Retail Insider is streamlining its Canadian retail news from around the web to include a handful of top news stories that can be viewed quickly during the day. Here are the top stories from the past 24 hours.
The majority of Canadian small businesses say they are now doing the same or better than they were two years ago before the pandemic hit, according to Scotiabank’s third annual Path to Impact Report.
“As we see reinvigorated consumer demand, businesses are reporting positive sales and revenue numbers, and less cash flow concerns. While it’s encouraging to see more optimism, the road ahead will pose new challenges,” said Jason Charlebois, Senior Vice President, Small Business, with Scotiabank. “Small businesses are facing serious economic headwinds from inflation, rising interest rates, and labour market shortages.
“The resiliency of small businesses is showing through once again as most of them have been through such a difficult period over these last several years with lockdowns and health and safety restrictions as a result of the pandemic. The economy has been exceptionally strong over these last six months, (but it’s) now turning.”
Charlebois said the resilience of small businesses is clearly showing through despite the big economic headwinds and they’re confident in being able to survive a recession and/or another wave of the pandemic.
“What small businesses had to endure the last several years really forced them to act quickly, be very focused on survival, innovating . . . and going through all that they went through in the last several years and now seeing the world coming back to a more normal place, I think rising interest rates, inflation and even a possible recession doesn’t feel as intimidating as some of what they had to endure over the last several years which was really unchartered territory in terms of all the things that happened during the pandemic,” he said.
Image: Sendle
The Scotiabank Path to Impact survey found:
75 per cent of Canadian small businesses surveyed say they’re doing the same or better than they were two years ago – up from 54 per cent in last year’s survey;
34 per cent of small businesses say they are being impacted by inflation, with 37 per cent of those businesses saying it is having a significant impact, and four per cent having a critical impact;
24 per cent of small businesses say they are impacted by rising interest rates, with 42 per cent of those businesses saying it is having a significant impact, and five per cent a critical impact;
25 per cent of small businesses say they are currently being challenged by the labour market shortage and/or are having trouble sourcing materials;
83 per cent say they are better equipped today to survive another wave of the pandemic and 81 per cent of small business owners said they are equipped to handle a possible recession;
65 per cent foresee needing financial support in the future, and those with higher revenues above $500K foresee needing more than those with revenues under $500k;
90 per cent of business owners have turned to someone for advice or support over the past two years, with 49 per cent of those who turned to a financial advisor saying their business is doing better; and
11 per cent reduction in businesses reporting cash flow concerns over the past two years.
“With all that’s happening, it’s no surprise that this year, more small business owners have turned to someone for advice. To help navigate these choppy waters, business owners should seek out credible advice and support. Advisors are there to ensure business owners protect the companies they’ve worked hard to build, helping them adapt to global economic challenges and chart a path forward. In fact, those who turned to a financial advisor report that they are doing better than those who did not,” added Charlebois.
Scotiabank has the following tips for small business owners:
Proactively explore financing options If you feel your business needs additional financing to withstand future economic headwinds, it’s best practice to be proactive, and start those conversations with your small business advisor sooner than later. Whether it be increasing your line of credit, exploring additional loan programs, or finding support with identifying and applying for government-based assistance programs, your Small Business Advisor can help you plot a course of action to make sure your business is best placed for continued success.
Don’t let wasteful practices curtail your bottom line With increasing inflationary pressures, and a myriad of other contemporary economic challenges, it’s never been more important to make sure your business is as streamlined as possible. With 29 per cent of small businesses ranking cutting costs wherever possible as their number one immediate priority, talk to your small business advisor today about where you can find efficiencies in your organization’s operations to make sure you are maximizing your revenue.
Stay ahead of the curve on trends, and always have a contingency plan As a business owner, it’s vital to plan ahead and anticipate any changes to the business environment, whether in your marketplace/sector, in your local community, or in your personal life. More than 80 per cent of small businesses surveyed said they received some form of financial relief from the government during the pandemic. Some of those relief loans are set to come due next year so it’s important to work on a repayment strategy now. With the possibility of a recession, continued interest rate volatility, increase in freight costs, and continued supply chain disruptions likely to remain, a contingency plan is one of the best lines of defence.
Keep digital top of mind The global economy and advances in technology have created a huge world market, with an array of opportunities for commerce, sourcing labour talent and marketing your business to new customers. What’s more, not all businesses need a storefront. A strong digital presence can mean a lot of the overall operations can be conducted from your own home, and remote and hybrid work options have demonstrated they are here to stay.
