Shoppers don’t need to wait for their credit card statements to know how much they splurged this year, with new Shopify data spilling all the details…
What happened: Shopify merchants processed $4.1 billion in sales over Black Friday weekend this year, a 22% jump from last year—a spending surge that surprised analysts and delighted retailers who had low expectations for the holiday shopping season.
- According to Shopify, Canadians spent an average of $171.60, buying mostly cosmetics, jewelry, shirts, and (everyone’s favourite stocking stuffer) underwear.
Why it matters: Buying power is continuing to defy the odds as the economy slows and inflation remains above the 2% target—but specifically on Black Friday, it means that Canadians have just been waiting for the right deals to make discretionary purchases.
- Black Friday has always been a bellwether for the rest of the holiday shopping season, but in this economy, consumers might pull back for the rest of the year.
What’s next: In other areas of the economy, signs of slowing growth are still likely to keep interest rates at 5% at the Bank of Canada’s upcoming decision, according to analysts.—LA