After weeks of shopping for friends and loved ones in the run up to Christmas, shoppers were back in stores across Canada on Monday for the first Boxing Day since 2019 without COVID-19 restrictions.
Many bargain hunters have come in person to try and take advantage of the deals to indulge themselves.
“Once we hit Boxing Day and Boxing Week, we’re back to ‘Hey, what do I want?’ And gift cards and gift certificates play a role in that,” retail analyst David Ian Gray told CTV News. is a tradition.”
In Sudbury, Ontario, the New Sudbury Center was full of customers at noon. In Saskatoon, a family told CTV News Saskatoon that they had been out shopping since 8 a.m.
“Black Friday is obviously a very busy day for us, but Boxing Day is one of our biggest sales events of the year,” said Steve Toews, manager of a Best Buy store in Deerfoot Meadows, in Alberta. told CTV News Calgary. “It’s been really amazing with customers this year – we’ve seen a huge influx of people coming in.”
He added that flat-screen TVs, gaming devices and headphones were among the most popular items for sale.
But although this year has seen a return to shopping, experts say the pandemic has still changed what has traditionally been the biggest shopping day of the year forever.
Retailers were forced to shift to online sales, and customers followed. Today, many believe that it is simply not necessary to go to the mall on Boxing Day to get the best deals.
“I really think there’s fatigue for shoppers and retailers for in-store lineups, tightness and large crowds,” Gray said.
In the past, Boxing Day was a one-day event, prompting shoppers to rise early and shop for long hours. But now retailers often stretch their sales for a week and share them online, hoping to get more attention on them amid dwindling purchases in physical stores.
After Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales fell short of expectations last month, experts wondered if Boxing Day would bring deeper discounts or see more stores try to save money .
“Black Friday is the most important day of the year for retailers and it’s been a bit of a meltdown,” said Lisa Hutcheson, managing partner at retail consultancy JC Williams Group, told The Canadian Press last week.
Electronics have traditionally been the biggest draw on Boxing Day, and Best Buy in downtown Vancouver was busy midday.
“I think customers are looking forward to returning to stores like this and vice versa, I think we are looking forward to having this type of traffic and volume in stores as well,” said Munesh Gounder, store manager. Best Buy, to CTV News. .
Analysts expect Boxing Day in-person sales to easily top the previous two years that were impacted by COVID-19 restrictions.
“But in terms of in-store product, if I guess, today it’s going to be light compared to what it’s been in Boxing Days in the past,” Gray said.
With sales moving online, we may never see the pre-pandemic crowds again on Boxing Day. But for dedicated in-person shoppers, the experience is irreplaceable.
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