This crush of volume resulted in significant delays in the delivery by carriers like Canada Post, FedEx and UPS. "38% of shoppers who bought gifts on-line had at least one gift NOT delivered on time for Christmas." said Jeff Doucette, General Manager of Field Agent Canada. "It seems like the logistics system was just not able to keep up with the flood of volume that on-line shoppers created in the weeks leading up to Christmas."
An additional 10% of total Christmas gift spending was completed online then picked up in-store. "This buy on-line and pick-up in-store model allowed shoppers to track down inventory and avoid going in-store with many retailers offering Curbside pick-up options." said Doucette. "It also avoided your gift being stuck in a Canada Post depot on December 25th instead of being under the tree."
It seems like Canadians were also showing the love to their locally owned retailers this Christmas as well. Respondents told us that 23% of their Christmas gift spending was done at locally owned stores. "Local retailers have been hard hit during two waves of COVID lockdowns and many Canadians have stepped in to make sure that small retailers can survive and thrive this Christmas." said Doucette.
In fact, spending at local retailers was more than double that of spending on gift cards which made up 11% of total Christmas gift spending in 2020. "With wide spread shutdowns for restaurants and cinemas, as well as uncertainty around the strength of some retailers may have dampened the demand for gift cards this year." hypothesized Doucette.
For more information or interview requests please contact:
Jeff Doucette
General Manager
Field Agent Canada
403-966-7467