Spot new opportunities Evolving and learning from past successes and failures is a great way to grow as well as provide a renewed spark and excitement in your business. Revisit your existing products and services and explore if there is a place to add something new. Paying attention to trends in your industry and staying on top of current news can be great sources of inspiration. Be open to uncovering new opportunities and seek out the advice of a Small Business Advisor, who can help you plan your next big idea.
Nature's Emporium at the Shops at One York (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Nature’s Emporium is expanding to open its 6th location in Oakville and is looking to open more stores in the upcoming years outside of the Greater Toronto Area.
The new store will be 25,000 square feet and will be located in the Dorval Crossing Plaza in Oakville. The location will be opening in the Fall of 2023 and will be the sixth location in Canada as its fifth store is opening in March of 2023 in Toronto at 1 York Street.
“We are really pumped about the new Oakville location because it is a great market, a very active community, and there are a lot of people who are health oriented. The Dorval Crossing Plaza has been there for a very long time as it is entrenched in the neighbourhood, and that is what Nature’s Emporium is all about – we are the neighbourhood’s health focused food store serving the community, so we are very excited about opening in Oakville,” says Joe D’Addario the CEO of Nature’s Emporium.
“You Are Only Going to Find it Here”
A rendering showing where Nature’s Emporium will open its second location in Ontario’s Halton Region. The new store is set to open in Spring/Summer 2023 inside the Dorval Crossing shopping centre in Oakville. (CNW Group/Nature”s Emporium)
Along with the announcements of the new store in Oakville, Nature’s Emporium has also announced it is going to expand its line of grab and go prepared food options to continue to meet consumer needs.
“We are expanding our prepared food line where people can come in and get a healthier meal, take it home and it is ready to eat. That has been a big part of our expansion as we are expanding our juice bar, offering healthier smoothies, as well as cappuccinos and lattes. The grab and go selection is going to be meals that cater towards more specific diets that everybody is doing right now, such as vegan or keto diets. I think that is where we will be innovating. You are only going to find it at Nature’s Emporium and nowhere else, so that is key and we are innovating our kitchens. And the rest of the store is going to stay true to what we have had throughout the 30 years of being open.”
Nature’s Emporium’s produce is always 100 percent certified organic, which D’Addario says sets it apart from other grocery stores such as Sobeys or Walmart. Nature’s Emporium also has one of the biggest selection of supplements, vitamins, and health and beauty. It also serves its own private label that is “always organic, always natural, and a caring brand. It sets us apart because it is high quality and in today’s time – at a discounted price.”
New OMNI Pick Up Lockers
Nature’s Emporium at the Shops at One York (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Nature’s Emporium is going to make it easier for customers to pick up their orders by adding new Onmi channel lockers, which will provide people the ability to pre-order their food and come pick it up at the store anytime of the day. These will be located outside of stores.
“1 York Street in Toronto will be the first store where we will be having the lockers as part of our shopping experience. After the customer places an order, we will have it ready within two hours and customers don’t have to come into the store. The lockers will be outside and have coolers, freezers, and space for dry goods. Customers can pick up their order by scanning the locker with their phone. The locker opens, they can take out their order, and take off. So it makes things easier, especially downtown.”
New E-commerce Experience
Image: NaturesEmporium.com
D’Addario also said it is looking to renew their e-commerce platform with a whole new website where it will be easier to navigate and he wants to transition the company from a Brick and Mortar to a “Bricks and Click” where they can integrate more technology in and outside of the stores.
“We will be building our e-commerce site and making it easier to navigate, customer friendly, and easy to find products. We are not just in it for the food business. We are in the education business so we want our website to be very educational and help people with trying to change their diet and try to educate them through our online blogging and having online experts as well.”
With the new e-commerce site, which will be available in about six months, will also include the ability for customers to use the technology in stores. Customers will be able to use their phones to scan barcodes, find out about products, read labels easier, and if something is out of stock, customers can place an order right there and it will be delivered to their home. Along with the delivery services like Instacart, the new e-commerce site will allow customers to order locally and all over Canada.
“We have learned a lot through the pandemic. We were very much a Brick and Mortar store and when the pandemic hit – it turned everything upside down and we had to pivot our business. We had to offer curbside pickup and we quickly had to improve our website so people could order online. It taught us we needed to improve our e-commerce platform so that was the biggest learning the pandemic brought us.”
