Eric Morris, Managing Director of Google Canada Retail, is back on the podcast sharing the latest research looking at some of the changing consumer habits we can expect from shoppers this holiday season and practical tips for retailers to finish strong through to 2023 and beyond!
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Eric Morris, Managing Director of Google Canada Retail, is back on the podcast sharing the latest research looking at some of the changing consumer habits we can expect from shoppers this holiday season and practical tips for retailers to finish strong through to 2023 and beyond!
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast. Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!
I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co! Have a safe week everyone!
About Eric
Eric Morris is the Managing Director of Google's Retail practice in Canada, leading sales, operations, research, strategy and analytics.
Eric joined Google in 2002. As one of Google’s first hires globally, he played a critical role in building and scaling Google’s business globally, holding several leadership and executive roles along the way.
Prior to his current role, Eric led Google Canada's search and performance advertising business, ran Automotive and Financial Services practices, and launched Google’s mobile advertising business in Canada.
In 2016 Eric was named inventor and issued a patent in the United States for identifying rising search queries and trends at scale for advertisers worldwide.
Eric has served on the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada’s board of directors since 2009, including a two-year term as board Chair.
Born in Montreal and raised in Toronto, Eric is a graduate of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.
About Michael
Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide. Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in 2022.
Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms. Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.
Michael LeBlanc 00:05
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host, Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with the Retail Council of Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 00:09
Eric Morris, Managing Director of Google Canada Retail is back on the podcast sharing the latest research looking at some of the changing consumer habits we can expect from shoppers this holiday season, and practical tips for retailers to finish strong through to 2023 and beyond. Let's listen in now.
Michael LeBlanc 00:24
Eric, welcome back to The Voice of Retail podcast. How are you doing my friend?
Eric Morris 00:33
Michael, it's great to hear from you again. Thanks for having me.
Michael LeBlanc 00:36
I feel like some days like I'm Johnny Carson and you're, you're the recurring guest who's a favorite. I think this is three or four times you've been on the podcast over time. So, it's really wonderful to have you back and tap into your wisdom again.
Eric Morris 00:51
Flattery will get you everywhere. And I mean, in all seriousness, thanks so much for having me.
Michael LeBlanc 00:55
Yeah. So, listen, it's about time we're in the middle of holiday, you guys got some insights that can even, I think even help the listeners and, and retailers today. So, they're successful even tomorrow, because you're, you have some great insights. But let's start the beginning for I don't know, yeah, I mean, who hasn't heard of Eric Morris? I don't know about the retail business. For those one or two people that you maybe knew of or my international audience, who are you? And what do you do for a living?
Eric Morris 01:21
Great. Well, I lead the retail practice here at Google Canada, and my team works with the largest, call it 30 or 40, retailers or brands in Canada. So, think of large, you know, Omni-channel retailers and the general merchandise or grocery space. So, think like Walmart, Canadian Tire and Sobeys. We work with direct-to-consumer retailers, you know, think Lululemon, Canada, Goose, online only retailers in Canada, the furniture company Article or Rove in Vancouver, Essence, the luxury retailer in Montreal. And we also work with the Canadian tech companies that are powering much of retail today. So, think Shopify and Lightspeed would be good examples of those. So, we work with all of these retail partners to help them drive more sales, whether it's sales, online, sales in-store through Google Search, YouTube Maps, etc., and help them build their brands.
Michael LeBlanc 02:11
And when you get up in the morning, what do you do? Because you've I know, at Google and the retail business, like how big, what's your not so much your scope? But how big is your team? How do you go to market just for those who kind of don't have that firsthand experience with, with your team? Tell us a little bit more about what you like in the morning, what did you do this morning, when you got up, other than wiping snow off, off the windshield? Thank God for that. But what do you get up in the morning and do? What's, what's your kind of objectives?
Eric Morris 02:39
Well, I, you know, I think and it's really timely, we're, we're talking, you know, holiday now, I mean, goo-, Google really is, you know, an aggregate this da-, database of intentions, right, we have, you know, again, an aggregate anonymized a really interesting view into what, you know, Canadians are interested in. How they want to be entertained, and what they want to buy. And so I think, like, ultimately, a big part of what I do, with what my team does is, help retailers make sense of what Canadians are thinking about? What do they want to watch? What they want to buy, and where they want to buy it from? And connect those insights to, you know, ultimately, the, the business objectives that, that retailers are, are trying to achieve, whether it's to get more people into their store, to whether it's to, you know, bring in new customers, upsell existing customers, cross, sell them into new products, sell online, or even just increase awareness and consideration of those retailers.
