TORONTO, Nov. 17, 2014 /CNW/ - With Black Friday and Cyber Monday fast approaching and December around the corner, Canadians are well into their seasonal shopping spend. What are consumers buying, and where? How much are they spending - and how are Canadian retailers attracting customers and making sales, both in shop and online during the busiest shopping time of year? Factors impacting the big spend this holiday season include:
- Canada's Black Friday and Cyber Monday: combating cross-border shopping - these American Thanksgiving retail traditions have made their way north and become a full-blown Canadian affair. Will consumers still head south to find deals despite the high exchange rate or will Canadian retailers tempt shoppers with hard to pass up deals in store and online?
- An OMNI-Channel consumer experience - as online and mobile become more established sales channels, global e-tailers are putting pressure on traditional bricks-and-mortar retail operations to vie for customers. To compete, retailers in Canada must work to provide a seamless shopping experience through all available channels.
- The social future of retail - how are retailers leveraging social media to increase sales? Sales have become more than a transaction and savvy retailers can harness the power of social media to build community and brand loyalty among their shoppers.
- The 2014 must-have gifts - what items do Canadians need to give, and need to get, this season - and what do those gifts look like? With gift card giving more popular every year and virtual gifting on the rise, will the physical gift under the tree soon be a thing of the past?
Willy Kruh, KPMG's Global Chairman of Consumer Markets, is based in Toronto and available to speak to national retail trends. Other KPMG spokespeople based in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are also available to answer your holiday retail questions - from the impact of data & analytics, social media and cyber security, to online and mobile commerce trends, and the customer experience.
LEARN MORE
KPMG Consumer Markets Page
KPMG Website
@KPMG_Canada
@WillyKruh_KPMG
KPMG on LinkedIn
About KPMG
KPMG LLP, an Audit, Tax and Advisory firm (kpmg.ca) and a Canadian limited liability partnership established under the laws of Ontario, is the Canadian member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"). KPMG member firms around the world have 155,000 professionals, in 155 countries.
The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International, a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity, and describes itself as such.
SOURCE: KPMG LLP
CONTACTS, Kira Froese, National Manager, Communications, KPMG in Canada, 416.777.8928, [email protected]; Kimberly Armstrong, National Coordinator, Communications, KPMG in Canada, 416.777.8916, [email protected]
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