, with clear objectives and performance measures. If they do not, the money spent will simply be an expense as opposed to an investment.  Because e-commerce is so complex, it requires a multidisciplinary team of specialists. The only generalists will play a management and coordination role. To get an idea of where online marketing is headed, just look at the pornography industry, which has always been on the leading edge in terms of international marketing. It was the first to index websites, buy key words, feature banners and have spam blogs."