Shoppers plan to be frugal: poll

A whopping 42 per cent of British Columbians say they will be spending less on Christmas shopping this year, according to an Insights West poll released Friday.

Of the 78 per cent of respondents who said they planned on doing some holiday gift-buying, 17 per cent said they will be spending “a lot less” while 25 per cent said they'll spend “a little less.”

Not surprisingly, with people staying closer to home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 61 per cent of British Columbians say they plan to do more online Christmas shopping this year, which is nearly double the 33 per cent from 2019.

Most of the respondents, 64 per cent, said they expected to conduct the majority of their holiday shopping online.

One-third (34 per cent) of B.C. shoppers said they will spend more with Canadian-owned businesses this holiday season, and an even larger number (39 per cent) said they will actively support B.C.-owned businesses.

“In a given year of normal economic expansion, the proportion of shoppers who intend to spend more always outweighs the number spending less, whereas this year the proportion spending less is more than double the percentage spending more. If there is any consolation, it is that consumers are going out of their way to support the local economy, and they are shopping earlier,” said Insights West president Steve Mossop, who noted that 42 per cent of respondents had already completed all of their Christmas shopping.

The poll suggested that despite economic challenges associated with the health crisis, British Columbians plan to dig deeper for charities, with 26 per cent saying they will give more to charity.