The Thrill of a Good Deal Keeps Canadians Invested in Boxing Week

TORONTO, Dec. 22, 2015 /CNW/ -- There will be no budget breather for Canadians after Christmas' shopping madness. According to a recent survey by digital offers site RetailMeNot.ca, the thrill of a deal will drive more than half the country (51 per cent) to shop this Boxing Day and Boxing Week. Despite Black Friday and Cyber Monday hosting a bevy of discounts, 71 per cent say this does not affect how much they intend to buy during Boxing Week; 52 per cent still believe Boxing Day is the best day to get a good deal during the holiday shopping season.

Boxing Day Turned Boxing Week
Sixty-nine per cent of Canadians feel less urgency to shop on actual Boxing Day since the deals throughout Boxing Week are just as good. In fact, most of the Boxing Day shoppers (35 per cent) will be using their lieu day to shop on Monday, December 28, instead of the 26th; only 26 per cent of Canadians plan to brave the crowds that day. The average Boxing Day shopper plans to spend $285, while those shopping during Boxing Week will spend $338 this year.

"Boxing Day is a strong Canadian tradition, but it's easy to blow the budget on those must-have items that Santa forgot," says Kristen Larrea for RetailMeNot, Inc. "In fact, 59 per cent of Canadians plan to use the spending occasion to buy gifts for themselves, 10 per cent more than 2014, but it's important to remember that Boxing Day and Week deals can get even sweeter when stacked with promo and coupon codes."

What Canadians Really Want
When it comes to shopping during Boxing Day/Week, only 17 per cent make a budget ahead of time. The survey also revealed the top items Canadians plan to buy this year:

1. Electronics ($254), with men outspending women by $131;
2. Clothing ($125);
3. Food and entertainment such as books and music ($91);
4. Health & Beauty ($60), with men surprisingly outspending women by $38;
5. Accessories ($70).

Millennials Love Their Boxing Day Deals
Sixty-eight per cent of those aged 18 to 34 are planning to shop this Boxing Day/Week, the most out of any age demographic. In fact, the shopping occasion has become so loved by the young budget-conscious group that 25 per cent have begun postponing holiday celebrations until after Boxing Day sales so they can get gifts for a lot less.

Other survey findings include:

• Gifting gone wrong: Fifty-one per cent of Canadians admit they use Boxing Day/Week to purchase items for themselves that they wish they had gotten over the holidays;
• Guys love a good deal: Canadian men are planning to spend $348 on themselves this Boxing Day/Week, compared to females only spending $190;
• Mall madness: Only 39 per cent of Canadians shop online to avoid the Boxing Day/Week crowds;
• Considerate Canucks: The majority (69 per cent) of Canadians would not buy clothing as a gift if it wasn't returnable;
• Gifting etiquette: Twenty-seven per cent of Canadians would be offended if someone returned a gift they purchased for them.

RetailMeNot.ca regularly conducts consumer trend and spending surveys.

About the survey:
From December 11 to December 12, 2015, an online survey was conducted among 1,543 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, Inc. (http://www.retailmenot.com/corp/) operates the world's largest marketplace for digital offers. The company enables consumers across the globe to find hundreds of thousands of digital offers for their favorite retailers and brands. During the 12 months ended September 30, 2015, RetailMeNot, Inc. experienced nearly 730 million visits to its websites, and during the three months ended September 30, 2015, RetailMeNot, Inc. averaged 18.6 million mobile unique visitors per month. In 2014, RetailMeNot, Inc. estimates $4.4 billion in paid retailer sales were attributable to consumer traffic from digital offers in its marketplace. RetailMeNot, Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol "SALE." Investors interested in learning more about the company can visit http://investor.retailmenot.com.

For interview requests or more information, please contact:

Erin Banting
Citizen Relations
416 934 8422 office
416 414 8637 mobile
[e-mail]

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SOURCE RetailMeNot.ca