While shoplifters are always a problem for retailers, the holiday season always accentuates the problem, and that’s more true now while Black Friday sales sweep the country, even though it isn’t traditionally a shopping day in Canada.

Lanny McInnes, Prairies director at the Retail Council of Canada, told 660 News that retailers can avoid shoplifters by being friendly and attentive, both markers of good customer service.

While there is no data showing specifically how much is stolen during the holiday shopping season, the overall cost on the Canadian economy is over $3.5 billion annually, according to McInnes.

Apple announced last week that Apple Pay has been rolled out at several grocery chains in New England, southeast Texas and Chicago. In addition to Whole Foods, which was one of the first chains to introduce Apple Pay, other stores running the program include Associated Food Stores, Shaw’s Supermarkets, Jewel Osco, Albertson’s and Harvey’s and Winn-Dixie.

Some of these stores are no strangers to new grocery store technologies, as several of them also use Instacart, a program which delivers to a customer’s home in San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C., Portland, Houston, Denver and Boulder. Instacart also supports Apple Pay.

Meanwhile, some major chains in the U.S. are choosing not to support Apple Pay, or choose other options such as Merchants Customer Exchange. These chains include CVS, Rite Aid and Walmart. These chains may not be fighting mobile payments for long, as the mobile payment market is expected to expand from $52 billion this year to $142 billion in 2019.

While mobile payment options such as Google Wallet or Apple Pay are coming to light more often, Canadians seem to be less likely to pay using their smartphone, according to a recent study by global research company GfK.

The survey was conducted on consumers in 17 countries. While Canadians like to be at the top of the game technology-wise, the survey found them among the least interested to use mobile payments. This could be due to security fears.

According to GfK, only two per cent of transactions in Canada are made using a mobile device. In the study, approximately 21 per cent of the 1,000 Canadians surveyed had made a mobile payment within the last six months. This is compared to 24 per cent of western European consumers, 33 per cent of American consumers and 39 per cent of Latin American consumers.

Chinese consumers are the most likely to use mobile payments of those polled, with 83 per cent of respondents using a mobile platform to complete a transaction recently, while 62 of Korean consumers agreed.

It is unknown when Apple Pay will come to Canada, although its introduction could cause hesitant Canadians to be more interested in mobile payments. Currently, Apple Pay can be used at Whole Foods and a number of other stores using newer version iPhones and iPads.

London Drugs is launching in-store pickup of online orders within two hours at every location in Western Canada for Black Friday, November 28.

The store will be offering Black Friday deals online, starting at 12:01 a.m.

Black Friday will also be when the store launches same-day shipping service in Metro Vancouver for online purchases made on LondonDrugs.com before 12 p.m. The service is offered to residents of Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond and Surrey.

Distripharm is introducing AnimaCare, the first Health Canada-approved pet care line to the Canadian market.

The AnimaCare line includes homeopathic pet products that target several common issues that plague small cats and dogs, such as gastrointestinal issues, balance, ear pain, urinary tract infections and skin and coat issues, among others.

Enerex Botanicals has promoted two members of its team. Greg Semkuley has been promoted to Operations Manager, and Diana Howson has been promoted to National Sales Manager.

Greg was previously responsible for sales at the company, with roles in marketing, marketing strategies and administration. As Operations Manager, Greg will be responsible for focusing on marketing strategies, branding, the website, enhancement, integration and coordination of the company’s systems and processes. This includes the new ERP software system, product development and education element.

Greg has been in the retail industry for over 35 years, spending time as a retailer, wholesale field sales representative, sales manager, broker, copywriter and educator for supplements, foods, cosmetics and animal products in the natural, professional and mass markets.

“This diverse background and experience allows me to understand different points of view and take a broad perspective and big-picture outlook,” he says. “I am excited to take on this role to help the company further grow to its fullest potential. While I have already been responsible for many of the tasks that I am currently doing, this new role will allow me to focus my energy in specific areas to further develop the company as a whole.”

Diana has over 20 years of retail and entrepreneurial experience with a background in sales, marketing and business development. She previously worked at Enerex as an Account Manager for the Okanagan and Interior BC Territory, as well as Sales and Marketing Director.

In her new role as National Sales Manager, Diana will be responsible for selling products by implementing national sales plans, supervising regional sales managers, implementing marketing strategies, establishing sales objectives and developing field sales action plans, among other duties.

Congratulations to Greg and Diana on your new roles!

Finance Minister Joe Oliver told the Senate Committee on National Finance that the U.S. looked very sustainable, even due to slower growth post-recession. This is why he believes that with this growth, Canadian companies can look toward expanding and creating jobs again.

“We’re hopeful that our growth will continue to increase,” said Oliver, as reported by Reuters. According to the Finance Minister, Canada’s largest concern right now should be whether Europe goes into a downturn.

According to ComScore, online shopping this holiday season will reach $61 billion during November and December, a growth of 16 per cent over last year.

ComScore estimates that e-commerce will grow 25 per cent over last year. Sales are expected to rise using computers by 13 per cent to $53.9 billion, while mobile spending will grow by 17 per cent to $6.7 billion this quarter.

“Although some lasting effects of the great recession still provide some overhang on the economy, many of the latest indicators point toward signs of optimism for consumer spending during the holidays,” said ComScore’s Executive Chairman Emeritus Gian Fulgoni, as reported by FierceRetail.

“The recent trends we’ve seen in online consumer spending suggest that American consumers are ready to open their wallets and embrace the spirit of giving this holiday season.”

Health First Network (HFN) held its annual general meeting in Quebec City from Nov. 7 to 9.

HFN is Canada’s leading buying and marketing group for independent health and wellness retailers. With its mission to keep its member retailers competitive and independent, HFN provides programs and services to help grow sales, strengthen margins and cut costs.

Each year, HFN holds its annual general meeting to conduct planning, provide training, and to allow networking and the sharing of best practices. Those who often attend the meetings are owners and management from member stores, HFN staff from the central office in Burlington, Ont. and representatives from leading vendors.

This year’s guest speakers included Danièle Sauvageau, coach of the Canadian women’s Olympic hockey team that won gold at Salt Lake City

In networking sessions Members shared and brainstormed best practices on topics like outdoor signs that win, Canadian anti-spam law overview, partnering with local farmers and farmers markets, holding natural beauty night events, loyalty programs and developing an emotionally engaged sales staff.

HFN also celebrated the support it receives from its vendor partners by hosting a dinner for vendors at La Chapelle du Musée on Nov. 7. That evening the winners of HFN’s three vendor awards were announced. Natural Factors received an award for “Best Sales Support,” Bioforce for “Best Key Account Management,” and Renew Life for “Vendor of the Year.”

After reorganizing its Ontario stores and its acquisition of the majority stake in the Quebec bakery chain Premiere Moisson, Metro has surpassed expectations with its quarterly profits.

After re-branding some of its Metro stores into Food Basics discount grocery stores, the company experienced a growth in same-store sales by 3.1 per cent in the quarter, which ended Sept. 27. Its net income grew to $115.6 million from $79.5 million in the same period last year, while revenue grew 3.9 per cent to $2.71 billion. The stock has risen by about 27 per cent this year according to numbers taken earlier in the week.