delivering the online world: winter 2016 | canada post

DELIVERINGthe Online World

TM

Fall 2016

The story of its online retail launch

E-commerce Innovation Awards This year’s winners

AN & Associates Canada’s newest e-commerce giant

Holiday planningGetting more from peak season

LCBO

Kerri Dawson, Vice-President of Marketing

at the LCBO

“Canada Post is reliable, convenient and they help us run our business more successfully.

We love them.” Natasha and Elysia Vandenhurk, Three Farmers

Dragons’ Den Pitcher 2012

You have what it takes to succeed. We’re here to support you with a network that reaches

every single address in Canada. That means fast, flexible and cost-effective shipping.

It means e-commerce solutions that make it easy to sell online. It means direct mail tools

to help you target and reach new customers. Find out how we can help you go further.

To see more small business success stories, visit canadapost.ca/dragonsden.

Company Name

Customer Number

Solutions for Small Business

Shipping solutions Marketing solutions E-commerce solutions Mailing solutions

TM Trademark of Canada Post Corporation.

5 Letter from the CEOCanada Post is working hard to help retailers maximize the all-important holiday season, and succeed in the coming year.

7 Industry insightsFree offers you can afford, costly website errors to avoid and anti-fraud tips to protect you.

10 Spotlight: MATH SportMathieu Raymond wants to take his made-in-Canada dream to the global level. “Shoes made for you, by you are in,” says the president of MATH Sport, named Most Exciting Start-up at the 2016 Canada Post E-commerce Innovation Awards.

16 AN & Associates rockets to successBrothers Amar and Nirav Gandhi have a knack for finding products, and they’ve taken selling “stuff on the Internet” to new levels by trusting their instinct and “listening to the voice inside.”

26 Q & ACanada Post’s Valérie Normand offers tips on how retailers can make the most of this holiday season. What are retailers doing differently?

Fall 2016

Canada Post and you

22 Smart – and easy – returns

24 How our parcel pickup solutions can help you grow

25 ShipStation on what makes a world-class shipper

DELIVERING the Online World

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Retailers recognized for re-inventing the online space Innovators shine light on trends poised to shape the future of retail. These stars are erasing boundaries between digital and physical stores, and reaping the rewards.

TM Trademarks of Canada Post Corporation. eMarketer, Visa, Shopify, 3dcart, BigCommerce, MATH Sport, Nike, adidas, Vibram, Mercedes, Facebook, Twitter, ShipStation, and logos of LCBO, Best Buy, Surmesur, Shoes.com, Momzelle, Frank + Oak, MATH Sport, Lunapads, Well.ca and Mitchel-Lincoln are trademarks of their respective owners.

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12 LCBO delivers How the government agency turned challenges into assets to launch its new e-commerce channel.

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WHAT GETS PEOPLE TO BUY WHAT THEY BUY?

Download our whitepaper Connecting for Action atcanadapost.ca/getconnected.

To answer this question, Canada Post has recently completed extensive

neuroscientific research. The results suggest an integrated marketing campaign

that includes direct mail is more effective in driving consumer action. In fact,

campaigns including direct mail can drive greater consumer attention, more

emotional intensity, and higher brand recall than single-media digital campaigns.

Read the research that confirms what we call the connectivity effect.

Delivering the Online World 5Fall 2016

How do you ensure you’re making the most of Cyber Week and maximizing your sales? It’s a question that retailers must ask earlier and earlier in the year, as holiday planning now begins months ahead of peak season – at Canada Post, we begin our holiday planning as soon as we take down the decorations. But are you planning for after the holidays?

Check out our Q&A with Valérie Normand, our Director of Parcels and E-commerce Solutions Integration (page 26). Valérie offers insights into how essential the weeks after the holidays have become, and how a retailer of any size can leverage them.

One of the best parts of working at Canada Post is working with retailers of all sizes, from giants to small start-ups. I have found you can learn a lot from both, and we reflect that in this issue.

Our cover story will give you some key takeaways from the LCBO. It launched its new e-commerce site this past summer, making almost 5,000 products available online across Ontario. You’ll also find out about AN & Associates, whose use of international markets has made it one of Canada’s fastest-growing e-commerce companies. Our story on MATH Sport introduces you to a new retailer ready to disrupt the sneaker market. It’s this year’s winner of the Most Exciting Start-up at our E-commerce Innovation Awards.

You can read about all of this year’s winners (page 18) and find articles and videos about them at canadapost.ca/magazine.

As always, I hope you find lots in here to help you compete and succeed over this important season and in the coming year. Happy holidays!

Deepak ChopraPresident and CEOCanada Post

As we put together the fall issue of this magazine, one of the most important shopping events in North America is just around the corner – Cyber Week. Every year, this week becomes more critical to retailers as the holiday shopping behaviour of Canadians increasingly tilts to the online environment.

LETTER FROM THE CEO

TM


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2

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FlexDelivery lets you send your online purchases to a post offi ce location that’s convenient for you. So you can keep a gift a surprise, pick it up close to where you are, at home or anywhere in Canada. Use your FlexDelivery address when you want to. It’s convenient, secure and free.

