Attention Internet shoppers: Retailers are sharpening their hooks

Shoppers, start your search engines! You are about to be presented with a whole range of new websites, products and systems designed to get you shopping online.

E-commerce is growing by leaps and bounds, in Canada and internationally, which is one of the reasons why next week, world leaders in e-commerce will gather in Amsterdam for the first Global e-commerce Summit. In fact, in a tightening economy, e-commerce is seen by many as a way to keep people shopping by offering convenience and, ideally, lower prices.

With a decade or so of experience under their belts, retailers are now working to improve the online shopping experience in at least four ways -- product, price, service and payment -- and in so doing entice more Canadians to spend their money at online stores.

Online shopping, for Canadians, has often meant cross-border shopping. Many of the bigshopping websites were American, and we had to deal not only with shipping issues but also customs formalities.

U.S. retailers have begun to respond by setting up shop here. One example is Newegg.com, an online retailer of electronics and household appliances. Their all-Canadian website, Newegg.ca, went live this month.

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