Page 36 - GBC Winter 2020 ENG

SMARTPHONE USAGE IN CANADA
In Canada, nearly every person of an age his/her parents will allow it, is walking around with a smartphone right now. The real numbers are these:
• There are about 37.6 million people living in Canada
• 19% of that population is 17 years old or younger
• 83.5% of the Canadian population owns a smartphone
• By 2024, that number is projected to rise to 88% of the entire population
of the country owning a smartphone
When you consider it, that is pretty much everybody.
Now, just because you can swing a 5 iron around in a circle and
hit 7 people texting their BFFs at any moment, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are creating a reason for you to “embrace mobile tech” for your business, does it? I’m here to tell you it does. Let’s dig into what Canadians are doing with their smartphones right this minute.
$37.9 BILLION IN ECOMMERCE
Let’s talk money first. eCommerce (items purchased and paid for online) in Canada is growing quickly. Here are some stats for you to crunch with me:
• In 2017, in Canada there was nearly $29.5 billion CAD spent in eCommerce
• In 2019, that number increased to $33.9 billion CAD
• BOOM - COVID-19 and 2020, the same increase Canada saw in two years it is on pace to see in one year with 2020 hitting $37.9 billion
CAD
• It is now estimated that by 2024, that annual revenue will be up 66%
from where it was in 2017 and hit an annual number of $44.7 billion
CAD
**Note – these amounts originally published in USD, but converted by Golf Business Canada magazine using Bank of Canada exchange rate on Sept 28, 2020
That’s all well and good, but people can do this from their computers. It still doesn’t prove that mobile is a necessity, does it?
No, those numbers in and of themselves do not prove that. But, how Canadians are engaging to make these purchases tells a more complete and compelling story. Over the last 7 years, mobile traffic is up 222%. In 2013, mobile users accounted for only 16.2% of all internet users. That number would be exciting to me as a business owner, knowing that
Retail E-commerce Revenue in Canada from 2017 to 2024 (in millions US dollars)
almost 1 in every 6 of my customers was engaging via a mobile device, and a segment of the population I should not ignore. But in 2020, that number has risen to the majority. This year internet traffic in Canada has reached 53.3% of all users on a mobile device. Over half of your customers are looking for you on their smartphones, right now.
Is there a plateau in sight? I suppose that answer is “yes”, but it appears that number would be nearly 100%. Countries that are home to more internet users are indicating growth that is astounding. Right now in China, 802 million people use the internet. 98% of those users in China are accessing via a mobile device. In India, there are 500 million internet users with 80% engaging via a mobile device. So when we say the time is now to embrace mobile technology, we really mean - HURRY UP!
THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT
Now that I have begun to paint this picture for you of how people are interacting, let me share with you some very telling mobile statistics and some specific to the golf industry.
Mobile Apps KILL Mobile Internet Browsers:
• 90% of the time people are using
their mobile devices, they are doing it through a mobile app, not a mobile web browser
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Golf Business Canada