Eric Morris 03:07
So, again, it's really about connecting, like the insights that we see across this country and across the industry with what retailers are, are trying to do. And we have, you know, call it probably 60 to 80 folks here who work exclusively on, on retailers. And so they are account managers, helping retailers push buttons and make the most of the platform, we have data scientists who are really helping, you know, helping retailers comb through all of that rich data on the website, Google Search, YouTube to sort of distill insights from a large dataset and help them make better decisions.
Michael LeBlanc 04:10
So basically, you're, you're almost like a force multiplier for what you can do on your own right, some of that stuff you can get on your own, but really, you guys hone in on the key insights and help retailers kind of, you know, pay attention to the really, really important numbers and trends and that kind of thing. Is that, is that a fair statement?
Eric Morris 04:25
Yeah, I think that's a fair statement. I mean, Google in general, is a, is a force, you know, multiplier, we have a, you know, whether it's, you know, consumers looking to get informed or educated about, you know, anything down to businesses who are, you know, trying to make the most of, you know, Google Search and Google Maps and YouTube, we make a lot of these services, you know, self-serve, any business big or small, can do a lot of things on their own, we provided an additional level of service for the largest partners, you know, in, in this country, to sort of supercharge their team and again, you know, convert these like the data and the insights into something actionable to help them drive their business.
Michael LeBlanc 05:04
Well, let's talk about, I want to talk about, all about the holiday, you guys have got some great insights to share just about specific holidays in retail. But let's talk about the world of Google for a bit. You know, before we get to holiday, how are you feeling about the year that was? We're closing a crazy, I don't know, post-COVID world, whatever world we're living in. So, things are settling down to be a bit, a bit more normal, whatever that means. Are you, you finding in general retailers are taking advantage of the tools? I mean, we've seen them trying to understand eCommerce numbers kind of flattening and resuming back to a normal growth, Who's got strong store numbers, but how are you feeling about the tools that Google is offering and the work you're doing for, you know, if you're sitting in front of whoever you're sitting in front of, as an annual review, what would your highlights be for, for you in the retail sector for 2022?
Eric Morris 05:53
Well, you know, I don't think it's, it's any understatement to say it's, it's been a hell of a year, and, and a year that I don't think played out, as many had hoped or expected and a lot more volatility than, than any of us were, were counting on. And I think at the start of the year, look, we were, we were still in lockdown. I think my kids were still home at the start of the (crossover talk) school year in January,
Michael LeBlanc 06:18
It wasn't like five years ago, that was like, within the past 12 months, as we were talking off mic, it's like a collective amnesia about a terrible thing, we've kind of just, put it away but, (crossover talk),
Eric Morris 06:27
It's collective amnesia, and you have to sort of remind yourself that 2020, 2021, was, was actually, it was actually 2022. We started this year with, you know, more COVID restrictions, you know, than not. And over the, you know, the course of the year, it felt like we went from exuberance around a potential sort of Roaring Twenties to I think, maybe a lot less optimism and more pessimism, whether it's rising inflation, war, you know, really, really heavy and existential things that have had a, you know, puts a giant weight on on all of us in a very personal emotional way. And not, not, not to mention, you know, our business. I think if I were to sort of summarize, I think in the early days of the pandemic, when, you know, all if not most stores were closed, offices were closed, and we were living and working at home. Many of us, you know, as workers, consumers, retailers, it was very much a shared experience, we were all at home. And we were not going to stores and we were not going to offices, and we're all shopping online. And so, we lived, it was a forcing function. And it was a very, very hard pivot from the world we all knew, and a shared experience for everyone. And I think now what we're seeing is we sort of come out of that, and we're not quite out of it, you know, there's still a lot of COVID to be had. But I, (crossover talk),
Michael LeBlanc 07:58
And other things now like, now, there's a flu epidemic. And we got RSV, I mean, you know,
Eric Morris 08:04
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, (crossover talk) all I was about to say there's, there's a lot going on, (crossover talk) in the health world. And so I think there's, you know, more, more variants that, you know, consumers, workers and retailers, you have some companies that have ,that have remained digital by default, like a Shopify,
Michael LeBlanc 08:20
More variants, (crossover talk), I see what you did there, by the way, very clever.
