Canadians cut holiday gift budgets

The gift budgets of Canadians are modest this year, an Accenture survey shows.

Since most (81%) are worried about the cost of living, they plan on spending the same amount or less on their holiday shopping this year than they did last year. Reasons for not splurging include the desire to keep the holidays simple (46%), as well as economic conditions such as rises in living expenses (31%) and having less discretionary income (29%).

Read: Apple’s earnings plunge; holiday sales may shrink

Canadians surveyed cited concerns about rising food bills (34%), a desire to not increase credit card debt (31%) and gasoline prices (30%) as the main factors negatively affecting their holiday spending.

Almost two-thirds (60%) of Canadians plan to spend $500 or less on holiday shopping this year. Of those expecting to cut back on their spending, 44% will do so by reducing their shopping budget by$100 to $250. Additionally, when it comes to holiday spending, 57% of Canadians will set a holiday budget with a maximum dollar amount at the start of the holiday season.

Read: Retail sales key to U.S. growth

The survey also found:

• Canadians will search out U.S. deals: 60% of Canadians plan on taking advantage of U.S. deals during the holiday season. Of those who plan on spending money with U.S. retailers, 20% will only shop in-store south of the border, 30% will shop online only, and 48% plan to both shop both ways.
• The importance of discounts: 76% say they estimate half or more of their holiday shopping purchases are discounted. When shopping for the holidays, most Canadians will search for and buy discounted items, and 43% will decide what to buy and then search for a store offering it at a discount. Discounts of 20% of more are needed to persuade the majority of shoppers (86%) to buy.

Read: Budget busters: the 10 costliest cities to visit

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.