It’s no secret that Canadians have been spending their way through the last few years, and now a new study from the NRF finds that as many as four in five consumers are planning on splurging over the holiday season. According to a survey of more than 5,000 Canadian consumers conducted in June 2018 by Market Facts on behalf of the National Retail Federation (NRF), about 70 percent of consumers in Canada intend to spend more this holiday season than last year, with 58 percent planning to spend over $1,000 on gifts.
Among those Canadians who plan to spend more, nearly a third — 29 percent — said they intend to use credit cards, with the average coming in at $1,100. Next on the list are those with access to cash, which 29 percent plan to use as a main source of gift funding. The remaining 29 percent said they will save their money or save for the future.
The NRF also found that 62 percent of Canadians don’t plan to shop online this holiday season, with the majority opting for the tried-and-true (57 percent) rather than the new and improved (7 percent).
A separate recent study from GE Money, which included several hundred consumers on a mission to feed the financially homeless, finds that nearly half of consumers (46 percent) expect to spend more this holiday season compared to last year, and that two-thirds of these respondents plan to visit a retail mall this holiday season. That said, consumers who said they typically shop online found it challenging to fill the void and fill the shopping gap they felt when they were not on the hunt. About one-third of consumers said they are more likely to visit a retail mall this holiday season than last, but 41 percent said shopping online has helped them improve their finances and save money.
Read the full article at GlobalPost.