Eric Morris 08:24
And then you have others, I mean, at Google for, you know, if listeners are curious, we're in the office, you know, probably on average three days a week. But it's a, it's an experience that varies. And I think, you know, if we sort of shift to, to retail and, and to eCommerce, you know, as you point out retail accelerated during the pandemic, it's come down, as stores have reopened, but we still remain at elevated levels and above historical levels. In Canada retail, you know, eCommerce represents about 15% of total retail sales in this country. So, it's gone up. But different retailers who sell different things, and may have a different store footprint, have experienced sort of a different growth rate and a different potentially rebalancing between what's happening online and in-store.
Michael LeBlanc 09:10
And, you know, very relevant to our conversation. But I'm sure your colleagues who oversee the travel and tourism business at Google would, would, would be having amazing days in 2022, versus not amazing days at all earlier, but that does account for things right? This behavioral shift from I'm at home, I'm going to buy stuff, I need a new couch because (crossover talk), I am at home more often. Now, I want to travel again, I want experiences, I want to dine out. So, you must in the bigger world of Google, when you sit around the table with your counterparts. You must, you must hear those stories as well. Yeah.
Eric Morris 09:41
Well, we do that, you know, there's someone like me working with travel and with banks and the automotive industry, and it's sort of if you think of it as a giant sort of stock portfolio or mutual fund. I mean, it really is an interesting read into the broader economy. And you will have puts and takes, you will have industries that are growing and accelerating, you will have industries that are slowing and not. And so, it's a really interesting read, you know, on the economy, I think travel is interesting. And I think, you know, it's really important to disaggregate averages. So yes, the average, you know, on, on average, eCommerce represents 15% of total retail sales in this country. For some retailers, it's 100%, Omni-channel retailers, it's well above 50%.
Michael LeBlanc 10:22
Sure, sure.
Eric Morris 10:24
Some retailers where it's very, very low, single digits,
Michael LeBlanc 10:33
It's like in the grocery, right? I mean, (crossover talk), it went up from I don't know, I think there's it was like a point and a half or one, one and a half percent, probably, maybe you, maybe you know, better, but I think it's probably in the three to four to five range now. But it's not 15.
Eric Morris 10:46
It's not 15.
Michael LeBlanc 12:48
Right.
Eric Morris 12:49
And so, we're still low relative to sort of peer markets, but are well above historical average and averages. And all this is to say, it's, I think it's really important in, in retail, to sort of un-, unpack these averages. And even when, when we talk about travel, or how much Canadians have saved during the pandemic, and in aggregate, that's true, consumers have saved and that may be an interesting signal that even with inflation, or a slowing economy contin-, Canadians can continue to save. But different Canadians have a different level of savings from each other. And so, while some Canadians can go on a vacation and buy a new sofa, there, there are a lot of Canadians that have to make a choice between one or the other or frankly, can't do either.
Michael LeBlanc 11:32
Yeah.
Eric Morris 11:33
So, while travel in aggregate may be growing it these, these trends impact different, different Canadians differently.
Michael LeBlanc 11:42
Yeah, for sure, for sure. You know, I was reflecting back to the last time you and I spoke and one of the questions that we explored. And you know, you and I have known each other for a bunch of years, as you know, this idea that in the early days, and I was speaking on the podcast with someone, we were talking about how I went down to this conference in the US in 98. And these, this, people were talking about this new thing called Google and I came back to Toronto in 99 and I go, we got to get all over this, this could be big someday. And everyone (inaudible) some quirky couple of college guys, I don't think this will be anything. So, you know, the OG days of search, whereas if you, initially if you just paid attention, you could be a big winner, then it became if you worked hard, and you developed some, some expertise, you could really, really win. But more and more, you know, is, as, as time went on, the skills became, you know, it came hard to differentiate yourself and hard to really, to win, particularly for the small guys. And you and I talked about that.
Eric Morris 12:44
Yeah.
Michael LeBlanc 12:45
And so, I'm curious as to how you're thinking about that it was almost about a year ago, but I'm sure, I know it was on your, on your mind, as well to make sure that you know that this somehow this advantage would become backing, this advantage would come back in some way, shape or form. How are you, how are you feeling about that today?
