The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
With five weeks to go before the end of the holiday shopping season, a new survey conducted for Moneris Solutions by Ipsos-Reid reveals that individual Canadians are expecting to spend an average of $1,500 this year buying gifts, decorations, food and other holiday-related goods. In addition, retailers can expect the days leading up to Christmas to be busy, as four in ten (38 per cent) Canadians say they are "last-minute" shoppers. The survey also offers some interesting insights on how Canadians shop for the holiday season. Some highlights: Ð Canadians expect to spend an average of $761 on gifts and an average of $724 on on other holiday-related spending such as clothing, travel and decorations; Ð Almost three quarters (73 per cent) of the survey's respondents selected debit or credit card as the payment form they will use most often when shopping this season; Ð Thirty-eight per cent of Canadians say they are last-minute shoppers. Forty-seven per cent of men say they are last-minute holiday shoppers; Ð Six in ten (58 per cent) of Canadians say "they don't set a budget and spend as they go"; and Ð When asked who is the most difficult person for whom to buy, "spouse/ partner" leads the list with 25 per cent of Canadians, followed by Dad at 15 per cent, child/children also at 15 per cent; and Mom at 12 per cent. "Our October transaction data shows that some retail categories are already experiencing upticks in spending from last year, including bookstores and music stores where credit and debit spending was up 13 and 15 per cent respectively over October 2002," says Jim Baumgartner, President and CEO of Moneris Solutions, Canada's largest processor of debit and credit card payments. "As Canadians get out and spend over the coming weeks, merchants should be prepared for a busy season which we expect will translate to positive growth across the majority of retail categories."
