The pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of many businesses in Canada. Many who were behind in their digital transformation journey were sent scrambling to get their business online. Those that were ready, were generally more resilient during the most trying times. This month, Al welcomes Sean Barkulis, VP, Global Strategic Partnerships – Payment & Fintech at Wix to talk about how their world-class platform is helping businesses with that transformation.
The pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of many businesses in Canada. Many who were behind in their digital transformation journey were sent scrambling to get their business online. Those that were ready, were generally more resilient during the most trying times.
This month, Al welcomes Sean Barkulis, VP, Global Strategic Partnerships – Payment & Fintech at Wix to talk about how their world-class platform is helping businesses with that transformation.
Also in this episode:
Chapters:
Al Grego:
Coming up on Shop Talk.
Sean Barkulis:
There's a Google study actually that shows that 56% of consumers say they will not consider a business that does not have a website. In addition, a recent study by Block found that 98% of consumers want to connect with businesses via their devices.
Al Grego:
Hello, everyone. I'm Al Grego.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
And I'm Kristina Anguelakieva.
Al Grego:
And this is the July 2023 edition of Shop Talk with Moneris. Welcome to the Shop Talk podcast, Kristina.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
Thank you, all. It's great to be here.
Al Grego:
Kristina, your team has been really busy.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
Yes, we have. There is a lot going on.
Al Grego:
And the reason I invited you on this month is that we recently announced a new partnership, and it's kind of a big deal.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
Yes, it is. We've teamed up with Wix, a global leader in website creation, to launch an all-in-one e-commerce solution Moneris is online.
Al Grego:
That's exciting news.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
It is, and this is an opportunity for Canadian merchants to grow their online presence and sales and power up their e-commerce business in style.
Al Grego:
Amazing. Given the news, I think now is as good a time as any to talk about getting your business online if you haven't already.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
Great idea. What do you have in mind?
Al Grego:
Well, did you know that Moneris had a blog?
Kristina Anguelakieva:
Of course, I did.
Al Grego:
I know you did, but just in case our listeners didn't know, the Moneris Insights blog is a great place for anyone looking for tools and resources to start, run, and grow your business.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
I like reading the testimonials.
Al Grego:
I'm partial to the podcast posts.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
Of course you are.
Al Grego:
I'm one track mind here. Anyway, starting back in June, every Thursday on Moneris Insights, we've been running a six-part series titled How to Sell Online. This series covers topics such as pre-launch preparation, setting up e-commerce on your website, taking great product photos, and this past week the topic, was how to plan your website structure and navigation.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
Sounds like really useful and timely information.
Al Grego:
I think so. Check out the insights blog on moneris.com/insights.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
So who do you have lined up for this month's podcast?
Al Grego:
Well, our featured interview is with Sean Barkulis from Wix.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
Perfect. He'll definitely have lots of great insights on the topic.
Al Grego:
Agreed. And then our consumer spending expert, Sean McCormick, returns to share some e-commerce consumer spending trends.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
Sean always brings the data.
Al Grego:
Indeed. So let's begin with my chat with Sean Barkulis,
Speaker 4:
Featured Interview.
Al Grego:
I'm joined today by Sean Barkulis. He's the VP of Global Strategic Partnerships at Wix. Sean, thank you so much for joining me today.
Sean Barkulis:
Thanks, Al, for having me. Really appreciate it.
Al Grego:
Now, it's hard to imagine anybody wouldn't know what Wix does or is, but could you give us just a quick intro as to what your company does?
Sean Barkulis:
So Wix is a leading web creation platform that really enables everyone from entrepreneurs to small and medium businesses and enterprises to create and manage their business online. This includes online commerce capabilities, like traditional retail e-commerce, online scheduling and bookings for service providers, online ordering for food and hospitality providers, even the ability to sell event and ticket sales, leverage invoicing capabilities, and much more. Whether it's digital marketing tools or secure payments to help grow your business, Wix is continually developing new tools and integrations to help businesses succeed.