Expanding Outside of the GTA
Image: Nature’s Emporium
Nature’s Emporium currently is only located in Newmarket, Maple, Burlington, and Woodbridge; however, it is about to expand beyond the GTA line. D’Addario dropped the news of opening a new location in London Ontario. This will be the first location outside of the GTA and the official announcement will be coming out shortly.
In addition to expanding into London, D’Addario said within the next ten years, he is hoping Nature’s Emporium will have up to thirty new stores and will hopefully be Coast to Coast.
“Our big goal is to be Coast to Coast. We will make our way out to British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and the East Coast. And also growing our Onmi channel and e-commerce experience – so that is our big goal.”
For the new store opening in Toronto and in Oakville, Nature’s Emporium will be having huge grand opening events to welcome the community with entertainment, free samples, a bread ceremony and “it will just be a big party.”
“We are very hands-on and we are still a family owned business. The biggest part of us is that we have been around for thirty years and we have a great relationship with our customers. Our customers can find us walking around the floor in our stores. You never learn more than when you are talking to a customer on the floor and that is where I have learned the most from customers. People trust us when they come in as everything is 100 percent certified organic and we are looking forward to serving more communities.”
Edmonton-based leather footwear and accessories company Poppy Barley is poised to grow from its Alberta roots and expand to other parts of the country.
And the retailer, spearheaded by founders and sisters Kendall and Justine Barber, has set its sights on first opening locations in Toronto and Vancouver.
“Coming out of the pandemic, we’ve had a very strong year for sales growth and our two fastest growing markets are BC and Ontario,” Justine Barber told Retail Insider. “So we’re looking at actually adding stores into Vancouver and Toronto.”
Image: Poppy Barley at Southgate Centre
She said the retailer is looking to expand to Vancouver first for Spring 2023 and then Toronto for Fall 2023.
“I’m thinking we definitely design for an urban consumer who is on their feet a lot, who wants stylish but comfortable and walkable shoes. So I think our design aesthetic fits really well within those cities and then I think our values as a Canadian brand focused on sustainable materials and ethical production resonates as well.”
Barber said the United States is always a ‘big fish’ to pursue and the retailer has experienced about 200 per cent year-over-year growth for US sales.
“So I think after we enter the major Canadian cities we’re definitely looking at the US,” she said.
POPPY BARLEY STORE AT SOUTHGATE CENTRE IN EDMONTON. PHOTO: POPPY BARLEY
Jeri Brodie, Broker of Record, Senior Vice-President, of Aurora Realty Consultants, which is helping the brand expand, said the retailer is looking for between 1,800 and 2,000 square feet in an urban retail node with mid-to-upper household income in surrounding residential, synergy with other fashion retailers, consistent walk-by traffic, ease of access by car and public transit and availability of nearby parking.
The first Poppy Barley physical store opened in August 2017 in the Southgate Centre in Edmonton. Prior to that, the retailer had a showroom within its office. Then it opened its second location in the Spring 2019 at CF Market Mall in Calgary.
The company also has Warehouse space in Edmonton which is a local pick up location only.
Poppy Barley will operate pop-ups later this month in both Ottawa and Vancouver.
Poppy Barley 2022 Pop-up Schedule
Brodie described Poppy Barley as a certified B Corp business which fully embraces its motto of “luxury for the people and the planet.”
She said space is surprisingly tight in Toronto right now for good retail streetfront nodes. The retailer is looking for space in enclosed malls, high traffic retail streets and mixed-use centres.
“The two sisters co-founded the company and they are very community oriented. They both live and started the company in Edmonton. Alberta is their home stomping grounds. However, they have for many, many years now done these pop-up shops right across the country,” said Brodie. “And they would run anywhere from two to five days and in a lot of smaller centres – Victoria, Kelowna, Saskatoon, Ottawa, lots of them in Toronto.
“And mostly in response to their e-commerce sales. Before COVID and right after we had done Market (Mall), they wanted to kind of settle there for about a year or so and then COVID hit. So their expansion to open a flagship store in Toronto got delayed due to COVID.
“Thankfully they’ve managed to survive through that and are now back in expansion mode with Toronto being a pretty important centre for them just based on the success of their pop-up stores here as well as their online sales.”
Image: Poppy Barley
Image: Poppy Barley
Image: Poppy Barley
Brodie said the retailer is not the kind of brand that’s going to have 10 stores in a city like Toronto but there’s probably room for up to four over the next five years.
