A recently released online study conducted earlier this year by California-based Barraza Associates on behalf of PayPal Canada reveals that closing the earnings gap between women small business owners and men small business owners in Canada would contribute an additional $88.2 billion to the Canadian economy.
The study quantified the gap, indicating that women small business owners earn on average $68,000 less than their male counterparts in similar businesses. In addition, there is a 58% gap in revenue.
However the study showed that e-commerce tools are narrowing the revenue gap, offering strategic advantages such as access to consumers all over the world. Also, it was found that increasing numbers of women are opening online businesses and in the past two years 50% of online businesses were launched by women, up from 34% ten years ago.
73% of women with online businesses cite e-commerce tools as a factor of their success and sustained growth, and 85% recognize the importance of an online storefront to keep up with competition.
“Supporting women entrepreneurs is critical to Canada’s long-term economic prosperity,” said PayPal Canada President Pal Parisi in a press statement. “At PayPal, we are focused on offering accessible e-commerce solutions that help people start and grow their businesses. Helping women entrepreneurs thrive in the digital economy is an important part of what we do every day.”
The study sampled 1,000 Canadian business owners from January 26th to February 27th, 2018. Every respondent indicated if they sold online or offline, while identifying their online methods such as electronic invoicing, PayPal, virtual terminals, and websites capable of processing debit or credit card payments.