Al Grego:
Wix is a worldwide platform. I remember when you guys first launched. I was even an early adopter of it. So you've been around for a while, and you've come a long way. Recently, we just announced a partnership between Moneris and Wix. Can we talk a little bit about what that means for Wix?
Sean Barkulis:
We're very excited about the partnership. Wix's mission is to empower local businesses to get online fast with all the tools they need to succeed, and Moneris really is a leading payment provider for small and medium businesses in Canada. So together, we will be able to deliver integrated omnichannel commerce solutions to Canadian small businesses everywhere. The partnership is also a really great way for Moneris' what we would say traditional brick and mortar business customers to get online and benefit from a comprehensive platform to build, manage, and grow their business, so we're extremely excited about the partnership and what it will do for Canadian small businesses everywhere.
Al Grego:
It's great that you bring that up, getting online, because that's the theme of this month's podcast, how to get your business online. So let's start with why would you say it's important for small businesses to shift to online?
Sean Barkulis:
It really comes down to consumer behavior, and the way they interact with local businesses has completely changed. In fact, COVID accelerated this change. There's a Google study actually that shows that 56% of consumers say they will not consider a business that does not have a website. In addition, a recent study by Block found that 98% of consumers want to connect with businesses via their devices. So consumers are continually searching out local businesses, products, and services directly from their phone, and once they find the one, they don't want to call to book an appointment or go to the store to buy. They want to click a button, order, and pay. That's why, for example, the Wix platform provides this easy integration with Google My Business to enable local search and make businesses easier to find but also the online commerce tools that we've created to help these SMBs get online.
Al Grego:
I've heard of this mentioned before, but can you explain to me? What does it mean to have a 360 degree online presence?
Sean Barkulis:
So really having that 360 degree online presence means establishing a holistic online presence, from having a professional well-designed website to full online commerce capabilities, an updated Google My business profile, having secure payments, integrated marketing tools, the ability to sell on multiple channels, having a social media presence, leveraging a full suite of web analytics to make smarter business decisions. It's important to mention that the digital landscape is continuously evolving, so it's essential for businesses to leverage top-notch tools and platforms that will help their business stay relevant and competitive.
Al Grego:
With more and more businesses going online, it is becoming a very competitive space and harder to stand out. How can small businesses stand out apart from, let's say, the big players? And we all know who those are.
Sean Barkulis:
Yeah, of course. Today, with social media and digital tools being more accessible than ever, small and medium businesses need an omnichannel solution in order to not only compete with other local SMBs, but also with bigger chains and big box retailers. Having a strong online presence can make your business stand out, and this includes things like having a robust website, being present on different social channels, having an authentic and conscious brand, and keeping up with new evolving trends when it comes to search engine optimization or digital marketing. And it's also about leveraging competitive tools, like native e-commerce capabilities.
Al Grego:
Would this also maybe open up some new channels to diversify new revenue?
Sean Barkulis:
Yeah, exactly. The moment a business has the ability to transact online, it is easy to diversify. A good example could be a CrossFit studio. Their main business is selling membership plans or getting classes booked, but they can diversify by maybe selling branded merchandise right from their website. Or maybe they want to organize and sell tickets to healthy eating workshops, for example. You could also look at a local barbershop. They want to start by getting appointments. They want to allow their customers to book those appointments online, but they build a following. And then maybe they want to start selling his or her own grooming products through their website. It's important to leverage a platform that has a diverse selection of online commerce tools that can be enabled within the same web website.
Al Grego:
So once you have the right omnichannel platform, adding all these other extras becomes a lot easier.
Sean Barkulis:
That's correct.
Al Grego:
And what better omnichannel platform than Wix? So if I'm a new business owner and I wanted to learn more about what Wix can provide me, where would I go?
