TORONTO, Dec. 8, 2016 /CNW/ -- The overwhelming
stress of the holidays has Canadians saying "Bah Hum Bug,"
this season and cutting back when it comes to budget.
According to a recent survey from savings destination
RetailMeNot.ca, over half the country (58 per cent) are worried
about money and 54 per cent view the holidays as a financial
burden. Wise to the holiday hidden costs, Canadians appear to be
taking a festively frugal attitude this season with 85 per cent
believing the holidays have become too materialistic and spending
an all-time low of $946 compared to
previous years.
Holding on Holiday Spending
Compared to 2015,
Canadians will be spending much less this year on key items,
including:
- $164 on food for entertaining and
personal consumption, $147 less than
2015;
- $104 on alcohol for entertaining,
personal consumption and gifts, nearly one third of last year's
budget ($310);
- $558 on gifts, $92 less than last year's projected $650.
Fifty-two per cent of the country feel bad they cannot spend
more on their loved ones during the holidays and so to try and save
up ahead of the holidays, 41 per cent will be pinching their
pennies at the cost of their social life. Of those planning to cut
back 69 per cent will give up meals at restaurants, 55 per cent
will cut out take out and 33 per cent will give up socializing all
together.
"With Canadians cutting back on spending this holiday season, it
is more important than ever to find clever ways to maximize every
dollar," says Sara Skirboll,
Shopping & Trends Expert for RetailMeNot.ca. "You can still
find ways to enjoy yourself without breaking the bank – try
searching for a coupon or promo code to your favourite restaurant
and have that night out!"
Savvy Spenders – Men vs Women
Men could take
note from the ladies when it comes to maximizing your dollar this
holiday season. The majority of women (55 per cent) have already
begun holiday shopping, starting at least three months in advance
with 83 per cent looking to leverage deals. On the other hand, most
men plan to start two to three weeks ahead, resulting in nearly
half (47 per cent) paying full price and the majority (54 per cent)
buying last minute gifts.
Other Survey Findings Include:
- Selfish Santas: Sixty per cent of Canadians admit to
having purchased a gift for themselves while shopping for
others;
- No Thanks New Year's: 72
per cent of Canadians agree New Year's
Eve is overrated and 73 per cent say it is far too
expensive;
- Feeling Festive: 31 per cent of Canadians spend more on
entertaining and attending parties than they do on gifts;
- Men Outspend: Men spend an average of $52 more on their spouse or significant other
than women.
RetailMeNot.ca regularly conducts consumer trend and spending
surveys.
About the survey:
From September 30th to October 1st, 2016 an online
survey was conducted among 1,517 randomly selected Canadian adults
who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error—which
measures sampling variability—is +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20. The
results have been statistically weighted according to education,
age, gender and region (and in Quebec, language) Census data to ensure a
sample representative of the entire adult population of
Canada. Discrepancies in or
between totals are due to rounding.
About RetailMeNot, Inc.
RetailMeNot
(http://www.retailmenot.com/corp/) is a leading digital savings
destination connecting consumers with retailers, restaurants and
brands, both online and in-store. The company enables consumers
across the globe to find hundreds of thousands of digital offers to
save money while they shop or dine out. During the 12 months ended
September 30, 2016, RetailMeNot, Inc.
experienced over 675 million visits to its websites. It also
averaged 19.2 million mobile unique visitors per month during the
three months ended September 30,
2016. RetailMeNot, Inc. estimates that approximately
$4.8 billion in retailer sales were
attributable to consumer transactions from paid digital offers in
its marketplace in 2015, more than $600
million of which were attributable to its in-store solution.
The RetailMeNot, Inc. portfolio of websites and mobile applications
includes RetailMeNot.com in the United
States; RetailMeNot.ca in Canada; VoucherCodes.co.uk in the United Kingdom; retailmenot.de in Germany; Actiepagina.nl in the Netherlands; ma-reduc.com and Poulpeo.com
in France; RetailMeNot.es in
Spain, RetailMeNot.it in
Italy, RetailMeNot.pl in
Poland and GiftCardZen.com and
Deals2Buy.com in North America.
RetailMeNot, Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the
ticker symbol "SALE."
For interview requests or more information, please contact:
Kate Nishida
Citizen Relations
416 306 6740 office
647 542 1465 mobile
kate.nishida@citizenrelations.com
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SOURCE RetailMeNot.ca