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Some new data was released today from a study by Leger Marketing and sponsored by Kijiji Canada has found that Canadians rely heavily on the Internet to help with their shopping needs. While the “Big 3″ Internet search giants including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft still have a growing percentage of the global search market (see additional story here) there is a growing trend for localized search and according to the data 73 per cent of Canadians aged 30 and over rely on the Internet to search for local news and products to buy within their community, and 70 per cent now cite the Internet as their resource of choice for finding local services, such as handymen or domestic help.This study just highlights the growing shift away from traditional sources such as the printed version of Yellow Pages as results show that 20 per cent say they have met someone who lives in their area online and 28 per cent feel more “at home” in their online community than in their own neighbourhood. In addition, the vast majority (89 per cent) of survey respondents cited convenience, ease of use and the variety of goods they find online. Dr. John Pliniussen, Director, Queen’s Business Consulting, and Associate Professor of eMarketing, Innovation, and Sales says “In the last six years, Internet use has more than doubled among Baby Boomers, and this isn’t just to send emails to family and friends or to look at pictures of their children,” says Dr. Pliniussen. “The age-group that I like to call the ‘Bandwidth Boomers’ are just the tip of an even bigger segment of the population that is turning to the Internet for five main activities: shopping, sharing, caring, earning and learning.”

Why are consumers moving from offline to online to do their searching?

- Four in five Canadians older than 30 say their experiences interacting with people online have been positive, including shopping on eBay, participating in blogs or discussion boards or meeting people (83 per cent).

- Almost 90 per cent say that there is a good variety of goods and/or services online and 86 per cent say it is easy to find what they are looking for online.

Is there a difference on how consumers across Canada use search tools?

- British Columbians are the most active, regular users of community websites, as 61 per cent use the Internet once a week or more to search for jobs, products to buy or other local community information.
- Ontario cites the highest rate of searches for products to buy online, at 40 per cent.
- Quebeckers have the highest preference for online classifieds, as 43
per cent would choose online classifieds, even if newspaper classified ads were free.
- Not surprisingly, more than one-third of Albertans look for part-time or temporary jobs online (35 per cent) and one-quarter look for apartments online (25 per cent)

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