Many Canadians are choosing to head south of the border when it comes to buying their groceries. Several of the large U.S. supermarkets located near the border cater to Canadian shoppers that specifically travel there to stock up on lower-priced foods and better product selection.

On the other hand, the value of the Canadian dollar has recently fallen to about 76 cents U.S., affecting the number of people that cross the border from Canada to do their shopping in the States.

This has in turn made some of the American grocers worried because they’ve become so accustomed to the vast traffic coming in from both sides of the border.

In the meantime, according to a spokesperson from Western New York’s two largest supermarkets, Canadian shoppers make up a considerable portion of the clientele at stores near the Canadian border.

Retailers are making their best efforts to continue to attract Canadian shoppers by posting signs like, “Welcome, Canadians!” and proudly displaying the Canadian flag. They are also finding that Canadians are most drawn to great deals on dairy products like milk, butter, cheese, yogurt and ice cream. The average price for a three-liter bag of milk on Canadian soil is about $6.47 while a gallon at Wegmans is $2.39, meaning that a litre of milk in Canada is about $2.15 compared to 60 cents in the U.S. Similarly, a pound of butter retails for $5 north of the border, and $2.54 per pound in the States.

A leader in the Canadian natural products industry, Suro has now officially entered the European and Asian markets. The certified organic brand now has distribution across South Korea, Japan, China and Europe.

According to Suro President & CEO Sylvain Mercier, this has been a two-year process for the company, starting with applying for and receiving all of the necessary certification for the company to sell organic products in these countries.

“It’s a tough market to get into but once you do, I believe it’s a great market for us,” says Mercier. “Just the sheer size of the population makes a huge difference and of course the demand is higher.”

Suro, based in Quebec and owned by Mercier, Jacinthe Desmarais, and Lawrence Tomlinson, has developed a reputation for offering quality products in Canada so it was no surprise when the company was approached to distribute overseas several years ago.

Today, Suro is known for offering a physician-developed line of elderberry-based medicines and is the only brand that’s 100% locally manufactured.

(dermaflage.com)

LeBeau Excel Ltd. has announced that Allyson A. Johnson has recently accepted the new role of Director of Education, Western Canada. Johnson has spent 25 years in the Health & Wellness industry and holds nutritional consulting, iridology, herbology, lifestyle coaching and personal training certifications.

Johnson has held previous educational roles at Morning Sun retail stores, Zand Botanicals and Wellesse USA and will apply this experience to LeBeau Excel’s current brand partners. She will be working with the Western Sales Team of LeBeau Excel to create training opportunities for store staff, consumer education events and generally working to increase the awareness of the company’s more complex products. Johnson starts this new role effective immediately and can be reached at ally@lebeauadvance.com and 403-400-4990.

Tymon Ritco is now the main sales contact of the Prairies Region and can be reached at tymon@lebeauadvance.com.

Welcome to NuvoCare’s Interactive Supplement Guide! This guide will allow you to explore and understand NuvoCare’s extensive product line of fat-loss and weight management aids, as well as the Daily Essentials line and other health management supplements. 

In addition to this guide, NuvoCare has given access to its Obesity Prescription guide to help identify the best weight-loss product for your customer! 

To learn more about any of our products, visit www.nuvocare.com.

STORES Magazine has unveiled the 2015 Favorite 50 list, which features a number of e-commerce brands that have climbed the ranks since last year as well as some new members.

The Favorite 50 is an annual list that ranks consumers’ preferred e-commerce sites developed from a survey of consumers’ online apparel and non-apparel shopping habits.

For this edition of the list, Costco climbed eight spots to No. 20, and Jos. A. Bank joined the list at No. 45 as a result of its e-commerce channel that has produced more than $214 million in sales last year.

Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy and eBay hold the top spots on the list while names like Nordstrom, Express, Forever 21, Gap, Ross Stores, H&M, Dillard’s T.J. Maxx, and Banana Republic continue to make their way to the top.

New additions to this year’s list include Talbots, The Children’s Place, and Loft.

Following a storm that left a record number of homes without electricity across B.C.’s Lower Mainland area, Overwaitea Food Group launched a rewards points offer through the Facebook page of its flagship banner, Save-On-Foods.

The special three-day offer allows customers who spend $100 at any Save-On-Foods outlet until Wednesday to earn an extra 5,000 points under the More Rewards loyalty program.

Jamie Nelson, senior-vice president of retail operations for Overwaitea, told Canadian Grocer that his company was eager to help people restock food lost in fridges and freezers after the devastating storm.

The points collected through this offer can be exchanged for travel, merchandise and groceries like ground beef, milk, bread, eggs, and butter.

The coupon-based Internet offer is recognized at 116 Save-on-Foods stores in B.C. and Alberta but was especially created for the 40 stores that serve the storm-struck Lower Mainland area, which includes Vancouver.

Costco Wholesale Corp. announced that fourth quarter sales, which ended August 31, grew by 1 per cent to reach $35 billion and by 3 per cent for the year totaling $113.7 billion.

In regards to comparable sales, Costco saw an increase of 6 per cent for the quarter and 7 per cent for the year in both the U.S. and international segments.

On the other hand, net sales decreased by 1 per cent to $8.7 billion for the four-week retail month that ended on August 30. Costco attributed the drop to the calendar shift of the Labor Day holiday in the U.S. and Canada by one week and the Chuseok holiday in Korea by two weeks.

According to Jeffrey Elliott, AVP, financial planning and investor relations, Costco estimates the negative impact from the shifts and sales in August were just under minus 1 per cent.

Costco continues to expand to this day, with six new locations that recently opened in Japan, Taiwan, Korea and the United Kingdom.

Many domestic and foreign retailers are stepping up their game when it comes to e-commerce in Canada. According to Forrester Research Inc., online spending will account for 10 per cent of Canadian retail spending by 2019, putting Canada almost at par with the U.S., which is expected to hit 11 per cent.

At the moment, Canada has been evolving at a slower rate than the U.S. – last year e-commerce accounted for 6 per cent of total retail spending.

E-retailers and experts attribute the smaller numbers to web access, infrastructure, lack of selection, and ingrained shopping habits.

But Canadian and U.S.-based retailers and are not swayed by the numbers and are continuing to establish and invest in e-commerce projects across Canada, some of which include Best Buy, amazon.com, and Wal-Mart. BMO Capital Markets listed amazon.com as the top retailer in Canada with $1.9 billion accounting for sales in 2014.

Traffic data from Amazon shows that Canadian shoppers that are on a lookout for greater selection and better deals often look at retail websites that operate outside of the country. Similarly, data from Statistics Canada demonstrates that Canadians look outside the border for good deals online.

– See more at: http://www.canadianjeweller.com/e-commerce-on-the-rise-in-canada/?utm_source=Canadian+Jeweller+Magazine&utm_campaign=93e22dabcb-Canadian_Jeweller_Magazine_September_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_03841144d7-93e22dabcb-#sthash.Voz6FXGz.dpuf