Sign up today for the convenience ofFlexDelivery at canadapost.ca/fl exdelivery

Sign up to choose your preferred post offi ce.

When you shop online use your FlexDelivery address instead of your usual mailing address.

Pick up your package at the post offi ce when you receive your email notice.

IT’S EASY TO GET STARTED:

Keep your online gift purchases under

wraps with FlexDelivery™

PRESIDENT AND CEO CANADA POSTDeepak Chopra

VICE-PRESIDENT MARKETING AND

COMMERCIAL PRODUCTSBill Gunton

DIRECTOR COMMERCIAL MARKETING

Christine Gillingham

MANAGER PARCELS AND E-COMMERCE

Craig Sanderson

EDITORIAL DIRECTORCynthia Reynolds

MANAGER GRAPHIC DESIGN

Céline Morisset

ART DIRECTION AND DESIGNKim Mallette

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSNancy Carr

Cindy Daoust John Greenwood

EDITING, PROOFREADINGChristopher Mallory

FALL 2016


ON THE COVERKerri Dawson,

Vice-President of Marketing photographed by

Alex Webster, Pinpoint Photography.

Delivering the Online World is published by Canada Post.

CANADA POST 400 HUNT CLUB ROADOTTAWA ON K1V 1C1 PM42983513

Contents copyright 2016 by Canada Post. May not be reprinted without permission.


TM

Fall 2016

The story of its online retail launch

E-commerce Innovation Awards This year’s winners

AN & Associates Canada’s newest e-commerce giant

Holiday planningGetting more from peak season

LCBO

Kerri Dawson, Vice-President of Marketing

at the LCBO

Your takeaway?Incorporate free options across as many touch points as you can, even if it’s just one option. Offering free options through-out the online shopping journey – such as free pick up in-store or free returns to-store – will support shopper acquisition, conversion and retention.

To learn more about how to apply the right shipping pricing strategy to your business, download our white paper at canadapost.ca/pricing.


INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

We all know customers want free shipping. But what if you can’t offer free shipping without destroying your bottom line? This is the reality of many businesses, especially small ones. Still, there are ways to incorporate affordable free offers throughout the online experience, and research shows your customers will respond to them.

ONLINE WORLD BY THE N U M B E R S

Sources: Canada Post. Online Shopper Sensitivity to Shipping Costs, 15-214, September 2015; Canadian Online Shopper Study, 16-202, April 2016; Holiday Monitoring Research 2015.

66% will wait a maximum of eight days for delivery when receiving free shipping.

But there are other ways to make free offers to your customers

21% of shoppers complete their online purchase when presented with a free in-store- pickup option at checkout.

FREEPICK UP IN-STORE

FREERETURNS

26% of shoppers complete the purchase when presented with a free return-to-store option at checkout.

2014: 51% of merchants offered free returns to-store.

2015: 64% of merchants offered free returns to-store – and the number is growing.

2014: 42% of merchants offered the option to buy online and pick up in-store.

2015: 50% of merchants offered the option to buy online and pick up in-store – and the percentage is rising.

FREE IS KING

For more canadapost.ca/pricing

8 canadapost.cacanadapost.ca8

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

You’ve got a hot, new website that’s getting traffic. Congratulations, but it’s only a start. Remember, traffic isn’t sales. To convert visits into transactions, you need to win the trust of visitors to your site.

You’re asking folks who may be unfamiliar with your brand to pay online and entrust you with their banking and other personal information. That’s not going to happen, unless they trust you. First impressions matter, so think of avoiding these common mistakes on your website.

The tyranny of typos No matter how good your product pictures look, customers get turned off by spelling and grammar errors. If a merchant can’t get it right online, what are the odds they’ll get your order right?

Incomplete product detail How many times have you tried to buy something online only to abandon the effort because the

website lacked decent product information? Customers need to know what they’re buying, and your website needs to tell them. Provide customers with enough detail to make sound decisions. Use photos or graphics that are informative, clear and easy to understand.

Unclear shipping and delivery informationLet customers know before check-out what they’ll pay for shipping and when they can expect their purchases to arrive. Incomplete or unclear information can lead to abandoned carts and disappointment. For example, 32% of Canadian online shoppers say that they will complete their online purchase if the estimated delivery date is available prior to checkout.

Hidden contact infoIf you’re selling something, purchasers need to know who you are and how to reach you. Don’t make consumers work to get

contact information. Make it prominent on your online site. You also want to be available if anything goes wrong with your product or service. It may sound obvious, but this happens enough to make it a common mistake. So avoid it.

Confusing return policySmart shoppers like to know their options if they change their mind about a purchase. A clear return policy can be a major selling point. Make yours easy to find and understand.

Poor social media skillsPlatforms like Facebook and Twitter can be valuable marketing tools, but like anything else associated with your brand, they should be used wisely. Your posts should be consistent with your brand and other communications. And make them current. Wait too long between comments, and customers will wonder if you’re still a vibrant business.