Eric Morris 12:57
Yeah, I think that's a, it's a really interesting thought. I've been at Google for just over 20 years. And so maybe I'll share some experiences here. I think in our ,I think pre-Google and pre-internet, if you think about the ways that retailers would build their brands, or drive sales and you think television or flyers or newspaper, outdoor ads, right, those channels generally favored the largest retailers in the world with the biggest budgets, the most cash flow, strong partner network, (inaudible) agencies or, or otherwise, and really favored the biggest retailers and businesses in the world.
Eric Morris 13:10
One of the interesting things about Google, I believe, in the earliest days is it really democratized advertising and direct response advertising specifically. So, there was no minimum ad spend, you could work with an agency, you could do it on your own, and set up a campaign for $1 a day and run it on your credit card, if you'd liked. There were no discounts and there remained no discounts in the Google search ads option. Based on how much you spend or how much you commit to Google, every retailer competes for attention based on the keyword and the relevance of their ads. So, I think in many ways, Google did democratize direct response advertising. And I think that re-, remains the case today.
Eric Morris 13:31
And I think there's other ways that we've helped democratize, I'll give you a few examples. So, I think something like Google Analytics, right so analytics is the way that you know retailer or a business can understand their website traffic and where it's coming from and which devices and understand you know, where people joi-, where people enter the site where they drop off, do they abandon the cart, I mean, really rich insights that used to be very expensive software, I mean, you would know this from your, your, your previous life. And today, you know, that is software that's offered for free by Google. So, we've really democratized the insights that retailers have based on their own business.
Eric Morris 15:10
And I think whether it's, you know, think with Google, which is, you know, that basically the free research and case studies that we provide, Google Trends, where we make it available to anyone, what searches are rising, what are trending products on Google in Canada, all of that information is available for free. It's not based on a subscription; it's not just given to our biggest partners. So, I think those are other examples of places where we've tried to democratize that information and our tools, hosting videos on YouTube, a Google Maps listing, even organic search onto all of these things are free and available to anyone, and we want retailers big and small to be able to use all of these.
Michael LeBlanc 15:49
Well, and, and maybe you can send me some links, and I'll put them in the show notes, just, just in case somebody isn't aware of the latest things, because you're right there. So, this is great, a great set of resources. All right, let's, let's start, (crossover talk),
Eric Morris 16:01
You know, Michael, what I'll add to that is, you know, that being said, I think, you know, I do think digital, you, you get what you give. And so, you know, and maybe to liken it to, you know, the financial services industry. You know, if you just want to buy stocks, or buy a mutual fund on your own, you can do that. If you want to spend a lot of time researching stocks and optimizing your portfolio, you can do that, if you want to work with an investment advisor to get additional advice, you can do that as well, digital, I really do believe you get what you give, you can increasingly lean heavily into the automated solutions and insights that Google and others provide, but the retailers who increasingly differentiate and win are the ones who invest more time. And so, whether they have the in-house expertise. And, and, and so you know, there's lots of ways to differentiate, but one of which is just care, and time. And I think the more the more that you give, the more that you will get with digital.
Michael LeBlanc 16:35
All right.
Eric Morris 16:37
And so that, that can be, you know, an advantage to a large retailer who may have a marketing team, they may have a digital team, whereas a smaller retailer, it could be owner operator, and they have to think about Google and search and social, in addition to operating the store and doing payroll and ordering products, etc. So, that is the one place that I still worry about a little bit, that many retailers in this country don't have the expertise in-house and are sort of ill prepared for this continued acceleration of importance of digital.
Michael LeBlanc 17:44
All right, well, those are great perspectives and, and as I said, you know, it's a good discussion about the difference between how differentiators become table stakes over time, right, that constant search for, for differentiators and, and how much you need and, and should be paying attention to digital, I mean that, you know, the argument is over whether it's important or not. It's how much time you can, you can, dedicate to it. So, now we turn to the interesting stuff about the holiday. So you know, we're recording this in mid-November. So, holidays on right, we're in the middle of the marathon that is holiday. So, if you could talk about some, some learnings you're seeing today that can help our retailers and the listeners get across that finish line. And at a winning pace. And then we'll talk about 2023. But right now, if you're listening to this podcast give, give us some in-, some things you're noticing. And maybe from that some, some things that you advise retailers to do.
