Canadians wish for bigger Black Friday deals this holiday season

Canadians have enjoyed a record run on cross-border shopping trips in recent years, taking advantage of a high dollar to score big savings at U.S. retailers.

All that time at outlet malls has conditioned many to crave bigger deals and deeper discounts, experts suggest, including on Black Friday promotions found during the annual U.S. Thanksgiving shopping bonanza.

But as the loonie retreats, Canadian shoppers’ appetite to venture south for sales this year is being tempered too. “Cross-border shopping is expected to drastically decline this holiday season,” according to Accenture, a professional services firm.

That doesn’t mean though that burgeoning impulse to seek Black Friday deals has diminished. Far from it.

Roughly half of Canadian consumers are primed and ready to shop on or before the Nov. 28 event this year, according to a fresh poll from IPG Mediabrands, a division of global ad firm Interpublic. Accenture suggests 61 per cent are looking to make purchases related to Black Friday.

The figures are up from a year ago and build on growing demand for equivalent Canadian sales to mark the unofficial kick-off to the holiday shopping season.

‘Big gap’

But a desire for deals – and willingness to go out and spend – doesn’t mean Canadian consumers will get their wish. Despite growing hype and consumer interest, only about one in five Canadian retailers are planning a dedicated Black Friday sale, according to Mediabrands.

“There’s still a big gap to fill,” Loraine Cordery, marketing expert at Mediabrands said. “Retailers haven’t quite jumped on the bandwagon yet.”

“There’s a bit of reluctance to invest in it without fully understanding what they’re going to get back,” Cordery said.

“There’s no question we’re not at the same maturity level that the American retailers are,” Diane Brisebois, chief executive of the Retail Council of Canada, said. But Brisebois expects that to change.

Many chains are venturing up the learning curve. Canadian Tire is planning to host its second “Red Thursday” sale again this year, according to a company spokesperson.

Shoppers Drug Mart is also planning a “Super Sale” promotion running Nov. 22-28, an event first put on in 2010 but expanded to a full week last year to take advantage of growing demand from customers.

‘There’s no question we’re not at the same maturity level’

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The Shoppers event, which will feature sales on HD TVs, laptops, game consoles as well as beauty products, has become “one of the biggest weeks of the year for us,” Lana Gogas, a spokesperson, said.

Best Buy Canada, Hudson’s Bay and others, including Walmart and Target are all expected to offer promotions of some kind in the lead up to unofficial start to holiday shopping season.

Slim expectations

But Canadians aren’t expecting those deals to come anywhere close to what they’ve found in the United States. Shoppers Drug Mart will offer select items at discounts ranging from below to more than 10 per cent, Gogas said.

An overwhelming 86 per cent of respondents to Mediabrand’s survey, which was taken in mid-October, said they don’t expect comparable Black Friday sales from Canadian retailers.

The Canadian dollar is expected to remain low through next year, economists say, while demand for deals will remain high. That’s creating an opportunity for local retailers to boost sales with more compelling Black Friday deals, according to experts.

“That’s partly why we think this will grow over time, because Canadian retailers are going to learn what Canadian consumers are expecting and tailor better deals,” Cordery said.

“There is going to be an increase in activity and promotion in Canada,” Brisebois added.