Costly errorsDon’t undermine trust in your brand – Avoid these mistakes

Seller bewareThese anti-fraud tips can protect you from cybercrime

With more and more people shopping online, e-commerce fraud is thriving. Card-not- present scams soared to $537 million in 2015 from $128 million in 2008, or by nearly 320 per cent, reports the Canadian Bankers Association.

Transactions in which the cardholder cannot physically present a card for visual examination account for 80 per cent of all credit card fraud, says Visa Canada. The good news is merchants can protect themselves. Here are some tips to guard against fraud.

Use a solid providerEnsure you have a strong e-commerce platform. The federal government warns that small businesses are more likely to be targeted than larger companies. A solid provider – Shopify, 3dcart or BigCommerce, for example – can save you grief, especially when it comes to tricky stuff like authentication.

Follow your instinctPick up the phone if you’re unsure about an order. You may have the world’s smartest fraud detection software, but nothing’s perfect. If an order that makes it through leaves you uncomfortable, put yourself at ease by calling the customer directly.

Act on address inconsistenciesBe wary of orders where the shipping address differs from the billing address. In most cases they will be the same, but not always. Sometimes the billing address might be an office, while the delivery address is the customer’s home. Know the red flags and use com-mon sense.

Match IP locations with delivery addressesCheck to ensure the IP location matches the delivery address on orders with overseas delivery. Customers residing in other coun-tries can be challenging to verify and, unless you use a courier service,

it’s often difficult to confirm that the order ended up in the customer’s hands.

Question unusual ordersWatch out for multiple orders for the same product, larger than normal orders and numerous transactions on a single card over a short time. All these things can signal fraud.

Manage sensitive filesHandle all your data with care, especially customer data. Limit access to only those employees who need to know, and make

sure you know who they are. Be certain to back up your files in a secure place. When they’re no longer useful, destroy them.

Update your softwareMake sure your shopping cart software is up to date. Fighting against fraud is a constant battle. If a new version of your software is available, install it to stay ahead of the crooks.

Know your customer For many small retailers, the typical customer fits a specific demographic. If you get an order that’s suspect – the address is in an unfamiliar country or the value is unusually high – ask questions.


INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

10 canadapost.ca

Every year at the Canada Post E-commerce Innovation Awards, the category for Most Exciting Start-up happens to also be the most exciting of the night. Who is the next one to watch – the one who will lead the next generation of retail entrepreneurs?

This year, the judges bestowed the title on Québec-based MATH Sport and its founding president, Mathieu Raymond, who started the custom-made running shoe company to change how people buy running shoes faster than you can say Andre De Grasse.

“We wanted to make something where you choose the colour, you choose the sole thickness, you choose the insole density, so that the shoes are made for you, by you,” says Raymond. “It’s hard to step up and go train, so at least if we feel really comfortable in our shoes it’s a little easier to get out there.”

Raymond’s product, envisioned while he was a business student at Laval University, is a runner’s made-in-Canada dream.

MATH Sport uses a 3-D scanner to create an image of the buyer’s feet, then saves it in the company’s database. Right after that or at a later

date, the buyer can choose the style and colour of laces, upper, midsole and outsole – all from a set menu.

Those choices and the precise measurements are paired up, and the shoes are assembled in Montréal with local and imported materials, including components from industry leader Vibram. Several weeks later, the new, customized and personalized shoes arrive in the mail, often costing less than store-bought, big-brand competitors. (People who can’t get to one of his scanners can still order shoes to their specifications, in their size and favourite colours, but without a 3-D foot scan.)

For Raymond, being a footwear entrepreneur is a natural fit. As a teenager and in his early 20s, Raymond was a rising track and field star. He competed at the national level for his university and achieved a personal best time for his event – the 800-metre middle

Raymond, now 29, is focused on building MATH Sport into a truly national – even international – sporting goods company. His plan for beating global giants like Nike and adidas? Good old-fashioned customer service.

Happy feet

Mathieu Raymond, MATH Sport’s founding president, is changing how people buy running shoes.

By Nancy Carr | Francis Vachon, Pinpoint Photography

Former track star turned entrepreneur wants weekend warriors to enjoy their workouts with custom-fit, personalized athletic shoes


SP TLIGHT

distance running race – of one minute, 50 seconds.

But when he realized that he couldn’t make a career out of running, he turned to business.

“Entrepreneurship has always been in me. I conducted my first contract negotiations when I was 10, with my father, when he asked me if I wanted to mow the lawn.” Raymond remembers offering to cut the front and back yards for a total of $2.50 that summer. The next year he said he’d do it for $2. When his father questioned his logic, he said, “$2 for the front yard and $2 for the back.”

Raymond, now 29, and with two other businesses behind him, is focused on building MATH Sport into a truly national – even interna-tional – sporting goods company. His plan for beating global giants like Nike and adidas? Good old-

fashioned customer service.“What we are doing is we take

care of each client. We make sure that the shoe they’re going to have fits what they do as a runner and helps keep them happy.”

As of October, MATH Sport, named for the complex calculations that go into making each custom-fit shoe and for the short form of the founder’s name, has shipped about 2,500 pairs of shoes to customers. By February, after what Raymond hopes to be a busy holiday season, that number is predicted to increase to 3,500.

