On June 15, Page Zero’s Andrew Goodman spoke on a panel (shown moderating above: Microsoft’s Jeff Bentley) at the first ever Microsoft Canada Executive Retail Summit, held at the always-attractive Drake Hotel on Queen West in Toronto.
The intimate group was abuzz with asks for Microsoft on topics such as better attribution, a new Display Network, and much more as it maintains its strong search share (30% in the U.S., 15% in Canada, with recent growth being powered by Windows 10). Not least, the room was abuzz with excitement around the potential LinkedIn integration.
In terms of retailers’ and consumers’ sophistication levels north of the border, opinion was mixed. Some contributors think consumers are (still) too slow to adopt, and ruminate agonizingly long over purchases, whereas others believe that smaller retailers, in particular, need to step up their games (or partner with larger firms).
One thing is certain: Bing Shopping (feed-based ads) will be extended to Canada by September… er, maybe. The Microsoft crew made excellent hosts, as always!
