Canadian online shopping is a big growth industry, like pretty much all online shopping. The reason for this is that it saves companies money on virtually everything. Labor, property, transport, marketing and maintenance are all cheaper if you assume that most of your customers will be coming to you online rather than through the doors of a shop. Owning just a few big warehouses is far cheaper than owning dozens or hundreds of smaller shops, they require fewer workers and marketing online is generally cheaper and more versatile than traditional advertising. All in all it’s a slam dunk for Canadian business owners.

But what about the rest of us? Obviously workers getting laid off because their company has moved online won’t exactly be happy about it but over the long term, those savings in efficiencies should get passed on to the consumer, allowing them to get more for their money.

Shopping online at a Canadian online shop is also more environmentally friendly: Fewer people driving to the stores obviously means fewer car journeys, which is good, but it also means less overall traffic on our roads, which will mean less time stuck in traffic with the engine running for all …