“I think when we open the first store we’ll be able to get more information in terms of where people are coming from and that will help dictate future stores. Certainly for now we’re looking at one store in Toronto and we’ll see where it goes from there, understanding that the size of the market will probably warrant some additional stores over time.”
The retailer’s name has deep meaning. Poppy seeds and barley corns were the original unit of measurement in shoemaking.
“The idea for Poppy Barley started when my sister was in Bali and went into a shoe store, tried on a pair of boots and she couldn’t quite fit them up over her calves and the guy took out a measuring tape and said let me measure your legs and I’ll just make the shoes to fit you,” said Kendall Barber, in a previous story with Retail Insider.
“So Justine just kind of thought why don’t we all make shoes that way. It makes sense that we can combine the craftsmanship of shoemaking with some technology to be able to make better fitting shoes for everyone. So that’s what started Poppy Barley. She came back to Canada. She enrolled me. Got me on board with her and the two of us set out together to create Poppy Barley.”
Image: Poppy Barley at Southgate Centre
The retailer started as an e-commerce company.
“Very early on customers started asking us to see the products. We started by setting up a little table on Thursday afternoons where people could come and see the boots and the shoes. That eventually led to having a showroom and then from there we did our first store,” added Kendall Barber.
“Poppy Barley fills a unique gap in the Canadian retail landscape. The footwear market is crowded with cheaply-made, uncomfortable shoes or logo-heavy, preposterously-priced brand name footwear. Poppy Barley creates high quality shoes at a mid-market price point. We’re committed to invest in materials not markups. We’re not willing to compromise comfort or design or function or social responsibility. We’re the future of footwear.”
“Canada’s Competition Bureau study is nothing more that a soul-searching expedition. But this exercise is deeply important for Canadians, and most of all, for the Bureau itself.”
Canada’s Competition Bureau decided to investigate the Canadian food industry, and more specifically, our grocery sector. For years, many were calling for this, recognizing the Bureau has little authority or power over anything. It waited until food inflation became a political hot potato to investigate the matter. Better late than never. Even its new director admitted to the problem of powerlessness. For instance, the Bureau can’t force any company to submit any body of evidence for the upcoming study. Quite sad really.
Make no mistake though, this study is all about the Bureau, nothing more. It needs a different approach, a new perspective on things. It clearly requires more knowledge about the food industry overall. When evaluating mergers and acquisitions, the food industry deserves a longitudinal analysis to better appreciate how consolidation can impact sectors over time, like we’ve seen in groceries and processing. Oligopolies can work if independents and smaller players remain somewhat sheltered from overbearing market forces. Miscalculated compromises can only lead to regulators overlooking our market’s most fundamental element, the consumer.
Consumers in many cities now have only one grocer, and fewer choices are offered in stores due to the continuing pressure imposed on food processors, especially smaller operators. Many have given up. Unlike other industries, food manufacturers must pay grocers to do business with them. Listing fees, marketing costs, and the list goes on. Such a foreign concept for people who may not understand the economics of food distribution.
Canadians should not expect any major changes to the industry anytime soon coming from the study. For years, the Bureau has rubber-stamped many deals and has investigated accusations of collusion on countless occasions, with limited success. Chocolate, salmon, and of course, bread are some examples. That needs to change.
In 2017, when Canadians found out about Loblaws’ bread scheme, consumers were insulted. It was very much seen as an ethical blunder by our country’s number one grocer. With $25 gift cards, everything seemed forgotten and forgiven. Not quite. With higher food prices, the bread price fixing scandal rapidly became, in a matter of months, a moral issue for Canadians. The investigation actually started in 2015 when Loblaws admitted its wrongdoing. For 14 years, from 2001 to 2015, it admitted to fixing bread prices in Canada, along with Weston Bakeries, owned by Weston Companies at the time. The scheme allegedly included 5 more companies; all denied their involvement. After 7 years, we still haven’t seen anyone being accused or receiving any fines. Competition laws prohibit any collusion, and companies can receive fines of up to $25 million and 14 years in prison. But without a watchdog watching, the Bureau has a lot of unfinished business.
Canadians are violently voicing their frustration and have somewhat singled out grocers as the inflation boogeymen, mainly Loblaws. The evidence to accuse any grocer of profiteering is weak at best, but it doesn’t matter. Even reporters from other countries couldn’t believe the backlash Loblaws received when it opted to freeze prices last week for its No Name products. Loblaws is arguably the most hated grocer in the world.
