So much for Black Friday taking off with consumers around the globe. Momentum is apparently slowing among shoppers just over the border.
Fresh data and survey results show sales growth in Canada declining this year while the number of shoppers participating in Black Friday sales was “virtually unchanged” from 2013.
According to Moneris, the largest processor of credit- and debit-card transactions in the country, Canadian consumers turned out their weakest performance in at least three years over the U.S.-style shopping events last Friday and this Monday.
The total cash value of transactions across Moneris’ system rose just over five per cent on Black Friday, the payment processor said. The cash value of sales on Monday — so-called Cyber Monday — meanwhile rose by more, up 12 per cent compared to 2013’s total transaction value.
The results from both shopping events are meaningfully down from growth rates seen in recent years, Moneris data shows (see chart).
Black Friday sales a year ago were 19 per cent higher compared to 2012, as Canadian retailers began trumpeting more loudly the arrival of the annual U.S.-style sales event in Canada. Sales data compiled by Moneris on last year’s Cyber Monday meanwhile were 29 per cent higher than 2012.
Lowest growth rate
Growth in total transaction values for this year was at its lowest in at least three years, falling below 2011 when Black Friday was still attempting to gain a foothold in Canada. Moneris didn’t provide data before 2011.
In the United States, where Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become perennial bonanzas that kick off the holiday shopping season, retail spending actually declined 11 per cent this year.
The U.S. figures were released by the National Retail Federation. It’s unclear if the Retail Council of Canada, the equivalent trade association here, tracks comparable sales data, and a spokesperson declined to comment on this story.
It was the second consecutive decline in U.S. Black Friday sales. Experts suggested the U.S. performance was a result of retailers starting sales earlier, a shift to more online shopping and consumer fatigue.
Numbers ‘unchanged’
The slowdown on Moneris’ payment system came as the number of Canadian shoppers making Black Friday purchases appears to have remained the same as last year, according to a separate survey from Vancouver-based DIG360 Consulting.
“The overall conclusion we’re making is that Black Friday participation in Canada was virtually unchanged over 2013,” principal analyst David Ian Gray said by phone. “We may have reached a bit of peak.”
A quarter of respondents in DIG360’s survey, which was conducted by Ipsos this week, said they made a Black Friday purchase, roughly the same number as last year.
The growth in transaction values appears to stem from shoppers spending more. Moneris says the average transaction size last Friday was $132, or a couple bucks more than 2013.
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