The decision to use Canada Post as MATH Sport’s shipping partner came after trying several different delivery services.

“It’s so easy to use the system that Canada Post provides and we’ve had very, very good service with our

agents. It’s made our job much easier.”Raymond doesn’t expect to be

shipping just shoes for long. He has plans to create a clothing line by first featuring custom-fit t-shirts with a shoulder measurement of small, medium, large or extra-large, and two options for the torso length.

“That way, a tall, skinny guy will finally get a t-shirt that doesn’t show his belly, and the smaller guy will have something that fits and doesn’t look like a dress,” he says.

When asked whether he has an entrepreneurial role model that he looks up to as he builds his business, Raymond voices an emphatic “non.”

“I’m not the kind of person who looks to somebody and tries to do the same. I want to be different from all the others. That’s how I’ll be successful.” DTOW

For more canadapost.ca/mathsportshoes

MATH Sport’s 3-D scanner creates an image of the buyer’s feet and saves details in a database. The company then marries precise measurements with buyer preferences on style and colour of laces, upper, midsole and outsole. Shoes are assembled and arrive in the mail weeks after an order is placed.

12 canadapost.ca

DELIVERS How the government agency turned challenges into assets to launch its new e-commerce channel

By Cynthia Reynolds | Alex Webster, Pinpoint Photography

On July 26, the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) made headlines when it launched an e-commerce channel for people across the province to buy its products online for the first time. The new site meant customers could access about 5,000 LCBO products, no matter where they lived in Ontario.

But what the news didn’t convey is the story behind the headlines – which explains how this large organization was able to execute the e-commerce launch in half the time it had planned originally.

How did they do it? Kerri

Dawson, the company’s Vice- President of Marketing, sums it up matter-of-factly: “Team work.”

The beginningThree years ago, the LCBO operated a basic non-transactional website, a place where shoppers could go to find information, such as locations, store hours and background on available products. But with Canadian consumers increasingly embracing online shopping, the company recognized it would need to evolve the website to serve an increasingly digital-savvy customer base. So it embarked on what

Dawson calls a “digital reinvention.”In 2014, it re-launched a more

robust, though still non-transactional, site. A year later in spring 2015, the company received support from the Ontario government to sell online, and then Board approval shortly after. The e-commerce team got to work, devising a 24-month plan to launch an end-to-end online channel for lcbo.com. But digital retail thrives in a fast world, and then-CEO Bob Peter had a different timeline in mind. He issued what Dawson refers to as a CEO challenge. He wanted the site ready in half that time.

LCBO


BUOYED BY SUCCESS, the LCBO’s e-commerce team (from left to right): Jane Dragone, CSR; Kaila Morgan, CSR; Rick Simpson, E-commerce Manager, Retail; Phoebe Duong, Senior Planner; Julia Zhu, Direct Digital; Eydie Sperling, CSR; Elspeth Lumley, CSR; Chris Prodanos, Project Manager; Kristina Lind, District Trainer; Kim de Franza, CSR; Kerri Dawson, Vice-President, Marketing; Tony Ciccone, Casual; Ewan McNeill, Director ICE; Sebastian Aruta, Senior Manager; George Simos, General Manager.

Culture changeFor nimble start-ups, launching an e-commerce venture in 12 months might not seem like a big deal. But for a government agency, with more than 655 retail stores, about 9,000 employees and a product that requires proof of age, it’s a massive challenge that, Dawson says, turned into a key factor for success.

“What was good about that challenge was the team became incredibly focused and the project was scoped out with laser-like precision. It also meant that internally the organization rallied around the delivery of e-commerce.”

The secret to the LCBO’s success? “Team work,” says Kerri Dawson, Vice-President, Marketing.

14 canadapost.ca

We expected the same diligence in terms of social responsibility from our partner that we chose for home delivery, and Canada Post was a good choice.

That internal rallying translated into noticeable changes in how the e-commerce team worked.

For instance, it affected meeting attendance. When a meeting was about e-commerce, Dawson says, people showed up, making time in their schedule. It focused decision- making – no longer could people take a week to make a decision, they had to work faster. The project manager became crucial, not only for keeping everyone on track, but also holding them accountable for their

part. And the glue that kept it all together?

Buy-in at all levels of the

organization, including the very top. These kinds of culture-driven

factors made the e-commerce project team of roughly 150 from several LCBO departments more effective, efficient – and invested. “When we launched, you could tell there was a sense of pride with the accomplishment.”

Good timingLike most large traditional organiza-tions, the LCBO is not an early adopter. It also had successfully invested in upgrading and expanding an extensive store network in some 300 communities across the province. Ironically, Dawson says, not being “bleeding edge” turned out to be a positive.

Many Canadian retailers had been in the e-commerce market for a decade. However, it was just over the past three to five years

that Canadian shoppers have embraced online shopping,

enabling retailers to finally start seeing significant

returns.

This meant the LCBO could look at the industry, at other retailers and at its own customers for what successful e-commerce looked like. There was little guesswork or risk when it came to building an engaging website with a compelling customer experience.

