No Google Shopping Canada?

[olimits7]

Hi,

I was just wondering, does anyone know why Google doesn't offer a Google Shopping in Canada?

Is there an alternative to Google Shopping that is used specifically in Canada?

Thank you,

olimits7

[CPC_Andrew]

Not sure why, but there is no free Google Shopping alternative specifically to Canada. If you are looking for websites to promote your products on, the paid shopping engines in Canada perform pretty well. Wishabi.ca, Shopbot.ca, Shoptoit.ca, Nextag.ca and Pricegrabber.ca are some.

[thirteen]

There's not enough demand for that service. Canadians don't like buying stuff off the Internet. They prefer the brick and mortar stores.

I have a widget affiliate site that has a presence in both USA and Canada. I see some Canadian traffic in the web log but I have yet to see one sale off the Canadian affiliate store.

The only other explanation is if the Canadians are buying, then they must be buying from the USA affiliate store instead of the Canadian affiliate store. I checked the pricing and if you take into account the exchange rate, then it is cheaper to buy from USA. In addition, the Canadian stores like to charge Value Added Tax even to people who don't reside in Canada which gives them more reason to shop USA.

[jwolthuis]

Canadians don't like buying stuff off the Internet.

Really?

[CPC_Andrew]

@thirteen The four shopping engines listed above get pretty decent volume.

[votrechien]

Canadians don't like buying stuff off the Internet. They prefer the brick and mortar stores.

Well that settles that!

[Rugles]

Canadians don't like buying stuff off the Internet.

Not true at all.

However, most Canadians are wise enough not to order from a US site and have to pay the brokerage. Unless they really have no other choice. Perhaps that is your issue.

[thirteen]

Many Canadians online browsing, but not online shopping
[rainbowcomm.com...]

...more than half of all Canadians expect online prices to be lower than those in store.

...Canadians are unwilling to pay extra for this modern-day convenience (i.e. online shopping) and, in fact, are extremely sensitive to extra costs like shipping and handling.

Furthermore, shipping cost was the single-most cited reason for abandoning an online purchase with a full one-third of online shoppers reporting abandoning their purchase at checkout due to high shipping prices.

Google tracks web traffic and sees what people are searching for. Google.co.uk and Google.fr (UK and France) both have Google Shopping. There's sufficient demand for Google to build a platform to attract online retailers.

Google.com.mx (Mexico) does not have Google Shopping.

[Rugles]

Canadians are unwilling to pay extra for this modern-day convenience (i.e. online shopping) and, in fact, are extremely sensitive to extra costs like shipping and handling.

I guess we will have to layoff people in our shipping department then!

However, it is true, shipping is more expensive in Canada. Mainly because of the geography. Its a massive country and spread apart. It costs us nearly double to get a package to Vancouver BC as it does to Seattle WA.

[thirteen]

I guess we will have to layoff people in our shipping department then!

I'm curious. What are you shipping to online buyers in Canada?

[Rugles]

I can't promote products here, against the rules.

But we have B2C products as well as B2B products. We have the advantage of having a B2B catalog business before ecommerce happened.

[sleepy_eye]

Canadians don't like buying stuff off the Internet

We get orders from Canada everyday :)