Eric Morris 18:41
Yeah, well, I think at the highest, at the highest level, you know, I would, I would break down the holiday into three distinct phases. And I think different retailers execute differently against each phase. They're, the first part is sort of that early holiday shopping demand. And we really see it. I mean, it depends a little bit on the retailer category. But we really see it at Google in Canada picking up you know, starting in September, right around back to school, right more queries for, you know, apparel, fall fashion, I mean, you name it, right, but commercial queries and shopping starts to pick up right around back to school. So, there's that early holiday demand that starts around Labor Day, and sort of continues a slow build, you know, September, October and into November. It accelerates very quickly in November.
Eric Morris 19:01
And then we come to that second phase, which are those peak days, which used to be Cyber Monday. It then became Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Cyber Weekend. And now it feels like it's, you know, a week or two of very heightened consumer demand and retailer interest, but it's about winning those peak days. So, retailers there's the early holiday season. That's part one, there's part two, which is winning sort of the peak days around Cyber Week. And the third phase is everything that happens afterwards. It's not like Canadians just stop shopping in-store, online after Cyber Monday or Cyber Week,
Michael LeBlanc 19:19
Right.
Eric Morris 19:20
There's very heavy consumer interest and retailer interest in early December. And then it continues to build heading into Boxing Day and a lot of last-minute shopping, whether it's apparel, toys, other categories, right through to the, the end of the year. So, for a retailer, it really is about winning each of those three key moments. And I'd say different retailers execute differently and best-in-class is certainly winning, winning all three. So, that's sort of like that, the timing of it all. I think that the trends that we've, we've observed, look during COVID, Canadians are increasingly open minded to new brands and to shopping with, with new retailers. So, we've been surveying Canadians and how they shop online in Canada since the start of COVID. And we've been doing it every two weeks. We ask them what they buy, and where they buy from and is it online? Is it in-store or is it both? And so our latest status in September, right 54% of Canadians surveyed said that in the last month they shopped with a new retailer.
Michael LeBlanc 20:53
Wow.
Eric Morris 20:54
And so,
Michael LeBlanc 20:56
Wow, that's a big number, man, that's a big number, 54%.
Eric Morris 21:04
It's a big number. And it's, it's up from you know, 36%, about 18 months ago, we've seen it continue to rise during COVID. I think in the earliest days, stores were closed, we had new needs, it made a lot of sense that we would be open minded with shopping with new retailers. Today, the story could be, you know, we continue to have new needs. But I think an increasingly price conscious Canadian. You know, more importantly, we're thinking about value and we're thinking about how much things cost. And that may dictate more than ever, where we buy things from and what we buy. And so, we've observed, you know, over the last, you know, a few months that, you know, searches in Canada for Canadians looking to price match are up 700%.
Michael LeBlanc 21:23
Wow,
Eric Morris 21:24
Searches for discount codes, (crossover talk). Now, when you say, when you say up 700% Is that year over year, like what's your time period? Yeah, so at the same time period as last year. So, I think there's a lot of things that are the same. Canadians are going to shop online, they're going to research online, (crossover talk), to form the things they buy, but increasingly, we have a Canadian shopper that is looking for value more than ever, right? Eighty times increase in searches for Canadians looking for gifts by price, right. So, we're trying to narrow down the gifts that we buy this holiday season into a specific price range. And so I think that's really important for retailers not just in terms of like, you know, the ads they run. But even if you think of those like shopping guides, you know, sent out by email or that appear on the website, I think it's a really good tip for retailers. It may sound obvious at this moment that they're price conscious, but make it really, really easy for Canadians to narrow down what they want to buy this holiday season by price once they get to your website.
Michael LeBlanc 22:49
Well, it, it, it is in one way obvious. But if we cast our minds again, back to last holiday season, it was more about availability than it was price in some ways, right? It was who has it? Who can get it to me or who can get it to me and, and it sounds like, (crossover talk),
Eric Morris 23:02
Let's talk (inaudible) as kind of we wrap up and, and then we'll get on to 2023 Let's talk about video because there's been a lot of buzz in the media, the retail media and a lot of buzz at conferences, you and I are no doubt at sending on live video but video in general. It's not like video is new. YouTube is such an important platform, is it more important now to communicate and to tell stories and to get out there in, in the video medium, is that more important now than it was before? Is it just equally important? What are your thoughts on that? I agree. And so you know, when you sort of reflect on the last few years, holiday shopping started earlier, every year, each in the last probably three or four years.
