Montreal Gazette

Retailers see shift to Black Friday, Cyber Monday

- JACOB SEREBRIN

Quebecers are increasing­ly shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but that doesn’t mean retailers are seeing an increase in sales, according to an associatio­n of Quebec retailers.

While the Friday after Thanksgivi­ng in the United States and the following Monday, the so-called Cyber Monday when many online retailers offer discounts, became popular in Quebec later than in other parts of Canada, their popularity is growing fast, said Léopold Turgeon, the president and CEO of the Conseil québécois du commerce de détail.

Many retailers also offer discounts before and after those two days, creating a period of about a week in which consumers have come to expect deals.

Consumer purchasing during that period has more than doubled over the past three years, Turgeon said.

In 2015, the CQCD estimated Quebecers spent $428 million during that period. This year, it expects they will spend $946 million. While that has grown strongly, he said “purchases made during the holiday period aren’t necessaril­y growing — it’s a shift of sales.”

In the past, he said, sales in October and November were roughly equal. Now, while sales in November have risen, sales have declined in October, the result of discounts around Black Friday.

And people aren’t just buying holiday presents during the Black Friday period, he said. They’re also holding off on personal purchases in October because they’re waiting for the November discounts.

A survey of 900 Quebecers conducted by market research firm L’Observateu­r for the CQCD found that more than 40 per cent of respondent­s planned to take advantage of Black Friday — known here as Vendredi fou — and its associated deals. That’s an increase of 20 per cent, when compared with the previous year.

Sixty-seven per cent of respondent­s who planned to shop during the period said they were planning to use it to buy Christmas presents.

On average, survey respondent­s said they planned to spend $342 during the Black Friday period.

But while retailers might not see an overall boost in sales from offering Black Friday deals, they have little choice, Turgeon said. Customers have come to expect discounts, and if one store isn’t offering discounts, customers will shop elsewhere.

“Retailers have no choice — they have to adjust to consumer needs,” he said.

Cyber Monday and the fact that many online retailers offer discounts is also a challenge for Quebec retailers, Turgeon said.

“Forty-seven per cent of survey respondent­s said they plan to take advantage of online sales, but 75 per cent of them will shop on Amazon,” Turgeon said.

The survey found that, in addition to presents, 46 per cent of respondent­s planned to purchase electronic­s and related products during the Black Friday period, while 40 per cent planned to buy clothing.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada