Santa is hearing Christmas wishes from children at malls adorned in holiday regalia, stores are teeming with eggnog and gingerbread treats and a barrage of marketing campaigns are promising the perfect gift is just one credit card swipe away.
But among the usual trappings that come with the holidays are new factors that could shake up the busiest shopping season of the year: inflation, and the high interest rates the Bank of Canada has imposed to fight it.
The combined pressures, with prices up substantially in the last few years and the policy rate at five per cent, threatens to weigh on shoppers' willingness to spend and thus, retailers' profits.
"This is going to be a very challenging holiday shopping season for retailers because the consumer is worried," said Kostya Polyakov,national industry leader for consumer and retail at KPMG in Canada.
"The consumer is feeling that everything is expensive, the consumer is feeling that they don't have enough money for non-discretionary spending."
An online survey from consulting firm KPMG conducted between Oct. 20 and Nov. 2 found 83 per cent of the 1,507 Canadians questioned are being more cautious about what they are spending money on this year compared with last year.
Seventy per cent of those surveyed said they don’t plan on spending as much on discretionary items — travel, apparel, electronics, entertainment, toys, and restaurants — as they did in previous years and 66 per cent indicated they plan to only spend on essential goods such as groceries, personal care products and prescriptions this year.
The timing of purchases will come down to when they find deals, Polyakov said.
"Consumers will wait until they think it is the absolute lowest price of the season," he said.
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2023-12-23 15:30:00Z
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