Christmas is just over a month away, but many Canadians have already started their shopping.
According to a recent survey on holiday shopping trends by Rakuten.ca (formerly Ebates.ca) 36 per cent of Canadians have started their holiday shopping this month, and are likely to spend a whopping $546 on average this year on gifts.
Those on the east coast are expected to spend the highest in the country, with an average of $686; however, Quebec will reportedly spend the least, citing an average of $421.
The survey reveals that shopping early for the holidays may be a wise strategy. Sixty per cent of Canadians noticed prices and sales less appealing the closer it gets to the holidays.
More than half of Canadians (56 per cent) are looking for the best possible gift as opposed to the best possible deal (44 per cent).
(Photo: Rakuten.ca)
Shopping online is very appealing to Canadians, with 85 per cent choosing to shop that way. That’s up from 83 per cent in 2018.
The best days for holiday shopping continue to be Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with roughly half of Canadians planning to shop on these two major deal days (53 per cent for Black Friday and 43 per cent for Cyber Monday).
These shopping days are not only about buying gifts, as more than 50 per cent of Canadians will be shopping for themselves.
Canadians are also looking at entertaining. 87 per cent will spend an average of $168 on items for holiday entertaining, including additional groceries and alcohol.
Over half (66 per cent) will be spending an average of $94 on holiday décor.
Over 1000 Canadians were surveyed by Rakuten.ca last month.
