Droves of shoppers online.

Like many men, I have trouble getting geared up to start my personal yuletide shopping much before Christmas Eve. It is not so much procrastination, although that proclivity is part of the equation, I just do not like elbowing my way through crowded store aisles while trying to make purchase decisions from shelves resembling war zones.

So naturally I became an enthusiastic and early supporter of e-tailers as soon as their storefronts began appearing on the Web, and I am happy to say, through the intervening years and many online purchases, I have never been disappointed. Maybe I am just lucky or overly careful, but, to date the products I have bought were exactly as described. They arrived on time and in good condition and, nobody ever played games with my credit card data.

This year, as I started my yuletide shopping in mid-November from the comfort of my computer, (quite a switch from the past 50 or so years of last-minute purchasing) I began to wonder how much this digital buying phenomenon had grown and a little, quick research turned up some surprising answers.

According to a StatsCan report, online purchases in Canada for the year 2000 more than doubled the previous year's results reaching $1.1 billion generated by 9.1 million orders placed by 1.5 million Web-connected households. While that amount is a tiny fraction of our annual total buy of $591 billion, it is still not insignificant especially considering the Web only came into popular use in the last five years. Here are some other interesting facts: the average order was for $121.00; the average Canadian household spent $833.00 in online purchases during the year; of every seven loonies spent online, four went directly-to Canadian e-tailers; Ontario households accounted for almost half of the total expenditure; Quebecers posted an astonishing 278 per cent increase in online purchasing going from $38 million in 1999 to $144 million last year.

About 45 per cent of respondents said they bought books, magazines and newspapers online, while 31 per cent of e-commerce households ordered clothing, jewelry and accessories. Computers, software and music sales online declined to about 20 per cent of the total amount.

BizRate.com, an Internet research company, predicts online retail sales in the U.S. will grow 25 per cent this season over last year, and reach $11.55 billion US, while another researcher, GartnerG2, predicts a 39 per cent increase in worldwide online sales for the fourth quarter for a total of $25.3 billion US.

Checking the Canadian Web sites of major retailers in mid-November turned up a few surprises.

Walmart Canada and The Bay-were-not yet showing any Christmas specials or features on their Web sites, while Sears, that venerable purveyor of goods, displays a special Christmas shop and no-charge gift delivery service to most of their regional sales depots. Leaving no stone unturned, Sears also sports Web-based ordering from their online catalogue as well as their extensive collection of printed wish books. Canadian Tire-already had Christmas specials all over their Web site with a major banner up top announcing a 99-cent delivery offer.

The hands-down winning Canadian e-tail Web site of the many I checked is owned by Lee Valley Tools of Ottawa, and this comparatively tiny, nine-store chain selling hand tools and supplies for woodworkers and gardeners could teach the industry a lot about selling on the Web. No bells, whistles or geewhiz, slow-loading digital sleights-of-hand. This is a Web site that is easy to navigate and precise without annoying broken links. There are Christmas specials, to be sure, but the customer service system is the cleanest in the business with fast e-mail order and shipping confirmations, and many other buyer-friendly features to help first-time purchasers and seasoned veterans alike. I would recommend a careful top-to-bottom investigation of www.leevalleytools.com for anyone thinking about setting up a Web-based retail operation.

A favourite question posed by people discussing retailing on the Web is, "Has the medium matured?" The simple answer is no. The Internet, has not even been around for 10 years and the Web, as a popular medium, less than half of that. We have not even begun to explore the-possibilities and potential, but I believe we will learn, a great deal from this, Christmas selling season...one of the toughest in a long time.

John Milne, owner and proprietor of All Outdoors Productions in North Bay.