Michael LeBlanc 23:35
Yeah,
Eric Morris 23:36
Whether it's Amazon having a Prime Day in October, I mean many years ago, they had their first in Canada in October. The early days of the pandemic, we were all shopping online, Canada Post, delivering all of these little packages in time, supply chain issues. I mean, there really was, the-, these were all forcing functions to encourage us to, to shop early. And so, as we try to understand sort of the sentiment of Canadians today, the open question, is there still that same kind of urgency t-, to shop early? And I'm not sure there is,
Michael LeBlanc 23:50
I'm not seeing that, (crossover talk).
Eric Morris 23:53
There's, there aren't supply issues, they're flush with inventory and Canadians know it. So, getting what I want by Christmas isn't going to be an issue. There are deals today, it's unlikely the deals get worse, it's probably a higher probability they get better. And, and the weather, right? Listen to any retailer's earnings call, weather has always been an important factor. It was 20 degrees in Toronto and Montreal, I think last week,
Michael LeBlanc 24:06
Right.
Eric Morris 24:07
And so, all of these things impact the sentiment of Canadians, not just what they buy, but when they buy it. And so perhaps shifting holiday purchases that may have happened in October in prior years later into the holiday shopping season into November and December this year. So, that's certainly one trend that we're following closely with our retail partners. It's more important now. One of the trends we observed during, you know, COVID. And one of those durable trends, that you know, that has stuck is that we consume a lot more video online than, than we used to. And so, you know, from the earliest days of the pandemic, we saw YouTube watch time on YouTube, right, Canadians were watching 35% more video on YouTube than they were before the pandemic. And those trends have stuck. How we watch video has changed. It's not just on our, on our tablets and phones, but 16 million Canadians now are watching YouTube on their big screen TV. And so, it's, it's increasingly a media where we spend more time and it's a far more immersive experience than it used to be.
Eric Morris 24:31
Shopping online historically, you know, I would liken it to sort of like spear fishing, almost like a very efficient, you know, maybe too efficient for some process where I know exactly what I want to buy. And I go to Google, and I search for it and who can get it to me the quickest and at the lowest price, and then you click on a blue link, and you buy it. And over the last few years, what we've observed is, you know, Canadians consuming more videos, retailers leaning into that experience, and frankly, creating a shopping experience that's more entertaining and immersive, and better suited for discovery. So, influencing Canadians earlier on in the process, when they maybe haven't made up their minds, exactly what they want to buy and where they want to buy it from. So, whether it's things like Shopping Hauls or Unboxings, or product reviews, all of these shopping related videos in Canada are up 30,40, 100% year-over-year in terms of you know, Canadians watching them, versus the same time last year. Canadians are increasingly turning to YouTube, right, to discover the products they want to buy. 70% of Canadians have said right, that they've bought a product and bought from a retailer after watching a video on YouTube.
Michael LeBlanc 26:56
Wow.
Eric Morris 26:57
So, to answer your question, it's increasingly very, very important for any retailer to be there to produce the content if they can, to make it discoverable, not just on YouTube, but know that even on your own website as a retailer, video is important. And it's possible to align with content creators, influencers, whether it's sponsorship, advertising, there's all sorts of ways to get closer to those content creators, who again, are increasingly influencing Canadians in terms of what they buy.
Michael LeBlanc 27:28
What are you and the team's thoughts on, on the length of the videos. Because you've got a new feature on my YouTube homepage here today, there's a new feature with shorts and you know, a shorter form of video? Are people's attention spans, I guess it's one of those things, if they're interested, they'll watch it for longer. So, it's one of those hard to answer questions. But any thoughts on, on the duration? Or,
Eric Morris 27:48
Yeah, you know, it's interesting. One, one of the things we've observed at YouTube for the last couple of years is that people either watch really short videos or really long videos. You know, my answer is it looks, it really depends on, on the content and the actual, the audience and one of the great things about digital video included is that retailers and brands have an opportunity to experiment. So, it's not uncommon for retailers we work with, right, they have a 30 second spot,
Michael LeBlanc 28:02
Yeah.
Eric Morris 28:03
They'll cut it down to 15, they'll cut it down to six seconds, they'll upload it to YouTube, they'll run a campaign, and they'll be able to essentially show the right video at the right length to the right user at the right time and get all the reporting back to see like which one was more popular, which one saw more engagement people sticking around to the end, which one actually drove people to the retailer site after watching it. So, those are all the analytics that, that we and other platforms can provide. And so whenever a retailer has those questions, my answer is well, we should, we should experiment. It's, don't make any assumptions going in. Let's run different formats, experiment and see which one works better for different types of audiences.