Sean Barkulis:
At our website, wix.com, we have an incredible database of information for businesses to get online and be successful. We have the Wix blog, where you can find tons of articles on the entire field of website essentials, business strategies, or marketing insights. Then we have our Wix Learn platform, where you can watch courses on different aspects of site creation and online business management and even earn certifications. We also have our SEO hub, which is a prime destination for search engine optimization knowledge, featuring articles from dozens of industry experts. And then for Moneris customers interested in leveraging the Moneris-Wix partnership, they can actually go to moneris.com/monerisonline and learn everything that Moneris is doing with Wix for its customers in Canada.
Al Grego:
That's amazing. Sean, I was really excited when I heard about the partnership with Wix, and I really appreciate you taking your time today.
Sean Barkulis:
No, thanks, Al. Thanks so much. Really appreciate your time as well.
Speaker 5:
Good news for business owners. Moneris has partnered with Wix to launch in all-in-one e-commerce solution built to help you grow and scale online. With the new Moneris online, you can combine Wix's website builder with Moneris' payment processing expertise to effortlessly build an online store that is optimized for business and designed to dazzle. Launch your online store today, and enjoy no monthly fees for three months and eight free hours of website creation support, a savings of up to $764. To learn more, visit go.moneris.com/monerisonline.
Speaker 4:
By the Numbers.
Al Grego:
Joined by Sean McCormick. He's the director of Business Development Data at Moneris. Sean, thank you so much for joining me today.
Sean McCormick:
Good to be back, Al.
Al Grego:
We're talking about digital transformation, and it's guess it's pretty much common knowledge now that the pandemic kind of accelerated digital transformation over the last few years, probably by 10 years. And you have some data here that'll support that.
Sean McCormick:
It definitely was a tailwind at the start of the pandemic and during the pandemic, but as Canadian consumers and as human beings, we were creatures of habit. And this is still in the realm of commerce. Generally speaking, e-commerce is still the new kid on the block. And I'll give you an idea of the growth of e-commerce at the onset of the pandemic, and that pandemic is really the catalyst for some change. But what we've seen of late is that e-commerce has tailed off a little bit in terms of market share, and consumers have returned to the stores. But a little bit of that growth that we saw during the pandemic does definitely exist, and it has stock for a lot of consumers. So we actually did some research into this, apparel specifically because apparel, clothes, shoes, these are the kinds of things that people actually buy online a lot.
So what we did is we looked at transactions starting in 2019. And we saw that it was about 20% of apparel purchases were happening in store, and about 80% were happening online. Then the pandemic hit in the first quarter of 2020, and we saw a dramatic shift. It went from 20% online to 30% online, and then into Q2 and Q3 we saw that spike to 50% of transactions were happening online. Now, remember, Al, a lot of that was happening because consumers had no other choice. In a lot of parts of Canada, they couldn't go into the stores because they were all closed, so they had to make those purchases online. And we saw that number fluctuate between 30% and 50% until about the third quarter of 2021 when in many parts of Canada the stores were more broadly opening. Some fits and spurts there, but generally speaking, we were edging towards the end of the pandemic.
And then last summer in Q2, Q3 of 2022, we saw that e-comm share back down at 20% for apparel specifically and now into Q1 of 2023. We're into Q2 now. But Q1 of 2023, we're seeing that number settling out at between 20% and 25% apparel purchases happening online versus in store. So over the last three years, we've seen that e-comm number go from 20% to 25%, but definitely, it's retreated a little bit from the halcyon days of 40% and 50% online in the heat of the pandemic.
Al Grego:
It's found its level, I guess, at 20% to 25%.
Sean McCormick:
Definitely. And there's no question in my mind, this is me talking now, e-comm isn't going anywhere. It's going to continue to grow. The question is, at what pace is it going to grow? Will there be another catalyst for growth? And that is what's going to be required.
Al Grego:
It's also important to note, though, that those companies who did do the digital transformation successfully are now more prepared and more resilient if there is, heaven forbid, another future disruption. They know now that they can accommodate up to 50% of transactions.