This is no accident. Canadians do have an awkward relationship with grocers for one simple reason. Many Canadians feel unprotected and left hanging high and dry. Knowing that the Bureau remains idle on many fronts, Canadians are taking matters into their own hands, and who can blame them?
In the United States, it can take just a few months to see lawmakers accusing food companies and getting them to write cheques to consumers a few months later. This happened in the case of JBS, the meat packer. The beef giant paid $52.5 million U.S. to settle a price-fixing lawsuit. Also in the U.S., lawmakers are pushing back on the $24.6 billion U.S. Kroger-Albertson deal, arguing it would create a monster of a grocer, with 15% market share. To get regulatory approval, the new company may be forced to let go of up to 375 stores and create a rival for the new company. This would never happen in Canada under the current regime. And by the way, both Loblaws and Empire/Sobeys already have more than 15% of the Canadian market. The Bureau is sleepwalking through these deals.
The report should be done by June 2023. Hopefully, the Bureau will give itself a road map for fundamental changes, to give itself more authority and be able to apply more rigour to any case presented to it. But before that, the Bureau will need to do some soul searching. Let’s call it like it is. Canadians deserve it.
Retail Insider is streamlining its Canadian retail news from around the web to include a handful of top news stories that can be viewed quickly during the day. Here are the top stories from the past 24 hours.
Qeelin Construction at Yorkdale Shopping Centre (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Kering-owned luxury jewellery brand Qeelin is building its first store location for North America at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. The brand launched several years ago at Holt Renfrew and strong sales have prompted Qeelin to open its first standalone store.
Qeelin will be located next to Hublot on the mall’s centre run near several other luxury brands. Qeelin’s Yorkdale store will be similar in size to Hublot, spanning just over 700 square feet in a retail space formerly occupied by coffee retailer Second Cup.
Many people may have not yet heard of the brand which primarily targets Chinese consumers. Qeelin’s products refer to mystical or superstitious symbols strongly embedded in the Chinese culture. The name Qeelin is said to come from the Qilin, an auspicious Chinese mythical animal and icon of love.
Image: QeelinImage: Qeelin
Qeelin was founded in 2004 by Dennis Chan (who is currently the Creative Director) and Guillaume Brochard. Chan got the idea to create the luxury brand strongly embedded in the Chinese culture while visiting the Dunhuang Caves along the Silk Road in 1997. Seven years later in Paris, Chan co-founded the brand with Brochard. Qeelin’s first collection, the Wulu, became a commercial hit after actress Maggie Cheung wore it at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
The company is currently headquartered in Hong-Kong and in 2013, French luxury group Kering acquired a majority stake in Qeelin which provided resources for a store expansion — Qeelin already had a store in Paris at the time and seven more opened shortly after Kering’s acquision. The acquisition also helped expand Qeelin’s line to include a high jewellery collection.
Qeelin’s Wulu collection revisited the legendary Chinese gourd, an auspicious emblem in Chinese tradition. The brand’s creations that followed used the symbols of the panda (Bo Bo), bells (Ling Long), kissing goldfish (Qin Qin), and dogs (Wang Wang).
Photo: screen shot from the Holt Renfrew websitePhoto: screen shot from the Holt Renfrew website
In 2015, Qeelin entered the North American market in a handful of stores, including Holt Renfrew in Canada where it continues to maintain a presence. All six of Holt Renfrew’s full-line stores carry Qeelin though the Vancouver store appears to have the lion’s share of pricier items of over $10,000, according to Holt Renfrew’s website. If Qeelin were to look to open a second standalone store in Canada, Vancouver would be a likely target given current sales at Holt Renfrew as well as the city’s affluent Chinese population which may already be aware of the brand.
Globally, Qeelin has 45 stores in China and only five stores in other markets. Stores outside of China include two locations in Paris (26 Place Vendome and a concession at Galeries Lafayette), one in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia at KL City Centre, one in Singapore at the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, and one in Sydney Australia at Westfield Sydney in the city’s downtown core. Yorkdale will be only the sixth standalone store for Qeelin outside of China.
Qeelin is a huge score for Yorkdale, which has the densest clustering of luxury brands in Canada. The mall continues to add new luxury stores and affluent consumers continue to flock to Yorkdale for its brands that are in some cases not available elsewhere in Toronto or even Canada.
As technology evolves, e-commerce will change with it to continue to meet consumer needs and to enhance experiences. From where e-commerce has been to where it is going, experts David Nagy, Larry Leung, and Liza Amlani discuss in depth about the future of ecommerce.