Yet there was one area the company would have to execute flawlessly that most other retailers didn’t even have to think about.

Social responsibility“The number one question I would get when talking about e-commerce was ‘How are you going to make sure kids aren’t ordering this online?’” says Dawson. “I actually found that quite encouraging, that people were thinking about that.”

Social responsibility is something the LCBO takes very seriously, so it is a major component of its e-commerce strategy. The online path to pur-chase includes prompts reminding customers that they must be at least 19 years of age to receive or pick up orders.


Setting about building an end-to-end online retail channel for lcbo.com required buy-in at all levels of the organization. And that’s exactly what LCBO got. It was the glue that kept an e-commerce team of roughly 150 focused, effective and invested. “There was a sense of pride with the accomplishment,” says Dawson.

When customers buy products online and pick them up in-store, they must produce proper ID if they appear to be under 25 – the same rule that applies for in-store shoppers.

For home delivery or pickup at a post office, the person receiving the shipment must also prove age of majority if he or she looks under 25. As well, e-commerce parcels have stickers that clearly state a person’s required age in order to receive LCBO items. Dawson notes that delivering in a socially responsible manner was an integral component of the RFP shipping contract. “We expected the same diligence in terms of social responsibility from our partner that we chose for home delivery, and Canada Post was a good choice.”

Soft launchTo ensure that all components of a smooth online shopping experience were in place, the LCBO tested the channel internally in April 2016. The soft launch gave the company an opportunity to test the systems and

business processes, and allow staff at retail locations to practice.

“The team really stressed the system to figure out where any breaking points would be,” says Dawson. “We had a good sense of the critical mass – and it was much higher than we anticipated.”

When it came time to launch publicly three months later, the team was ready – even for its first surprise.

On day one, immediate changes were already required: order vol-umes were well above expected levels. The team responded seam-lessly, adding more pick-and-pack stations and tripling the number of staff who worked them.

Also unexpected was the ratio between in-store pickups and home deliveries – they had projected 80/20 based on the experience of other liquor retailers, but real numbers showed a 60/40 split. The difference suggested that shoppers were interested in the convenience and willing to pay $12 for shipping.

The origin of online orders has confirmed that shoppers from large

and small cities use the new delivery services. As of September, only 28 of 655 LCBO stores had not received a pickup order in-store.

Up nextThe LCBO is already working on the next phase of its e-commerce strategy. The company will launch a new global online marketplace, where suppliers from around the world can sell their products on the site. It will also continue to promote domestic suppliers, including a large number of Ontario-based wineries, brewers and distillers.

Having proven their ability to succeed in the digital world, the LCBO’s employees are primed to keep going. “They are really buoyed by the successful launch,” Dawson says, “and they are ready and excited to continue building. It’s been a great example of cross-divisional collaboration and proven our ability to be agile in bringing new customer services to market, while staying within budget. ” DTOW

16 canadapost.ca

Powerhouse

By Nancy Carr | Photography Chad Hipolito, The Canadian Press

Headquartered in an industrial mall on the outskirts of Mississauga is a little-known company called AN & Associates. Launched by brothers Nirav and Amar Gandhi three years ago, it sells a variety of products, from electronics and beauty care to pocket-size fishing rods, organized in roughly 20 brands. Almost all sales are online.

But this is not your typical start-up story of a new e-tailer finding ways to survive in the competitive retail environment. This year, the privately held company expects to surpass $100 million in revenue – making it one of Canada’s fastest growing online retailers.

What’s their secret? “We just sell stuff on the Internet,” says 27-year-old Nirav.

Getting startedLike many entrepreneurs, the brothers hit on their opportunity by accident. Both studied business – Amar, now 29, at the University of Waterloo and his brother at York University’s Schulich School of Business. After graduation, they began experimenting with online retail, selling children’s toys on sites like eBay and Groupon. Back then, says Amar, it was mainly about earning some pocket money.

But soon it became clear the brothers had a knack for finding products that would sell well online. “We’re always looking for trends, creating brands,” says Amar, who handles much of the creative side. “It’s about listening to the voice inside you and trusting your instinct.”

As sales climbed, they left their day jobs at Bay Street banks to grow the business full time – a decision in part to help their parents retire early. (That’s done, and they got their dad a new Mercedes.)

They began to set up individual websites for each brand, which gave them more control over marketing and sales. They now use Shopify almost exclusively.

Global outreach and social mediaSons of immigrants who arrived from India in 1997, the brothers embraced an international approach.

While product design, marketing and content creation are done in-house, they use manufacturers in China. From distribution centres in

Brothers Amar and Nirav Gandhi, right, have embraced an international approach to online retail.

By John Greenwood | Rosa Zwaiman, Pinpoint Photography

How AN & Associates became one of Canada’s fastest-growing online retail companies – in just three years


Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Asia, the company ships as many as 20,000 parcels a day to customers all over the world – 50% in the U.S., 10% in Canada and 40% in other countries.