Sean McCormick:
Yeah. And it's a balance for those merchants to balance the in-store customer experience with a good online experience. It's difficult to manage both of those things. A good in-store customer experience is at the heart of every successful retailer in Canada. However, a good e-commerce experience is becoming more and more important. You and I have both been on websites where we want to buy a product but we don't have the user experience that's required to hook us and capture that transaction at the moment of impulse, the moment that we have convinced ourselves as a consumer that we must buy this, we can't live without it, and that's the moment that that merchant needs to be able to capture the transaction.
Al Grego:
And I think also a big part of digital transformation is also bringing those two separate streams together so that they're one stream but just with two separate outcomes, whether you're buying an in-store or online. For example, back in the day, sometimes you might buy something online and later on find out it's out of stock because it was sold in store. And if there was only that one stream or that one channel, that would've been caught ahead of time.
Sean McCormick:
And you know what, Al? I'll give you an analogy. My son just bought a pair of shoes. They're big into shoes, and he's in grade seven. And he loves his shoes, and all his buddies have these great kicks, spending $200 on shoes. I didn't spend $200 on all my shoes combined when I was a kid. So he bought a pair online. They didn't have his size, so he thought that they could fulfill the order. A day later, they sent an email and said, "We're really sorry. We're refunding your transaction. We don't have your size. However, here's a promo code for 10% off if you would like to purchase another style that we do have in stock." And you know what he did? You found another style and saved 10%, and that merchant captured the transaction. These are the kinds of consumer experiences, customer experiences that merchants will be adopting going forward in order to continue that shift online.
Al Grego:
Great example. Thank you so much for your time today, Sean.
Sean McCormick:
Thanks, Al.
Speaker 4:
Save the Date.
Al Grego:
I'm joined by Madeline Dalglish. She's the marketing intern here at Moneris. Madeline, thank you for joining me today.
Madeline Dalglish:
Thank you for having me.
Al Grego:
Madeline, you've been voluntold to share with us the July calendar of events. So what do you have for us for July?
Madeline Dalglish:
Yeah, so we are really excited because Elevate Festival is taking place September 26th to the 28th in Toronto. As a presenting partner of the Scale Up Stage, which is a curated content track made for startups, Moneris is proud to announce a special discount code for startups and entrepreneurs looking to attend Elevate Festival. Until July 30th, startups can receive an exclusive code to get 50% off the price of a startup pass, making it possible to bring more team members to Elevate Fest 2023.
Al Grego:
It's a great event. I've been to it before. Lots of amazing things to see and do. Where can we learn more about it?
Madeline Dalglish:
Yeah, so you can visit our social media channels or visit elevatefestival.ca for more information.
Al Grego:
Perfect. Thank you so much. Do you have anything else in July?
Madeline Dalglish:
Nope, that's it.
Al Grego:
Well, it is summer, a typically slow time of year for events. So thank you so much, Madeline, for joining me today.
Madeline Dalglish:
Thank you for having me.
Al Grego:
And that's all we have for this month. I hope you found this episode informative. If you haven't already, check out Moneris' other award-winning podcast, Yes, We Are Open. Here's a trailer.
Cass McPhee:
Success in business doesn't come without moments of struggle, moments when you had to face your challenges head on. When you overcome these moments, what you're left with is not just success. You're also left with a story, a story of how you did it, a story to inform, inspire, and be proud of. At Yes, We Are Open, it's our business to tell these stories, and we're good at it. Subscribe now to season four of the award-winning Yes, We Are Open available wherever you get your podcasts.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
If you haven't already, you can subscribe to this podcast and Yes, We Are Open wherever you get your podcasts.
Al Grego:
If you'd like to support the show, share this podcast with your network, or review us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. And finally, if you have a payment-related question you'd like to submit to one of our experts, you can email us atpodcast@moneris.com.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
Join us again next month for more expert insight and data to help you grow your business.
Al Grego:
Thank you so much for co-hosting, Kristina.
Kristina Anguelakieva:
Thank you for the invite, Al. Anytime.
Al Grego:
On behalf of Kristina, myself, and the rest of Moneris, thank you for listening to Shop Talk. Talk again in August.