A new report by Field Agent suggests half of Canadians will be spending the same amount during Christmas as they did a year ago.
Jeff Doucette, General Manager of Field Agent Canada said what stood out for him in the survey is that only 31% of consumers plan to spend less this holiday season.
“Typically we see numbers higher than that. Everybody at least over promises in their budget that they’re going to spend less than they had in the previous year,” he said.
“But for me the number that’s even more surprising is that 50% say they will spend the same amount. When you look at inflation and its impact on all those items, spending the same versus last year is less items under the Christmas tree at the end of the day.”
The survey was conducted prior to the recent announcement by the federal government that Canadians would be getting a break from the GST during this season. Doucette said another survey this week by Field Agent will try to determine the impact of that announcement.
“The reality is there’s not a lot of extra money this year in the retail pipeline this year versus last year. If prices are higher than they were last year then it’s less items going out the door for retailers at the end of the day,” added Doucette.
Walmart and Amazon Dominate the Landscape
The survey also shed light on retailer preferences, with a notable rise in the popularity of value-focused stores.
“ topped the list with 56%, followed closely by Amazon at 62%. That’s two-thirds of Canadians putting Amazon in their top three retailers for holiday shopping,” Doucette explained.
Discount retailers like Winners, HomeSense, Marshalls and Dollarama are also gaining traction.
“If people don’t have more dollars to spend, they’re going to gravitate to where maybe they can get a better discount. The really interesting number among all those retailers is Winners, Marshalls, HomeSense. That whole group of companies. For 12% of respondents to put that retailer in their top three for spending is a pretty significant amount,” said Doucette.
“I remember the first time I got a Christmas present from Winners. I was kind of like ‘what’? I was a bit put off. But now it’s very commonplace. Ten years ago, it was what do you mean Winners? Now it’s one of the top retailers that people are gravitating too for Christmas. That’s a pretty good indicator of how consumers have shifted.”
Black Friday’s Shifting Role
With Black Friday just days away, Doucette highlighted a critical challenge for retailers this year.
“Because of the calendar, there are fewer shopping days between Black Friday and Christmas, which is compressing the season,” he said.
This trend has pushed many shoppers to begin earlier, with events like October’s Amazon Prime Day seeing increased participation.
“This is now the go-time for Christmas. The after Black Friday spending, there’s still quite a bit of it to be done but it’s shrinking every year. So much of Christmas is starting to be pulled forward into November and even into October by the actions of the retailers.”
At a recent conference, Doucette had heard that many Canadian retailers had spent their advertising and promotional budgets leading up to Black Friday with little left for the period after. That’s where U.S. and international retailers jumped in.
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Yet in another story posted on your site today it claims 46% of the population is looking to spend less, and this story is 31%.
Please don’t shoot the messenger here — and I agree, it will be interesting to see what actually happens number-wise. We’re also only publishing a small fraction of the studies that are coming to my inbox, it’s bonkers and some numbers are quite different.