Michael LeBlanc 29:02
It's great advice. Last question for you casting our minds to 2023. What's on your mind as I'm sure you guys are in the planning in both product and focus. But even in a dynamic industry like retail? You're, you're thinking ahead. What, what's on your mind?
Eric Morris 29:18
Probably two or three things. I think the first is that I think it's not uncommon for Google and, and for digital to be sort of synonymous with eCommerce. And I think that's a mistake. And I think certainly what we've observed over the last few years and we're certainly observing it you know this holiday season right? Searches for a store, physical stores on Google Maps have tripled over the last year. Not a surprise as stores have reopened. But I just think it's a point worth reinforcing that digital and eCommerce aren't the same.
Eric Morris 29:36
Digital plays an important role in eCommerce but probably a more important role is influencing the things that we buy in-store and so while there's lots of fo-, focus is always in this industry on, you know, what's the growth rate of eCommerce? And did that was the COVID bump, was it durable? Or did everything just go back to the way it was? To me, that's not really the point. The point is that, you know, digital increasingly influences not just the things we buy online, but the things we buy in stores. And the retailers, you know, in the best position to win this holiday season and next year, in the years beyond, are the ones who think customer first and not channel first. And take, again, that customer centric view, and be there where their customer is, again, whether it's buying online or shopping in-store. So, I think that's probably the, the, the first point.
Eric Morris 29:56
I think the second and it's, it's really important as it feels like the economy has, has changed is digital does provide sort of this unique ability to measure, you know, the business impact, right to measure brand engagement, to measure how many people open an email, how many people buy something on your website, how many people visit your site, and then go into your store, these are all solvable problems today. And I think in a world where, you know, retailers are going to be in a lot of, under a lot of pressure to maintain share, to grow share, to defend their margin, right? It's all the more important that the things that they're doing online can be measured. And so, you know, we always encourage that the retailers we work with, right, understand the economic impact that your marketing campaigns, your email campaigns have, the economic impact that your website has, whether it's to drive, sales online, in-store, deliver new customers cross sell, again, these are solvable problems. And the more that a retailer can measure and connect this activity to true business outcomes, the better position they'll be to not just win the holiday season, but you know, win the, win the years ahead.
Eric Morris 31:04
And the last thing I'd say is, and it sometimes can feel really hard, is to choose optimism. And I think it's, it's hard, you know, this year and really over the last few years. But it's not, it's not hard to be overwhelmed by a lot of bad news, in this industry and in the world around us. And I think it's incumbent on all of us to take a balanced perspective, right? It's never as good as the good times. It's never as bad as those bad times. And I think more challenging moments provide an opportunity. COVID certainly did for some retailers. And I think it's incumbent on retailers to sort of, you know, not to be distracted, to choose optimism and to take, frankly, a measured approach. There's a lot of things happening to us that we can't control. It's on us to focus on the things that we can control and use this moment to lean into those and to ultimately win the moment.
Michael LeBlanc 32:49
Well, wise advice from an executive and in case the listeners have missed that, that chestnut, you've been there 20, almost 20 years, and Google hasn't been around much longer than that. So, you've seen a lot. You're not just jumping in and re-, reading a bunch of research papers and trying to provide advice based on someone else's experience. This is your experience. So, I really appreciate you joining me on The Voice of Retail podcast once again. And, and I look forward to talking to you in 2023. See how things start to roll out. But until then, thanks again, so much for sharing your wisdom and insights. And we'll put any links in the show notes to some of those things. And thanks, have yourself and your family a great rest of your holiday and I'll see you on the other side of retail.
Eric Morris 33:30
Thank you very much for having me. We'll talk to you soon. Thank you, Michael.
Michael LeBlanc 33:33
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven't already, be sure and click on subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically, twice a week. And check out my other retail industry media properties, the Remarkable Retail podcast, Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and The Food Professor podcast with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Last but not least, if you're into barbecue, check out my all-new YouTube barbecue show Last Request Barbecue with new episodes each and every week.
I'm your host, Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company and Maven Media. And if you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn or visit my website at meleblanc.co.
Have a safe week everyone.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
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