Pulling Back of Ecommerce Stores
Currently, David Nagy, the Founder eCommerce Canada, said the amount of e-commerce stores available right now, would be like walking into a mall that is 15 stories and consumers are being overwhelmed by their options and it needs to be pulled back.
David Nagy
“The consumer is overwhelmed with so much being accessible to them all the time, it is like walking into the mall and its 15 levels high and there is indistinguishable brand after brand. None of us would make money except for the first one that you walk into because the rest of them are so overwhelming and I can’t possibly think I would spend my time shopping at a giant store like this,” says Nagy.
As today there is no barrier to entry to create an e-commerce store, anyone can do it. Platforms such as Shopify make it easier for people to create an online store as the platforms even provide dropshipping. Something Nagy said was not so easy in the past. Even ten years ago, Nagy said it was very cost restrictive, you needed a lot of training, and experience to bring a brand online, but now because of platforms like Shopify – there are just too many and people are opening up stores without researching. This is causing too many of the same stores and Nagy is hoping in the future, it will calm down.
“We lose reason when we think about online businesses. We just think about how it’s easy, low cost, and the mentality of I can get into the game so therefore, I will. But the vast majority are not successful. The future of e-commerce is consolidation. Through the pandemic, there was a mad race to be online with any little thing and it drove us to do things that made no financial sense, and so there is a bit of a reckoning right now as some of this has to be pulled back. We have built online stores in such a short amount of time and a lot of them are not going to make it.”
As consolidation in the near future for e-commerce, Nagy says this will be a good thing as the industry itself will be better on the other side as it will lead to better talent and successful businesses will be able to become stronger over the next few years. “This is what I am excited about,” says Nagy.
Ecommerce Enters Metaverse
As the Metaverse continues to evolve, will e-commerce stores evolve with it? The short answer is yes, consumers should see a shift towards shopping in the Metaverse – although if this is a good thing is debatable.
“We just can’t ignore the fact that the gaming community is a larger and wealthier industry than the entertainment industry. It is often overlooked and these things are gigantic. So how quick do brands need to be preparing themselves for that and how effective do we need to be with our virtual storefronts and virtual products? Is that tomorrow? I expect some level of it, but I don’t know what it looks like as it moves fast,” says Nagy.
Nike has already held a virtual storefront event in Central Park where there were no products there but people used the VR headsets to see and pick up products. Nagy suggests the virtual world could be the new way of getting user feedback of products and also for testing your new store concept before wasting money.
“Are we heading there – I can’t see why we wouldn’t. That technology seems to be the first mover, not so much in the gaming space but more in the experiential space as there is real commercial value to having an entirely digital ecosystem set up. Test your new store concepts in VR, before you spend money test them all in VR see how it works, test the traffic, see what the user feedback is. Of course, this makes all the sense in the world,” says Nagy.
Larry Leung, Customer Experience Leader, also predicts e-commerce will dive into the Metaverse world and will possibly create a worldwide digital currency from a gaming company or from Apple. However, as he agrees with Nagy about the positives of retail joining the Metaverse world, Leung also sees how it could become dangerous.
Larry Leung
“There are pros and cons of people just staying in one physical space. It is not healthy mentally or physically. And the technology has not proven effective enough where you are physically ill after 30 minutes. So right now with virtual reality, most people can only be on it for around 30 minutes after that they get dizzy and there are some people that get dizzy immediately. And I think the question is, do you want to live a life only inside the Metaverse or do you want to live life outside,” says Leung.
Metaverse e-commerce stores could also open up more bullying and crimes as it is already so easy for people to pretend to be someone else that the Metaverse would make it easier.
“It could open up potential crime because a lot of people are already pretending to be other people. So, that likely would not change if it is in the metaverse, if anything it could be worse because your voice, persona, and how you act would all be very different than who you really are as a person. I worry about that but I think the opportunities outweigh the potential positives but I just believe they have to be regulated to ensure safety – especially with younger people,” says Leung.
So, in the future, customers could find themselves shopping within the Metaverse world, but what this will look like really depends on how advanced the technology gets. Will they make it into a store that customers would walk into a store and shop like they would in the real world? Possibly, but we will have to wait to find out.
Integrating All Channels into One
As retail stores usually have multiple channels such as social media, physical store, and e-commerce platforms – to enhance the consumers experience, stores need to start thinking about making it all one experience instead of division and how they can make the consumers’ experience more personalized.
