Webnames.ca Staff
It’s officially that time of year that we celebrate being Canadian and more than ever before, Canadians are prioritizing buying from Canadian retailers when it comes to purchasing behaviour.
A preference for local, values-aligned and ethically sourced products has been a dominating trend in the Canadian consumer market since the pandemic. If your business targets a primarily Canadian audience, this means that letting prospective consumers know that you are Canadian owned, operated, local and community minded not only matters, but can help fuel your growth.
Growth of a Buy Canadian Mindset
According to a recent BDC study, there are two dominant concerns pushing a buy-local mindset among Canadian consumers. The first is a desire to use their spending power to support their local economy. The second is a belief that Canadian-made products are safer and greener alternatives to imports. Adding to this, more than half of Canadians polled in RBC small business survey voiced their desire to support BIPOC, LGBTQ and Indigenous small businesses, highlighting that diversity and social responsibility are increasingly top of mind when it comes to spending decisions.
Here’s a few key stats to prove the point:
- 63% of Canadian consumers report a desire to support Canadian businesses
- 55% of Canadian consumers report buying from local stores as a key selection factor, while 41% said buying locally made products was a key selection factor
- 74% of Canadian consumers report that they would like to see businesses seek out and offer environmentally sustainable options
- 66% of Canadians consumers report that consuming and conducting business in a socially responsible way is playing a bigger role in their purchasing and business decisions
- 86% of Canadians consumers reported that they considered food that comes from Canada to be safer than food from abroad, with 82% reporting they make an effort to buy locally grown food
Sources: BDC, RBC, Statista, Ipsos Canada
Considering the above, if you are doing business with a majority Canadian audience, choosing a .CA domain to represent your business online is simply a good business decision.
.CA is also no barrier to reaching an international audience, dispelling the idea that you need a .COM, .CO, .NET or another generic domain to connect with and gain the trust of global consumers. Market research by the Canadian government shows that Canada continues to be widely perceived by foreigners as “a model country” with a clean environment, open and trustworthy people, and safe, high-quality products. Global audiences also want to buy Canadian.
Online Advantages of .CA for Canadian Retailers
And in the event you are still unsure about choosing a .CA domain for your business website, there are the significant added benefits of:
Choice – With more than 161 million .COM’s registered (up from 141 in 2019), compared to nearly 3.4 million .CA’s (up from 2.8 million in 2019) the .CA namespace offers a more opportunity for finding memorable, relevant and succinct domain names.
Optimization – A .CA domain name tells Google that your business and website are Canadian, letting the search algorithm know you have increased relevance for those searching for local Canadian results.
Simplicity – A .CA domain communicates to shoppers that you charge in CAD dollars, ship to Canada, pay and collect Canadian taxes and you’re a local Canadian business making for a friction-free shopping experience for your customers.
Security – The SpamHaus Project, an international non-profit that tracks spam and cyber threats, ranks .CA as among the “least-abused” domains, meaning they are less likely to host malware or be used to send spam for increased trust.
It’s also worth mentioning that a portion of every .CA registration goes towards CIRA’s (the .CA’s registry operator) Net Good program which provides community grants to organizations and initiatives working to make the internet better for all Canadians. Since 2014 more than 11 million dollars in grants have been distributed to projects focused on bringing internet connectivity to underserved communities, teaching about digital literacy, data privacy rights and online safety, running teaching labs focused on detecting and thwarting cyberattacks, and much more.
So while you can’t go wrong with using a .COM domain name for your business (in fact, best practice recommends securing both if they are available), only a .CA can instantly convey that your website is Canadian. Canada is a powerful brand both at home and around the world that evokes trust, quality and pride – qualities every business ultimately wants to be associated with.
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Register your .CA at Webnames.ca
.CA and .COM domain names are on sale now through July 2nd at Webnames.ca for just $9.99/one-year term. Register a new .CA domain today – not only will you be in good company, rubbing internet elbows with iconic Canadian brands and valued neighbours that use .CA for their websites, you’ll be backed by the expert, bilingual support team of Canada’s original .CA registrar.