shalab Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Average Canadian is far more wealthier than the average American but AMZN and FB sales are a fraction in Canada to what they are in US. This is much lower even adjusting for population (Canada has 11.4% of US population - 37 million vs 325 million) or GDP (7.8% of US GDP - 1.6 trillion vs 20.4 trillion USD). One would have expected higher revenues from Canada but that apparently is not the case. Is this because the Canadian households and businesses are stingy or is it because most of the spending comes from US companies in Canada? AMZN: https://business.financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/amazons-prime-a-more-pressing-threat-for-canadian-retailers-than-its-whole-foods-acquisition-bmo 3.5 billion in 2016 (Canada), North America 80 B. (excluding AWS and international). As a percentage, it is 4.3%. FB In first half of 2018, it is 10.69 billion revenue in USA, where as Canada revenue is only 0.73 billion. As a percentage of the total, it is only 6.4%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spekulatius Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Canadians may be more wealthy, but I think their income/ person and spending is lower. Wealth and income are not the same thing. Same is true in Europe. Also both FB and AMZN are US companies and not Canadian and typically companies do best in their home country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shalab Posted August 31, 2018 Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 Europe has lower income as they work less hours. (take 2-3 months vacation). However, I don't believe Canada has the 2-3 month vacation culture. Furthermore, median Canada income has caught up or outpaced US incomes. ( https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/upshot/the-american-middle-class-is-no-longer-the-worlds-richest.html ). Also, an average Canadian is far richer than an average German. Canadians may be more wealthy, but I think their income/ person and spending is lower. Wealth and income are not the same thing. Same is true in Europe. Also both FB and AMZN are US companies and not Canadian and typically companies do best in their home country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spekulatius Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 Europe has lower income as they work less hours. (take 2-3 months vacation). However, I don't believe Canada has the 2-3 month vacation culture. Furthermore, median Canada income has caught up or outpaced US incomes. ( https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/upshot/the-american-middle-class-is-no-longer-the-worlds-richest.html ). Also, an average Canadian is far richer than an average German. Canadians may be more wealthy, but I think their income/ person and spending is lower. Wealth and income are not the same thing. Same is true in Europe. Also both FB and AMZN are US companies and not Canadian and typically companies do best in their home country. You are mixing up median with average - those are two very different things. If you compare sales/person or normalize to GnP, than the average income would be better to compare to than the median.I would bet that the affluent folks use Amazon way more than the typical median income family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shalab Posted August 31, 2018 Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 Median is the right metric - as people like Bezos, Zuck, Gates etc. skew the number with averages. You are also right that people with lower income use AMZN less. https://www.recode.net/2018/4/19/17256410/amazon-prime-100-million-members-us-penetration-low-income-households-jeff-bezos Canada is interesting as the cost of AMZN prime is lower there ($79 CDN) compared to USA ($119). This also shows that AMZN is pricing prime to win market share in Canada or that shopping volume is lower or both. Europe has lower income as they work less hours. (take 2-3 months vacation). However, I don't believe Canada has the 2-3 month vacation culture. Furthermore, median Canada income has caught up or outpaced US incomes. ( https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/upshot/the-american-middle-class-is-no-longer-the-worlds-richest.html ). Also, an average Canadian is far richer than an average German. Canadians may be more wealthy, but I think their income/ person and spending is lower. Wealth and income are not the same thing. Same is true in Europe. Also both FB and AMZN are US companies and not Canadian and typically companies do best in their home country. You are mixing up median with average - those are two very different things. If you compare sales/person or normalize to GnP, than the average income would be better to compare to than the median.I would bet that the affluent folks use Amazon way more than the typical median income family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rukawa Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 Canada has all kinds of laws and other protectionist methods to prevent Amazon from expanding. See de minimis threshold: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/online-shopping-cross-border-duties-taxes-de-minimus-1.3656603 Canada's ridiculous heritage act: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/why-do-canadians-have-trouble-buying-on-amazon-com/190630/25 This is because most Canadians (with me as the lone exception in all of Canada) enjoy getting it up the ass. Maybe Trump will force Canada to stop Canadians from getting it up the ass. I'm not so sure. The US/Canada prices differences after shipping are like 25%...so you are talking about a 25% rise in standard of living in Canada for all goods except housing. Its not trivial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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