Challenges the Canadian industry must overcome include the reluctance of Canadian companies to conduct consumer directed business over the Internet, the caution that Canadian consumers have exhibited in transacting online, the loss to American sites of Canadians that do transact online and concerns of businesses about the effectiveness of Internet advertising. The Internet Population Both globally and domestically, the use of the Internet continues its unparalleled growth. Canada, being one of the most technologically sophisticated countries, has a higher penetration of Internet use on a per capita basis than even the United States. As computer hardware prices continue to drop, the population will continue to expand and to become more diverse. Presently, males comprise a slim majority of the online population.
Online users tend to be more highly educated and more well off than the general population.
This population is very attractive to both online vendors and advertisers and will continue to act as a beacon to companies not yet conducting business over the Internet. Notwithstanding the technological advancements being made, most users continue to access the Internet via low bandwidth connections. Mass penetration will likely not be achieved until about 2002. The prime activities for Internet users continue to be e-mail and searching for information via the Web, in that order. One of the main purposes for online information gathering is now to inform purchasing decisions.