As online customers are feeling unknown when they shop in physical stores, Leung sees stores integrating more and to do that they need to keep track of their e-commerce stores and physical stores to combine the experience into one. That way, if you buy an item online and walk into the store the salesperson should know you when you identify yourself and therefore, recommend options based on your online shopping.
Leung said he sees more integration in the future because a lot of consumers are feeling unknown from retailers even if they shop online and therefore, do not have a sense of loyalty. By making the customer known online and in store, it will drive the customer to come back again and will create a sense of loyalty to the brand.
Liza Amlani
Liza Amlani, the go to expert in Retail Merchandising, also sees an increase in integration of channels as that is the way to become closer with consumers and find out what exactly they are looking for.
“The biggest change is that there will be a seamless integration across all channels due to e-commerce being a drive for retail,” says Amlani. “So what I mean by that is real time inventory, a seamless customer experience and engagement across all channels. The future of e-commerce will become more seamless.”
“I think what we will see is a better understanding of how the consumer views a brand and what they see is the brand – they don’t see a channel.
It needs to be a seamless journey, not e-commerce vs. physical store. It shouldn’t be about that, it should be about the consumer and placing the consumer in the middle. So investing in one or the other is not the right move, investing in the entire experience is what the brand and retailer should be doing,” says Amlani.
Amlani says getting closer to the consumer is what should drive all strategies, no matter what channel it should all come down to the consumer and how the brand can delight them. So whatever is next for e-commerce, whether that is diving into the metaverse or combining channels – the customer experience should only be getting better.
The world’s largest Activate, an active gaming facility, has opened at Bramalea City Centre in Brampton, Ontario – its fifth location in Canada.
Activate consists of a series of 11 interactive game rooms where people can play arcade-style games by actually jumping, climbing and dodging. The new Activate at Bramalea City Centre is 13,000 square feet and features laser lights, glowing walls and huge high-tech rooms where people can play games like Arena, Hoops, Mega Grid and Climb.
Nicole MacPhail
Nicole MacPhail, Marketing Director at BCC, said Activate is located at the exterior entrance of the shopping centre, next to Decathlon.
“We’re finding, and I think this is a lot of shopping centres, a need for more I’d say retail-tainment. We want to really pull our shoppers off of their phones and get them back into the mall,” she said. “So something like Activate Games gives our shoppers a reason to come to the mall, hopefully a motivation to come out and shop but also to experience something different.
Image: Activate
“Activate really is something cool . . . We see immersive events but this is basically like you’re almost in an immersive video game when you’re actually participating and playing as opposed to people who spent a lot of time sitting at home playing video games. This is now bringing people out of their homes to actively participate in the game itself.
“I think it’s a really nice social activity to have and it’s a great form of exercise. There’s lots of different levels you can go through so you can kind of do it as a social activity or you can come and really get competitive and do it as a super fun workout.”
1 of 3
Activate at Bramalea City Centre
Activate at Bramalea City Centre
Activate at Bramalea City Centre
Activate at Bramalea City Centre
Activate at Bramalea City Centre
Activate at Bramalea City Centre
Bramalea City Centre is the largest shopping centre in the City of Brampton, and the fourth largest in Ontario. The two-level shopping centre offers 1.5 million square feet of retail shopping space, showcasing a tenant mix of over 300 stores and services including Aritzia, Decathlon, H&M, Browns Shoes and Sephora.
Recently, besides Activate, the shopping centre has also seen the opening of JD Sports, Stokes and WLKN.
MacPhail said that through the pandemic people got comfortable being at home and being able to order things from home.
“Shopping centres are just really looking for ways to draw people out of their homes. Maybe now we’re not as much just a shopping destination but we want to be more of that entertainment destination and a place for the community to come out and meet again. I think it’s really important and we’re seeing that with a lot of shopping centres where they’re having more events or reasons to come to the mall,” she said.
Image: Activate
“Our traffic levels are doing really, really well. We’re seeing people returning to the mall and we’re seeing our sales matching with that. It’s really positive to see that people still want to come to the mall and people are shopping when they’re coming to the malls. We’re seeing some really positive results.”
Activate also has locations in Burlington, Scarborough, Edmonton South and Winnipeg.
