A new study by PayPal Canada, Business of Change: PayPal Canada Small Business Study, shows how dramatically the pandemic has accelerated digital commerce for Canadian small businesses. Two in three small businesses (67%) accept payments online and half (47%) of them only started doing so this year. Of all small businesses selling online, one third (34%) turned to digital payments only after Covid-19 was declared a global pandemic in March.
Canadian businesses have lagged behind their U.S. and global counterparts in embracing digital commerce in previous years, but this study revealed a positive shift. The number of Canadian small businesses selling online spiked nearly 400 per cent in the last five years with the global pandemic being a major catalyst for merchants going digital.[1]
The majority of online small business owners (72%) believe e-commerce is now necessary in order to have a successful business. In fact, 69 per cent of online small business owners said selling online has made them more successful.
Impact of Covid-19 on Canadian Small Businesses
Being online was a matter of survival for Canadian entrepreneurs. Without the ability to sell online, 58 per cent of small business owners said they don’t think their business could survive the impact of Covid-19.
While being online has certainly made running a business during a pandemic easier, the coronavirus has nonetheless had a deep impact on the bottom line. More than half of small businesses have been negatively impacted by the pandemic (55%) and one in four business owners say they are not confident they can sustain themselves over the next six months (26%).
However, there were also some positive outcomes for entrepreneurs who proved to be resilient and innovative. The vast majority of small businesses (84%) are doing some type of preparation for future waves of Covid-19 and 64 per cent say the pandemic has motivated them to consider new ways to grow their business.
According to the survey, when it comes to payment methods, 58 per cent of online small businesses shared they prefer PayPal over other payment options. More than 80 per cent of business owners who use PayPal say it’s a partner that will help their business succeed into the future (81%).
Other survey highlights include:
- 59% of small businesses say preventing fraud is a challenge of selling online
- Reaching customers in the U.S. was seen as a top 5 benefit of e-commerce
- 53% say they are hopeful that the holiday season will make up for some of the losses their business has faced earlier this year
- Compared to all Canadian small businesses, those that are online only tend to be owned by women (53%), millennials (47%) and from the BIPOC community (45%)
- Compared to all Canadian small businesses, offline businesses have a greater proportion of boomers (26%) and a lower representation of BIPOC ownership (31%).
Complete study findings can be found at this link.
Survey methodology
This survey was conducted by Edelman in partnership with Logit Group on behalf of PayPal between September 23 and October 6, 2020 among a sample of 1,001 small business owners with less than 100 employees. The interviews were conducted online in English and French, and respondents were sourced using Logit Group’s online panel. The margin of error is +/- 3% at a 95% confidence level.
PayPal Quietly Adds $20 CAD Fee For Unused Accounts In Canada
Posted in Commentary with tags Paypal on August 23, 2021 by itnerdIf you’re a PayPal user in Canada, you likely got an email that looks like this one in the middle of August:
Now most of us ignore these sorts of emails. But you shouldn’t ignore this one. Because included in the changes that they reference, is this little factoid:
So the way I read it, if you don’t use your PayPal account for 12 months, you get dinged $20. This isn’t the first time PayPal has implemented an inactivity fee, as the company introduced a similar fee on UK accounts in December 2020. But the reaction to this in Canada has been the same as the UK. Which is there has been a very negative reaction. Some have deleted their PayPal entirely because of this.
To avoid the inactivity fee, simply log into your PayPal account or use your account to make a payment at least once per year. Additionally PayPal will not charge credit or debit cards linked to your account and will withdraw any inactivity fees from PayPal wallet balances. In other words, you will not be charged if you have a $0.00 wallet balance.
To close your PayPal account, simply log into your account online, withdraw any funds from your wallet balance, then click the gear icon along the top navigation bar and click Close your account under your profile. To remove a credit or debit card from your account, log into your account online, then click Wallet along the top navigation bar to manage all cards linked to your account.
PayPal has some explaining to do on this front as the way this has rolled out really seems “sketchy A.F.” because it looks like it was done under the cover of night rather than being done in the light of day where the company could clarify things for users. That would have avoided this negative reaction that is being seen now.
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