Holiday shopping: bigger season this year and back to normal

With the holidays approaching, more than half of Quebecers gave this year’s celebrations more personality than last year’s, according to a survey by Léger on holiday shopping.

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According to this Retail Council of Canada (RCC) survey, conducted by Léger, 55% of Quebecers felt this year’s holidays would be more important. This is 10% more than the rest of Canada.

Increased spending is also expected in Quebec, where the average respondent budget is around $565. However, this amount is lower than in the rest of Canada where the average budget is $792.

However, Quebec’s budget saw an 11% increase over the announced expenditures in 2020.

“Quebecers are willing to return to a certain normality and can’t wait to get back to their in-store holiday shopping. E-commerce has proven its value and has found many new followers, and it’s not about to disappear,” said Frances Milly, Quebec Director of Government Relations at CCCD. Although face-to-face shopping is back.

Food and alcohol should account for about 14% of household spending in Quebec.

Compared to 2020, attendance rates at department stores (53% vs 46%), clothing retailers (46% vs 26%), and toys and games retailers (34% vs 29%)) showed some return to normal, study findings .

Nearly half (43%) of consumers in La Belle County indicated they plan to take advantage of “Black Friday” promotions to do their holiday shopping, while only 24% will rely on post-Christmas sales.

In Quebec, 21% of consumers have indicated they will start shopping at the beginning of November, slightly later than the Canadian average, but that is well within the norm, according to Leger. In general, the majority of Quebecers (78%) do not plan to change their buying behavior and will start shopping at the same time as usual.

The Léger survey, which was conducted among 2,500 Canadians, found that online purchases are expected to be lower this year, as it slowly approaches the pre-pandemic trend of 28%. Canadians plan to make 63% of their purchases in stores and 37% online.