Holiday spending is on the rise after a humble 2016 with Canadians spending $450 more this year
TORONTO, Dec. 5, 2017 /CNW/ -- Cue the carols and say goodbye to penny-pinching Scrooges, Canadians are in the giving mood more than ever this season. According to a recent survey from savings destination RetailMeNot.ca, Canadians are dishing out the dollars this year with spending at an all-time high on everything from trimming the tree to the gifts to put under it. This change in holiday spending spirit is a drastic departure from 2016, which saw Canadians cutting back for a more humble holiday season. Overall, the average Canadian is planning to spend $450 more on celebrating the holiday season this year compared to last. Talk about a happy holiday.
Splurging on Holiday Spending This Year
Compared to 2016, Canadians will be spending more this year on key items. More specifically:
- $653 on gifts in general this holiday season, about $100 more than last year's spend;
- $460 on gifts for family members, $32 more than last year;
- $116 on gifts to friends, a $15 increase from last year;
- $120 on alcohol, $20 increase from last year;
- $87 on holiday décor, up $13 from last year.
"With Canadians increasing their holiday spend this year, it's even more important they put a budget and shopping strategy in place to ensure they don't go overboard when feeling festive," says Sara Skirboll, Shopping & Trends Expert for RetailMeNot.ca. "This is especially true since half the country says they worry about money throughout the holidays. But, with some savvy spending behaviour there's no need to stress. Before you check out, look for added savings on sites like RetailMeNot.ca that have coupons and promo codes on everything you and your loved ones want this season."
Gifting Galore
With the holidays just three weeks away, nearly half of the country (46 per cent) plans to begin shopping any day now, while a quarter (25 per cent) will hold out until just one week before to begin checking items off their list. With so many procrastinating on presents, it's no wonder almost half of Canadians (46 per cent) usually end up buying last minute gifts.
When it comes to the top gifts and entertaining this holiday season, here's what Canadians are buying:
- Tech Tycoons – those with tech items on their list will be spending a pretty penny:
- $582 on new computers;
- $495 on smartphones;
- $462 on televisions;
- $280 on new gaming consoles;
- $251 on tablets.
- Festive Fashionistas – Canadians are planning on spending $166 on clothing gifts this season, in addition to $122 on new outfits for themselves for holiday parties;
- Entertaining Experts – Canadians plan on spending approximately $208 on hosting a holiday party this season and even more when attending multiple holiday parties ($216).
Canadians are keeping their shopping traditional this year, as more than half (57 per cent) head in store for their gifts. In addition, almost half of Canadians (43 per cent) feel that they overspend on gifts; it's no wonder more than half of the country (57 per cent) find the holiday season stressful!
Other Survey Findings
- Lavish lovers – Men plan on spending approximately $255 on their significant others this year, much more than women, who plan on spending $168;
- Selfish shoppers – More than half of Canadians (52 per cent) purchase gifts for themselves while shopping for others. This is even more true for men with 38 per cent agreeing versus only 21 per cent of females;
- Budget barriers – Almost half of Canadians (46 per cent) feel badly that they can't spend more on holiday gifts for loved ones due to lack of budget.
RetailMeNot.ca regularly conducts consumer trend and spending surveys.
About the survey:
From October 27th to October 28th, 2017 an online survey was conducted among 1,509 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to education, age, gender and region (and in Quebec, language) Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
About RetailMeNot, Inc.
RetailMeNot, Inc. (https://www.retailmenot.com/corp/) is a leading savings destination connecting consumers with retailers, restaurants and brands, both online and in-store. The company enables consumers across the globe to find hundreds of thousands of digital offers to save money while they shop or dine out. RetailMeNot, Inc. estimates that approximately $4.4 billion in retailer sales were attributable to consumer transactions from paid digital offers in its marketplace in 2016, more than $600 million of which were attributable to its in-store solution. The RetailMeNot, Inc. portfolio of websites and mobile applications includes RetailMeNot.com in the United States; RetailMeNot.ca in Canada; VoucherCodes.co.uk in the United Kingdom; ma-reduc.com and Poulpeo.com in France; and GiftCardZen.com and Deals2Buy.com in North America. As wholly owned subsidiaries of Harland Clarke Holdings, RetailMeNot and Valassis, a leader in intelligent media delivery, are partnering to connect retailers and consumers through meaningful digital, mobile and print promotions both online and in store.
For interview requests or more information, please contact:
Alix Herman
Citizen Relations
647-980-1613
[email protected]
SOURCE RetailMeNot, Inc.
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