Online sales surge in home-grown Nova Scotia shops over holiday season

HALIFAX – Cyber Monday is proving to be hectic for many stores, including East Coast Lifestyle, as employees rush to fill the hundreds of orders flooding their online site.

“It’s really busy. We just moved our warehouse from Toronto to next door here in Halifax,” said Jon Allen with East Coast Lifestyle.

“We have guys round the clock filling in orders and they just keep coming in so we’re trying our hardest to keep it going for the holidays.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We have guys round the clock filling in orders and they just keep coming in so we're trying our hardest to keep it going for the holidays."

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Cyber Monday may bring in some extra business, but the company says the majority of their sales year-round come from online purchases.  Whether it be someone on the other side of the country, or the other side of the province.

READ MORE: Cyber Monday a ‘golden opportunity’ for criminals targeting online shoppers, RCMP warns

“We have a lot of orders coming in from rural areas. A lot of people can’t really make their way to the store so we want to have everything available for people all over the province. Whether that’s Cape Breton, Yarmouth, we want to make sure it’s available for everyone,” said Allen.

Online shoppers boost business

Many local stores are now cashing in on Cyber Monday sales, including The Binnacle Marine Store.

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“Cyber Monday is basically the kick off to the Christmas season, so you know, it’s an exciting thing for us,” said Chris Shaw owner of The Binnacle.

Online shopping isn’t new for The Binnacle, they’ve offered the service for 15 years, but the company says it has changed their business from a seasonal operation to having a much larger presence.

“The internet is a growing part of everybody’s retail business, or it should be a growing part of their retail business. The Binnacle is a local, Halifax based company but yet we’re able to compete all across Canada and even into the United States you know, via the internet,” Shaw said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The internet is a growing part of everybody's retail business, or it should be a growing part of their retail business. The Binnacle is a local, Halifax based company but yet we're able to compete all across Canada and even into the United States you know, via the internet," Shaw said.

READ MORE: Cyber Monday losing some traction, but sales to exceed $3B

Candy shop Sweet Janes is another local store that’s seeing a boost in online orders this time of year.

“Gift baskets are really our biggest online shopping. People do go to our website, which is sweetjanes.com to look for gift baskets and we get orders from all over the country,” said Janet Merrithew, owner of Sweet Janes.

Merrithew says many of her customers are now placing their orders online and viewing products through social media, instead of traditional means.

“I think that’s how we’re reaching our customers. People are busy, they don’t have the opportunity necessarily to go into the stores,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I think that's how we're reaching our customers. People are busy, they don't have the opportunity necessarily to go into the stores," she said.

Most stores say they’ve seen a growth in online sales year over a year, a trend that’s highlighted during the holiday season.