November overtakes December as Canada's busiest shopping month

November has overtaken December as the busiest shopping month for Canadian consumers, according to the Retail Council of Canada (RCC).

Boxing Day was once Canada’s busiest shopping day of the year, but the popularity of Black Friday and Cyber Monday have made them top days for consumers to open their wallets.

"Based on Moneris’ predictive data we are expecting to see Black Friday as the reigning champion of the busiest day of the year and that's in transactions and dollar amount," David Litwin, spokesperson for Moneris Canada, told CTV News Toronto Thursday.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are shopping traditions that started in the United States. Canadians have adopted the event with enthusiasm over the past decade.

The RCC agrees that Black Friday is now the busiest shopping day of the year for Canadians and that it is really the kickoff to the Canadian holiday shopping season as well.

“It's really a week-long event, it's not really just Black Friday or Cyber Monday, it's really a week-long showcase event that continues throughout the holiday season,” Michelle Wasylyshen, with RCC, told CTV News Toronto in an interview.

New data also shows Canadians are shopping earlier than ever and that November has now overtaken December as the busiest shopping month of the year.

“We are seeing that most consumers don’t want to shop a few days before Christmas and they want to avoid the hectic rush, so November does now seem to be the busiest time when people are getting their shopping done,” Wasylyshen said.

A survey by Google Canada found that 72 per cent of shoppers are concerned about the rising costs of items. Sixty per cent said they plan to buy less due to inflation and 85 per cent plan to shop at stores offering discounts.

RCC believes even though Canadians are more money conscious heading into this holiday season, it will still be a good season for retailers.

"Although consumers are understandably concerned about inflation and their finances, they are still really looking forward to celebrating the holiday shopping season," Wasylyshen said.

While Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year for combined online and in-store sales, Moneris said that Cyber Monday is the busiest day for total online sales.