Though they also use conven-tional advertising, social media is central to their strategy. They work with Facebook and Twitter users, often providing free merchandise to increase reviews. They invest heavily in marketing on various platforms to build customer awareness. AN & Associates is now one of Facebook’s top Canadian clients.

Testing new productsThe brothers have been experimenting with the physical channel by launching pop-up shops, part of their plan to

build customer community as well as gauge support for new products, mostly in cosmetics and jewellery lines.

One pop-up at the International Centre in Toronto attracted nearly 10,000 customers who waited more than an hour to get in. Nirav and Amar also hosted a pop-up at the Canada Post Parcel Centre in Richmond Hill, north of Toronto, in August.

They’re always testing new products and brands to tap into emerging trends. Right now, they’re intrigued by the multi-billion dollar pet industry and looking at building a line of dog toys.

What’s next for the brothers? They’re mulling over a plan to take AN & Associates public with an initial public offering as a way to

help them capture their market opportunity more quickly.

Says Amar: “Four years ago I was working in a bank and I had no idea I’d be running a company. I don’t know what success is, but I know I don’t want to be content. I want $1 billion in sales over the next three to five years; that’s something I want to try for.” DTOW

Canada Post works with retailers of all sizes to implement competitive online retail strategies. Visit canadapost.ca to learn how we can help your business.

We’re always looking for trends, creating brands. It’s about listening to the voice inside you and trusting your instinct.

As AN & Associates evolved, it began setting up individual websites for each brand, giving the company more control over marketing and sales. The online retailer now uses Shopify almost exclusively.

18 canadapost.ca

2016 CANADA POST E-COMMERCE INNOVATION AWARDS

Crowning the winnersInnovators shine light on the trends poised to shape the future of online retail

On September 22 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in downtown Toronto, Canada Post celebrated the country’s leading and emerging online retailers at its annual E-commerce Innovation Awards. Hosted by TSN sports- caster James Duthie, the Awards honoured retailers of all sizes who are re- inventing the online space, erasing the boundaries between digital and in-store shopping, and connecting with customers in creative new ways.

The night’s winners walked away with cash in the form of shipping credits – $100,000 in free shipping for large businesses and $50,000 for small ones. They were recognized

for their efforts in advancing Canadian online retail, but the group also collectively shines a spotlight on the strategies that are resonating with customers and the trends poised to shape the future of retail.

Custom-madeOmni-channel retail is the perfect environment to reimagine made- to-measure for the digital age. Customers’ measurements can be taken in-person to ensure precision, then shopping can occur online for ultimate convenience. Two winners are playing with this concept.

Surmesur, the small business winner for Best Omni-channel

Vincent Thériault accepts the Best Omni- channel Retailer Award (Small) on behalf of Surmesur, a trailblazer in made-to-measure menswear.

By Steven Hunt | Photography: Alex Webster, Pinpoint Photography; Denis Drever



Retailer, is a men’s clothing company with stores and mobile services where customers get their measure-ments professionally taken and recorded for future reference. Shoppers can then shop online anytime and browse through an array of suits, shirts, trousers and overcoats offered in a wide variety of fabrics and colours. With their measurements on file, their orders are tailor-made.

Meanwhile, the winner of the Most Exciting Start-up category, MATH Sport, is focused on custom running shoes. Shoppers get their feet measured, and their pair is then custom-manufactured. MATH Sport’s shoe creator allows shoppers to personalize colour, laces and sole type. (See page 10 for more about this retailer.)

Power to the people Empowering the customer is a theme the best online retailers take seriously, and they’re showing that there’s more than one way to give shoppers more control over the shopping experience.

Take Best Buy Canada, three-time winner of the Best Omni-channel Retailer Award in the large-business category. It offers customers a variety of options for how they can purchase and pick up their orders – from reserving items on-line and picking them up in-store within 20 minutes, to combining in-store and online purchases in one transaction.

Clockwise from top, Mohit Grover, Google’s Head of Industry, and Stéphane Ricoul, President of eCOM MTL, enjoy a playful moment with TSN broadcaster and emcee James Duthie. Mathieu Raymond, MATH Sport’s founding president, at the lectern and in the moment. Angela Scardillo, Best Buy Canada’s VP Marketing and Communications, seizes and freezes the moment with Canada Post President and CEO Deepak Chopra. Her company won the Best Omni-channel Retailer Award (Large) for the third year in a row.

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Well.ca, the back-to-back winner of the Consumer Champion Award – a.k.a. the people’s choice – is experimenting with ways to give customers more control of their own wellness. The retailer’s Aromatherapy D-I-Y blog, for instance, offers recipes and tips for making products from scratch, such as lemon-scented bath salts.

Growth spurtsA major challenge for online retailers is growing their customer base in an ultra-competitive retail environment, and growth-minded retailers know they can’t just rely on savvy marketing to expand.

Menswear company Frank + Oak, winner of the Best Customer Engagement Award – and cover story for the Delivering the Online World summer 2015 issue – has made a major investment in growth. It launched a brand new women’s line this fall, potentially doubling its customer base.

