Since 2015, Insightrix has developed independent research to understand holiday retail trends and the purchasing habits of Saskatchewan residents.
This storytelling report explores the behaviours of Saskatchewan residents using our proprietary market research panel, SaskWatch Research, surveying a general population of 800 Saskatchewan residents.
Saskatchewan residents are generous gift-givers. Of those surveyed, 9 in 10 say they plan to buy at least one gift during the holiday season.
There are those who buy before December 1 – let’s call them Planners. And then, there are those who wait for sales like Black Friday and Cyber Monday – the Sales Lovers. And those who buy between December 1-24? We will call those ones the “You mean, it’s Christmas?” group.
Then a few stragglers do their shopping the day after on Boxing Day.
Saskatchewan residents who plan to purchase gifts admit they procrastinate getting ready for the holiday. A majority say it is because they can’t quite find the perfect gift for their loved ones (42%).
Others claim they are far too busy (the season isn’t all about gift giving, right!?). And then, there is of course the classic procrastinator (29%) who waits for single-digit shopping days to be left before they buy gifts.
Online shopping is here to stay in Saskatchewan.
In fact…
Why?
According to residents, variety, convenience and avoiding crowds are top attractions to online shopping.
The reasons why might not be surprising, as most online shoppers prefer the comforts and convenience online shopping provides:
It goes beyond just picking up the item in-store; they read reviews, search availability and research alternative options. It appears Saskatchewan holiday shoppers are invested in their shopping experience.
For those who prefer to look for an item online before going to the store…
For those who prefer to look for an item in-store before purchasing it online…
When it comes to holiday spending and looking back on the last year, many Saskatchewan shoppers really don’t mind how much they spent in 2018.
How much do Saskatchewan residents plan to spend in 2019?
Yes, yes – some of us have holiday budgets…. Snore!
Some budgets are bigger than others: Forty-two percent (42%) intend to spend more than $500 this holiday season. This is similar to what was seen in 2018, as 43% indicated last year that they would spend $500 or more on holiday shopping.
Thirty-four percent (34%) intend to spend between $251-$500, while 24% plan to spend $250 or less on holiday shopping this year.
Forty-eight percent (48%) of Saskatchewan holiday shoppers plan to use a major credit card for their holiday purchases, 41% have cash put aside specifically for their holiday shopping and 20% plan to use discretionary income.
Five percent (5%) plan to use a gift card and only 2% plan to use a store credit card.
Of those who plan to shop for the holidays…
A total of 800 randomly selected SaskWatch Research® panel members participated in the online research study between November 25 and 29, 2019. Quotas were set by age, gender and region to match the general population of the province and as such the data did not need to be weighted.
Since the research is conducted online, it is considered to be a non-probability proportion sample; therefore, margins of error are not applicable. However, the margin of error can be estimated to be ±3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20 for questions answered by all respondents.
Want a download version of the Saskatchewan Holiday Spending 2019 Report?
Have questions about the retail space in Saskatchewan around the holidays or any other time of year?
Want to know more about how you could monitor or improve your company’s customer experience or learn more about your customer’s buyer journey?
Contact Insightrix today to talk about how Insightrix can provide a research solution that will work for you.
Shonna Caldwell
Chief Revenue Officer, Insightrix Research
Shonna.Caldwell@insightrix.dev1.commandbase.ca