There’s no point in running, you have to leave on time
Why go ahead? While shopping on December 23 and 24 in the atmosphere and excitement of Christmas was a tradition for some? Because many consumers have been burned over the past two years by the ongoing problems in the supply chain. A majority of Canadians, 75%, worry that the items they want are unavailable or out of stock, reveals a study by Sharethrough, headquartered in Montreal. The digital advertising technology company surveyed 1,000 consumers about their holiday shopping behavior.
In its Friday newsletter, Desjardins Group gives a few tips for anticipating holiday expenses, namely to establish your budget in advance by planning gifts under the tree, those of host or hostess, food, drinks and fuel surcharge for car travel. Without forgetting to watch the sales as soon as possible.
In its latest report, Mastercard fears that consumers are not sticking to their resolutions. As they have been forced into virtual shopping for two years, the company instead expects a major boost for in-store purchases with a 24% increase in sales on December 23 and 17.5% on Christmas Eve.
When do consumers shop?
Only 10% of Canadians surveyed wait until December to start shopping, 49% do so on Black Friday and Cyber Monday in November, while 41% start in October. “A lot of people tend to think about holiday shopping as early as October,” observes Benoit Skinazi, Marketing Director at Sharethrough. It’s very early when you think about it, because it’s right after the return to school, a big period of consumption. »
Price priority
The priority for shoppers this holiday season will be price for 61% of Canadians. In fact, 88% follow the prices, frequently or occasionally, of the products they want to buy, and men are even more diligent than women.
“With 25% more men, it might even be worth digging deeper to find out whether men follow gift prices more only in the context of holiday shopping, on specific purchases, or in general and even at the grocery store, supports Benoit Skinazi on the phone. In general, what we observe is that women are more focused on the organization in holiday behavior while men are more concerned with shopping. »
Where are the gift ideas?
The vast majority of Canadians look to friends and family for recommendations when looking for gift ideas. However, when asked to rank sites, blogs, and social media, traditional media sites topped the list ahead of Facebook and Instagram.
“We often tend to say that social media wins all the time, regardless of the type of content. But we can clearly see that this is not necessarily the case. The credibility of blogs and websites with quality content is more important,” says Benoit Skinazi.
TikTok comes way down the list, but the service ranked number 1 for 16-24 year olds.