Canadians plan to spend an average of $635 on holiday shopping this year, an increase of $119 or more than 23% compared to 2020, according to Accenture Canada’s annual holiday shopping survey.
Accenture says that Canadians are upbeat heading into the holidays as the return of celebrations, a waning pandemic, robust savings, and low unemployment are expected to bolster consumer spending.
At the same time, Deloitte Canada’s 2021 Holiday Retail Outlook suggested spending could be even higher. The report found Canadians are expected to spend an estimated $1,841 on the holidays, an increase of 31% compared with 2020 and 8% above 2019 levels.
With larger budgets and declining pandemic concerns, shoppers are expected to make a big return to malls and brick-and-mortar stores, JLL Canada’s 2021 Retail Holiday Survey found. JLL Canada says that 85% of consumers will return to shopping centres this December.
The survey also said that Canadians are expected to spend 11% more on gifts, while spending on holiday-related merchandise will jump 15%.
Accenture’s research also found that about one in four (25%) of Canadians plans to shop on Black Friday, and one in five (20%) will shop on Cyber Monday this year.