Canadian shoppers love a good deal, so much so over 1.2 million people are planning to call in sick to take advantage of sales and promotions being offered this Black Friday or Cyber Monday according to a new IPG Mediabrands study.
“On the one hand this is great news for retailers looking to boost their sales figures, but on the other it’s pretty clear ‘Slack Friday’ is hurting productivity,” explains Loraine Cordery, Insights Manager for IPG Mediabrands. “Black Friday is fully transitioning into a Canadian sales event, no longer simply being used as a tactic to keep Canadians from cross border shopping.”
Though this is good news to retailers in Canada, the study shows that Canadian shoppers likely will not provide a cross-border boost to U.S. ecommerce sales. IPG Mediabrands says the decline in the Canadian dollar will curtail cross-border shopping.
According to the survey results, 68% of respondents will shop online through Canadian websites on Cyber Monday. Just 42% said they will shop online through U.S. websites on Cyber Monday; a decrease of 18% over last year.
As for Black Friday shopping patterns, 54% of Black Friday purchases will be made on a laptop, 24% on a tablet, and 11% on mobile phone.
The online survey, conducted by IPG Mediabrands, was conducted with over 1,000 nationally representative Canadians from coast to coast from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2.
Over 19.3 million Canadians plan to shop on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, which is roughly three million more than last year. Over a third of shoppers indicated that they plan to spend more than they did last year; 38% more on Black Friday versus 36% more on Cyber Monday. While the sales period coincides with U.S. Thanksgiving, the perception of Black Friday is also changing with 23% indicating the deals in Canadian stores are just as good as the deals in America. That’s up from 14% last year.
“Attitudes, perceptions and shopping behavior are changing rapidly and retailers must find ways to keep up,” adds Joseph McConellogue, Managing Director at Reprise Media. “Our data shows that people are doing their research online earlier and earlier each year. Traditional media still plays a big role in leading people to Black Friday deals, but search is becoming hugely important for both days.”