The reasons why an online presence is vital to your existence as a retail business is simple. Canadians are shopping online. Proof: Statistics Canada estimated that Canadians used the Internet in 2009 to place orders for goods and services valued at $15.1 billion, up from $12.8 billion in 2007. The increase resulted from more online shoppers and a higher volume of orders. In 2009, about 39% of Canadians aged 16 and over used the Internet to place more than 95 million orders. This was up from 32% and the 70 million orders placed in 2007, when the survey was last conducted. Bigger retail stores buy their products online. So if you are a smaller business hoping to get your products into a bigger store, you need an online presence. Nowadays, you cannot walk into a store to showcase your product to the manager without them asking you for the web address of your online store. (This is even true if you have your samples right there with you!) The Benefits of E-Commerce To Your Business: 1. You can sell to more customers 2. You can sell more types of products 3. The opportunity for expansion is unlimited. 4. Your competition has an online store. 5. It is easier to get started than you think. 6. It is inexpensive to get started.