Winner of the Pure Play of the Year Award for large companies, Shoes.com, has expanded by adding a new channel to its retail mix. The shoe giant has gone omni, having opened its first permanent physical store in Canada on the trendy Queen West strip in Toronto this summer. A second location is set to open in downtown Vancouver.

Just for womenThis year, retailers showed that the online environment is ideal when it

comes to selling products made just for women. Momzelle, makers of apparel designed to encourage confidence in breastfeeding, received the Pure Play of the Year Award for small businesses in part for its success in building an incredible social media community. Lunapads, which offers environmentally friendly wash- able menstrual pads, won the Community Impact Award. It was honoured for social justice work in improving access to feminine products for women and girls



Stay tuned for details of next year’s Canada Post E-commerce Innovation Awards. The call for applications is coming soon.

living in undeveloped countries.Rounding out the evening, was

the recipient of the Canada Post E-commerce Innovator’s Award, Mitchel-Lincoln Packaging. Canada Post President and CEO, Deepak Chopra, referred to the company as the unsung hero of e-commerce for its work in literally

making e-commerce possible by creating packaging solutions for businesses of all sizes. The art and science of packaging will continue to be one of the ways retailers use their brands, cut costs, apply sustainable solutions, and ensure the safety of their products as they travel from coast to coast. DTOW

Top, clockwise from left p. 20, Canada Post E-commerce Innovation Awards winners for 2016 celebrate. Donald Ho and Jon Austrom of SHOES.COM, winner of the Pure Play of the Year Award for large companies, addresses the crowd. Jimmy Garfinkle of Mitchel-Lincoln accepts the E-commerce Innovator’s Award. Vincent Poirier of Momzelle, at the lectern with the Pure Play of the Year Award for small businesses. Madeleine Shaw and Suzanne Siemens of Lunapads, winner of the Community Impact Award.

For more canadapost.ca/winners

Our 2016 winners

Best Omni-channel Retailer Award – Large

Best Omni-channel Retailer Award – Small

Pure Play of the Year Award – Large

Pure Play of the Year Award – Small

Best Customer Engagement Award

Most Exciting Start-up Award

Community Impact Award

Consumer Champion Award

Canada Post E-Commerce Innovator’s Award

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Returns are an inevitable part of online shopping. Foul it up, and you lose customers. Get it right, and you build loyalty. The rubber hits the road for shoppers with your return policy.

According to Canada Post’s 2016 Canadian Online Shopper Study, almost one in five shoppers abandoned a purchase over concerns about the retailer’s return policy.

The study cites other compelling statistics that underscore why having a solid return policy matters.

For example, one in three shop-pers who has a poor return experi-ence is unlikely to buy again from that retailer. Eight in 10 shoppers view free return shipping as essential to their overall shopping experience.

“With confidence and experience come increased customer expecta-tions, and nowhere is this more evident than return practices,” says Rod Hart, Canada Post’s General Manager of Domestic Parcel E-commerce Market Development. “If you’re not making that process easy, you’re paying the price for it,” he adds.

Most retailers want to respond to customer needs. They just don’t

want to lose their shirts – their profit margin – on the transaction. A best-in-class return process helps make that possible.

Ideally, retailers would have a policy that offers options for free returns – that is flexible, seamless and quick.

Flexible, allowing customers to return items by mail. Seamless, from a process based on clear policies and good communication before checkout. And quick, when exchanges are completed within two weeks.

Preprinted return labelsIncluding one in the shipment makes

returns simple. When each label has a unique tracking number, returns can be reported immediately. If you’re a high-volume shipper with a lenient return policy, this solution is ideal for you.

Labels onlineIf you have a website integrated with Canada Post’s Web Services, shoppers can print a return label. This keeps them on your website and lets you build a return authori-zation program, along with tracking and reporting.

You can also craft a return policy at canadapost.ca. While shoppers leave your website, this solution is convenient for them and technically manageable for you.

Post office supportAnother option is to have your customers get their labels at one of more than 6,200 Canada Post retail locations nationwide. They can receive a receipt and tracking number as proof of return.

Comprehensive return solutions will keep customers returning to you. DTOW

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CANADA POST NEWS

Smart returnsWhy you need to make returns easy for your customers – and how to do it

With confidence and experience come increased customer expectations, and nowhere is this more evident than return practices.

For more canadapost.ca/managereturns

Delivering the Online World 23Fall 2016Delivering the Online World 23

CANADA POST NEWS

You have a vision for your business: It’s bigger than it is now. Customer service is exceptional. Your products are exactly what customers want. You’re working hard to execute that vision, but day-to-day tasks – and there are a lot of them – can get in the way.

Our parcel pickup solution can help you handle larger sale volumes and let you fulfill orders more effectively. Why are you still running packages to the post office when Canada Post can do that at an affordable price? Saving time by

using parcel pickup ultimately means you can get your products to your customers faster.

This solution doesn’t just cater to retail giants. The service is available to small businesses. An annual parcel spending of $2,500 at Canada Post qualifies any business to receive recurring, scheduled pickups. Businesses can even extend pickup service to additional addresses.

