Black Friday and Cyber Monday may have kicked off the holiday shopping season but Canadians aren’t letting that impact their spending habits for Boxing Week.
In a December 22 poll from RetailMeNot, 71% of respondents say those November sales won’t affect how much they intend to buy in the post-Christmas retail frenzy.
Only 17% of Canadians have a budget in mind ahead of time, with electronics leading the way in average spending at $254.
Boxing Day carries with it more of a “door-crasher mentality” for Canadians than Black Friday, according to Dave Woogman, store manager of the London Drugs on West Broadway near Cambie Street.
“People realize to get the best deals, they’ve got to be there early,” he said.
“So when we open our doors, it’s certainly the biggest day of the year — no question.”
When it comes to electronics, Woogman said most customers aren’t setting their sights on big-ticket items like computers and TVs.
Instead, most are looking for supplemental products like memory cards and headphones.
But among the high-priced sellers, Woogman expects a lot more customers to purchase Ultra HD or 4K TV sets this Boxing Week compared with last year.
Ultra HD and 4K TVs quadruple the amount of pixels found in a standard HD TV set and prices have dropped considerably from a year ago at the same time consumer awareness has risen, according to the London Drugs store manager.
“Very few people will buy a TV online, right, because they want to see the picture quality and they want to be able to compare it against a non-4K TV,” Woogman said.
“So that’s still a purchase that largely is being made in-store.”
Meanwhile, the RetailMeNot survey found men plan to outspend women on electronics by an average of $131 this Boxing Week.
Clothing ($125), food and entertainment such as books and music ($91), and health and beauty items ($60) round out the list of top spending categories during Boxing Week.
“I don’t think people are generally buying gifts for other people on Boxing Day — they’re rewarding themselves,” Woogman said.
“Which is a good thing because you know what you like more so than when you’re trying to anticipate (what others want).”
