Canadians have the spending spirit, according to the BMO's Holiday Spending Outlook survey.
Respondents plan to spend an average of $674 for gifts this year, compared to an average of $583 last year, and overall, respondents plan to spend an average of $1,610 this holiday season, up from $1,397 in 2011.
Why the increase? The two main reasons given were having more people to shop for (41%) and being better off financially (39%).
As always, there are spending differences across the country. In this survey, Ontario residents are the most generous, planning to spend $924 on gifts this holiday season, while those in Quebec plan to spend $359 on gifts.
And even more good news for you if you're a retailer; Canadians aren't big on setting and sticking to budgets. Nearly half of Canadians (47%) will set a "loose or flexible" budget for the holiday shopping season and more than half (53%) say they often make impulsive purchases when Christmas shopping.
Read the entire 2012 BMO Holiday Spending Outlook (news release).
Meantime, Deloitte sounds a note of caution in their Deloitte Holiday Outlook Survey 2012.
They predict a most sales growth of 1 to 2% for the upcoming holiday season and warn that between Canadians' new shopping style of using the web and mobile applications to actively research products (even while they're in store) and mounting competition, price and outstanding value are going to be the main sales drivers.
This is the season, then, to make the extra effort to get customers to open their wallets.
Promotions, price and service are going to be what distinguishes winners from losers this Christmas retail season.
These four tips for promoting Christmas sales will help get them into your store rather than the competitors'.
And don't ignore social media; it can be an important component of your small business marketing as increasing numbers of customers are using social media to find, share and discuss information about brands and products. My How to Create a Social Media Plan will show you how to get started if you haven't already.
More on Increasing Christmas Sales:
- Increase Christmas Sales by Gifting Your Customers
- Explode Your Sales with an Internet Marketing Campaign
- 10 Ways to Increase eBay Holiday Sales
Image (c) Tay Rees / Getty Images
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