Canada is currently in the midst of a slower-than-expected vaccine rollout, with the largest province of Ontario under strict stay-at-home orders until at least June. As such, Amazon is likely experiencing strong demand in the country along the lines of what seemingly drove it to pause Google ads across numerous countries for many weeks in the early-goings of the pandemic back in 2020. Amazon has already put Prime Day plans on pause in Canada as a result of the ongoing concerns surrounding Covid-19 in the region.
Amazon’s Shopping Impression Share Strong in US and UK, Non-Existent in Canada
The following chart shows Amazon’s impression share by country against the median Tinuiti advertiser that regularly competes against Amazon in Shopping auctions. As you can see, impression share in the US and UK has held fairly strong after surging throughout Q1, while impression share in Canada slowly declined throughout Q1 before evaporating in the middle of March. The ecommerce giant’s presence has held roughly steady in the US since the end of Q1. However, Amazon appears to have paused ads in Canada for the last two months, as the country continues to struggle with the pandemic. While many in the US are likely feeling a steady progression towards normality, particularly after the CDC’s recently updated guidance to allow for more unmasked activity for vaccinated individuals, the vaccine rollout and virus situation is very different across the world. International marketers should take note of these regional disparities, and adjust marketing efforts accordingly.
Regional Differences Will be Hugely Important in Determining Marketing Efforts Moving Forward
If you read our Q1 2021 Google Ads Benchmark Report, you know that Amazon’s presence in US Google Shopping auctions surged throughout Q1, topping 50% impression share by the end of March after starting the year at less than 40% against the median Tinuiti advertiser.