Customers can also request on-demand pickup, which can be scheduled online 24/7. Available for domestic and international parcels,

convenient pickup is the logical next step for your growing business. On-demand pickup starts at $3.50. For a weekly fee of $7.50, you can receive up to one scheduled pickup a day, up to five days a week. There is no limit on the number of items. If you do at least $15,000 a year in parcel business with Canada Post, pickup is free.

Today, we do an average of 9,000 pickups every day and serve more than 800,000 postal codes. We plan to expand the service to more communities across the country. DTOW

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Customers can also request on-demand

pickup, which can be scheduled

online 24/7.

Accelerate nowParcel pickup is an easy way to get your items to your customers faster

CANADA POST NEWS

For more canadapost.ca/pickupparcel

Retailers love to sell, be it custom jewellery, designer sunglasses or sporting goods. They didn’t open stores to ship, but fulfillment comes with the territory – and eats up time.

“We give them back their time,” says Robert Gilbreath, Vice-President of Marketing at ShipStation, a company that offers the industry leading software for e-commerce shipping. ShipStation does this by providing “tools that level the playing field,” allowing a smaller company to act like a multimillion- dollar business long before it becomes one.

Gilbreath says ShipStation software lets retailers import orders from unlimited selling channels, ship with their carrier of choice (or several of them), and automate nearly every task associated with e-commerce fulfillment, order management and shipping. This, he says, saves countless hours.

Gilbreath shares with DTOW magazine the four traits exhibited by best-in-class shippers.

1. SeamlessThink about how many different systems interact to bring your product to market. Do the systems talk? They can thanks to a beautiful logistics design that allows businesses

to function with ease and speed. Top shippers integrate their order and shipping data. Says Gilbreath, “If you have to copy and paste, you’re not seamless.”

2. EfficientLimit the number of steps in your retail process to save time and money. Gilbreath views this as critical to success. Top shippers automate routine decisions, such as selecting package sizes, tagging priority orders, creating labels and ordering supplies.

3. OrganizedThere’s a natural order to how you move products. Refine your process. Top shippers label products for easy

picking and packing, put top-selling products on easy-to-reach shelves, pre-pack and organize their physical layout to aid the order process.

4. ScalableBeing seamless, efficient and organized helps to make you scalable. If you can’t train a new employee to ship within days, chances are your business isn’t scalable. A sound, streamlined process that can be replicated regardless of order size will get you where you need to be. Top shippers remove manual steps from their fulfillment process, practice fulfill-ment drills and use tools that level the playing field. DTOW

Delivering the Online World 25Fall 2016Delivering the Online World 25

CANADA POST NEWS

Traits of a world-class shipper Canada Post partner ShipStation streamlines the shipping process – so small companies can act like multimillion-dollar businesses

For more canadapost.ca/holidaytips26 canadapost.ca

Just how much does the holiday season matter in e-commerce?It’s absolutely critical. Look at the growth rates: retail overall has been peaking in the low single digits, but last holiday season we saw 40% YOY growth in parcel volumes from e-commerce customers. We expect strong double-digit growth again this year.

How powerful is the word “free” for consumers?The effect is incredible. We saw a 135% lift in Cyber Week volumes last year for merchants that offered free shipping with no restrictions. Even apart from that week, more merchants are offering free shipping. That may not be sustainable all year, especially for small and medium-sized retailers. But the improvement in conversion rates and reduced cart abandonment is noticeable. That makes it worth considering as a customer-acquisition play for the holiday season – a way to compete with the big retailers.

What else are retailers doing differently or better now to drive sales?They’re pushing shipping deadlines

later. In 2014, we talked to a lot of retailers and said, “if you can do the fulfillment in time, we’ll do the delivery in time.” Last year, nearly seven out of 10 retailers had deadlines later than Dec. 18. We saw a huge lift in Dec. 20-24 deliveries. But you have to do your homework. Most retailers with later deadlines had a distribution centre in the Toronto-Montréal corridor. If you don’t, maybe you can stock a store near one of those big centres with your most popular SKUs.

What else do retailers have to think about to succeed?Returns. The holidays is when most shopping is for someone else, which means some guesswork – and some second-guessing. Nearly one in three shoppers have returned an item or say they wanted to return an item purchased online in the past year. You have to create the perfect returns experience.

What’s the perfect returns experience for consumers?Shoppers want it to be clear – upfront – easy and convenient. It helps to include a return label in the original shipment, and to offer easy options to get the item to the

delivery carrier, like the store, a post office or a Canada Post street letter box. Your hard work to promote discounts and acquire that customer is wasted if the returns experience is a turn-off.

The growth in e-commerce is a happy challenge. How can retailers best plan?Start early. It’s a short, critical season with incredibly high volumes – and it challenges everyone in e-commerce. The key is preparing months ahead. Canada Post has been planning since last January. We’re doing things like delivering on weekends, hiring temporary employees and extending our customer service hours. You can never start too early if you want to delight the customer during the holidays. DTOW

To find out how to make it in this make-or-break holiday season, we talked to Valérie Normand, Canada Post’s Director of Parcels and E-commerce Solutions Integration

&Awith Valérie NormandQ