Study: Canadians lead Globe in Digital Literacy & Politeness
They Just Switch Retailers Quietly
Despite having the highest degree of digital literacy in the world, Canadians are far less likely than others around the globe to badmouth companies online when they have had a negative customer experience, according to a new survey from Accenture.

After poor service from retailers, banks or cable providers, only 17 per cent of Canadian consumers posted negative comments online, the survey found, far below the global average of 28 per cent. That's the case even though 49% of Canadians switched to an alternate retailer in the last year because of a bad customer experience, and 59% cited customer service as their top reason for switching. financialpost.com

Competition Bureau approves Lowe's $3.2B takeover of Rona
The Competition Bureau has approved the Lowe's takeover of Quebec-based Rona. The federal agency says it has concluded the acquisition by the U.S. company won't limit consumer choice. The deal was overwhelmingly approved by Rona shareholders in March, but it also stirred some degree of nationalist sentiment, particularly from Pierre Karl Peladeau, the Parti Quebecois leader at the time.

Lowe's entered the Canadian market in 2007 and had 42 stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario when the $3.2-billion deal was announced in February. Rona has 496 corporate and dealer-owned stores across Canada, including 238 in Quebec. ctvnews.ca

Tim Hortons is growing after years of struggling
After many thought Tim Hortons would be ruined by foreign ownership quite the opposite has happened. Initially job cuts came with 350 employees laid off in Canada. In a six-month period, the company saved more than $18 million in administrative costs as a result of these measures. While undeniably difficult, the cuts weren't as vicious as critics predicted.

In February, the company announced plans to open locations in Indiana in conjunction with Luke, a firm that operates 60 gas stations and convenience stores there. It has similar arrangements for Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. This regional approach isn't as flashy as Tims' attempt to take Manhattan in 2010, but it's far more likely to succeed.

Even with a slow start, there's far less chatter today about Tim Hortons' perilous future. Sales grew by 5.6% in 2015 and the chain added 155 new stores. All of this amounts to the strengthening of a Canadian brand through foreign ownership, not the diminishment of it.  canadianbusiness.com

PayPal Canada aims to boost sales with free return shipping
It's a perk that many online retailers have resisted offering for fear it will bruise their bottom line. But free return shipping is starting to be touted by a growing number of cybermerchants in a bid to ease reluctant consumers into online shopping. And as more big players, including Amazon.ca, offer free returns, rivals feel the pressure to follow suit. Of the top 70 online retailers in Canada, about 28 per cent offered free returns in 2015, up from 22 per cent just a year earlier, Canada Post data show. theglobeandmail.com

Canada's retailers pitch in to help wildfire evacuees
From grocers cooking breakfasts for evacuees to pharmacies providing them with emergency prescription refills, retailers are pitching in to help those forced to flee the Fort McMurray wildfires. Retailers or their foundations are donating hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash or merchandise to the Canadian Red Cross relief fund - some are matching customers' donations at the cash register - while many are shipping everything from food to diapers, bottled water, blankets and clothing to evacuees.

Pharmacists are dispensing urgent drugs for displaced residents' after accessing patient records to confirm customers' prescriptions or sometimes waiving the need for regular customer insurance information, with the cost to be picked up by the Alberta government.

Amid the disaster, which has forced almost 90,000 residents to flee the northern Alberta city, retailers are mobilizing to use their stores as depots for emergency supplies even as many of the merchants were forced to close their Fort McMurray stores. theglobeandmail.com

RCC: Resources for retailers in Fort McMurray

Rockport to open 7 new Outlet locations

UK retailer Superdry to open stores in Canada

Canadian retailers with large pet food selection fetch more shoppers

Computer problem temporarily shuts Loblaw-owned stores

Sadbury, Ontario: Retail worker saves elderly couple from pricey scam