It offers high-tech games that test a team’s physical and mental agility across a wide variety of real-life challenges. Once inside, people can choose from hundreds of combinations of games and difficulty levels, each lasting one to three minutes. An electronic wristband tracks the score and progress throughout a person’s experience. A minimum group of three people is needed to play, as games are played in groups of three to five.
Kris Mutcher of Colliers International represents Activate Games for their rapid expansion efforts internationally, and Paul Courchesne in Ontario, with plans to open one location per month in 2023 across Canada and the US.
Sleep Country Express at Walmart Canada (Image: Sleep Country)
Sleep Country is expanding its footprint within Walmart Canada stores with seven more locations across the country.
The initiative builds on a pilot project first launched last fall and the second phase will bring the total number of “Sleep Country Express” stores to 17, including three Dormez-vous locations in Quebec.
“With this new expansion into Western Canada and more parts of Ontario, we’re thrilled to strengthen our ongoing mission to awaken Canadians to the power of sleep,” said Stewart Schaefer, President and CEO of Sleep Country. “We’re excited to continue our strategic retail expansion with Walmart Canada to provide more consumers with convenient access to premier and transformative sleep brands that encourage healthy sleep habits and overall wellness.”
Sleep Country Express at Walmart Canada (Image: Sleep Country)
Schaefer said the presence in Walmart stores gives Sleep Country exposure to the giant retailer’s massive foot traffic across the country.
Stewart Schaefer
“Another reason (for being in Walmart) is broad customer segmentation. I think Sleep Country is considered mid to high. It expands into a broader customer segmentation not only for maybe a mid and maybe lower end consumer but also the 400,000 immigrants that come to Canada on an annual basis know companies like Walmart and maybe Costco and maybe IKEA but may not know Christine Magee ‘why buy a mattress anywhere else?’ (slogan). So it’s a great way of exposing the brand to those 400,000 immigrants because for sure they’re shopping at Walmart.
“We’re seeing it driving customers to our stores. The stores that are near those Walmarts and we’re already seeing that in our data.”
Sleep Country Express at Walmart Canada (Image: Sleep Country)
Schaefer said the potential is to expand to perhaps as many 100 store-in-store locations in Walmart.
Sam Hamam
Sam Hamam, Senior Director, Licensees of Walmart Canada, said the first year of the partnership was a success and reinforced the company’s commitment to the wellbeing of all Canadians.
“We look at our licensee program as part of our portfolio strategy where we try to provide a one-stop shop for our customers where they can complete all their shopping in one place,” he said. “Their groceries, their apparel. They can grab their kids a meal, etc.
“By launching this pilot about a year ago this time, we launched 10 stores, seven in Ontario and three in Quebec. We had some good success with it and together with Sleep Country we said ‘okay let’s continue to roll out more’ and we will have more to follow after this as well.”
Image: Sleep Country Canada Head Office
Typically, the Sleep Country Express stores are in the front of Walmart locations. The seven new “Sleep Country Express” locations have an average footprint of 700 square feet, a substantial increase in size from the initial 10 stores, which averaged 400 square feet. The larger footprint features an expanded selection of pillows and a greater assortment of mattresses, including a well-curated assortment of bed in a box mattresses that are conveniently ready for purchase and carryout, as well as traditional mattresses delivered with the company’s white glove service. “Sleep Country Express” will be staffed by the brand’s highly trained Sleep Experts.
“I think there’s obviously the ability to continue to expand this. We’ll have 17 by the end of this year. Our objective is when we find a service or an offering that our customers like and both the partner and us are both enjoying the value there we’ll continue to roll that out and that’s what we’ll do in this case,” added Hamam.
The Walmart portfolio strategy includes services such as health care, quick service restaurants and mobile phone repairs.
“We have a bunch of different concepts we continue piloting and trying and we’ll continue to add new concepts like Sleep Country and others,” said Hamam.
New “Sleep Country Express” store locations and opening dates:
Scarborough Walmart, 5995 Steeles Avenue East, Ontario (Opened September 30)
Bolton Walmart, 150 McEwan Drive East, Ontario (Opened October 21)
Saskatoon Walmart, 3035 Clarence Avenue South, Saskatchewan (Opening November 2)
Lethbridge Walmart, 3195 26th Avenue North, Alberta (Opening November 15)
Sage Hill Walmart, 35 Sage Hill Gate Northwest, Alberta (Opening December 1)
Duncan Walmart, 3020 Drinkwater Road, British Colombia (Opening December 3)
Edmonton West Walmart, 18521 Stony Plain Road Northwest, Alberta (Opening December 17)
