Canadian marine site sees record traffic
BoatDealers.ca, a Canadian marine buy and sell platform, reported a record year in 2020. The site, launched in February of 2001, recorded a 57% increase in unique Canadian visitors as well as a 51% increase in unique global traffic.
Over 4.7 million visitors came to the site in 2020, of which 2.4 million were unique visitors. The total traffic accounted for over 23 million pageviews in Canada, and over 25 million pageviews total.
Between 2010 to 2020, the company underwent a 204% increase in unique Canadian visitors, coupled with a 165% increase in unique global traffic. This equates to a 115% increase in Canadian pageviews compared to 2010 (23.3 million versus 10.8 million), and a 111% increase in global pageviews compared to 2010 (25.2 million compared to 11.9 million).
According to BoatDealers.ca President and CEO Chris Perera, “While we have been experiencing year-over-year growth for sometime I could not have predicted this level of total visitors and engagement. 2020 was a year like no other. In mid-March I would have anticipated a decline in boat buyers with all the uncertainty that Covid-19 brought. I’m happy to report I was very wrong.”
The data also serves as a positive long term indicator for the industry. Marine retailers had to act quickly during summer 2020 to satisfy the influx of boaters joining the community and the associated marketplace. According to Perera, “This record level of traffic has generated a record amount of leads for the dealers and brokers using BoatDealers.ca to sell their inventory. Other clients like marinas, manufacturers, insurance, and services all received over delivery on their advertising contracts.”
The trend also does not appear to be slowing down. With 2020 seeing spikes across the board, pent up demand is expected to flow into 2021.
“We fully anticipate further surge in our traffic for 2021,” added Perera in closing. “We are already tracking 40% year to date over 2020 visitors and unique users. So we do feel 2021 will be a new record once again.”
