By Mario Toneguzzi

With the kickoff to the holiday shopping season just around the corner, retailers are becoming increasingly more aware that consumers want a multichannel experience in how and where they spend their money.

A recent survey by commercial real estate firm JLL indicates two-thirds of consumers plan to visit physical stores during this holiday season, and 57 per cent plan to seek out online retailers. Over 30 per cent of respondents said they would check both online and in-store.

"We are observing that the multichannel shopping experience continues to grow as shoppers take advantage of both physical stores and mobile devices to enhance their retail experience," said Thomas Forr, Director of Research, JLL Canada. "This year, 20 per cent of shoppers have affirmed picking up their online orders at physical stores, which is another popular offer among retailers to increase store traffic while leveraging the efficiency of mobile shopping."

The survey also found that close to 90 per cent of consumers will use their mobile device during the shopping process. While this high rate unsurprisingly varies by generation, it still demonstrates the importance of mobile devices for transactions across generations, said the JLL report.

“Black Friday is considered again this year as the starting point for the holiday shopping season with 28 per cent of respondents planning to kick off their shopping at that time and through Cyber Monday. Additionally, close to 25 per cent of shoppers picked Black Friday as the top deal day. However, when comparing age, 71 per cent of Gen Z shoppers (between 18 and 24 years old) enjoy sales on top deal days while only 24 per cent of seniors decide to venture out at that time,” said the report.

The report said that more than one-third of shoppers will get gift ideas by browsing in-store while 21 per cent will browse online only. One-quarter of respondents (particularly female shoppers of all ages and people aged 55 and over) will ask family and friends. Respondents will also check specific places, including magazines or catalogs (six per cent) and social media (five per cent).

“Twenty-four per cent of shoppers, particularly females and those in Ontario and Quebec, tend to be bi-dimensional, browsing both online and in-store. Male shoppers and residents from other parts of Canada tend to be unidimensional, browsing either online or in-store,” said the report.

JLL said the survey found that Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, Hudson's Bay, and Costco are the top five picks for this holiday season cited by 37, 22, 11, 10, and 8 per cent of survey respondents respectively. Other high-ranking retailers include Winners, Canadian Tire, Target, Toys R Us, Home Depot, and Giant Tiger.

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“The consensus among Canadians of all generations is that saving money is the most important shopping factor. Avoiding the hassle and crowds came second at 21 per cent,” said JLL. “On average, Canadians are planning to spend $425 on gifts, while early shoppers will attribute a higher budget of $500 for their holiday spending. Respondents also mentioned shopping at thrift and consignment stores such as Value Village and The Salvation Army and donating to charities like Goodwill Industries and Senior Animals in Need Today Society this holiday season.”

JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $16.3 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 93,000 as of September 30, 2019. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated.

Mario Toneguzzi, based in Calgary has 37 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald covering sports, crime, politics, health, city and breaking news, and business. For 12 years as a business writer, his main beats were commercial and residential real estate, retail, small business and general economic news. He nows works on his own as a freelance writer and consultant in communications and media relations/training. Email: mdtoneguzzi@gmail.com

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