Once strictly a U.S. phenomenon, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have gained a firm foothold in Canada in recent years, with new research from Metroland Media suggesting a quarter of Canadians plan to shop this year’s sales.
The online survey of 750 Canadians found nearly half (44%) will spend at least a week making plans for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with 45% planning to use flyers – either checked in-store, at home or online – to inform their purchase decisions.
Other channels responsible for influencing consumers’ purchase decisions include brand websites (40%) and online ads (35%), followed by social media (28.5%) and TV/radio ads (16.4%).
Michelle Digulla, vice-president of marketing at Metroland Media, said consumers’ continued use of flyers to inform their Black Friday/Cyber Monday purchasing decisions is not surprising, since they already play a key role in their everyday shopping.
“People have this ritual where they get their flyers on Thursday, put them on their kitchen table and use them either as a shopping tool or a way to get ideas and inspiration,” she said.
Metroland is one of the largest print flyer distributors in Canada, distributing approximately 74 million flyers each week – nearly 4 billion each year – to Ontario households. The unit of Torstar Corp. owns more than 100 community newspapers that reach approximately 84% of the province’s households.
Digulla said flyer distribution had become increasingly sophisticated, with some retailers now distributing up to 40 versions of a single flyer, tailoring the offers based on a combination of point-of-sale data, as well as demographic and psychographic information.
“As retailers become more sophisticated, they know what products [sell] in different locations, and they’re using that data to make more informed decisions,” said Digulla.
Digulla said flyers are a “critical tool” at a time of heightened consumer sensitivity to deals and pricing, such as the back-to-school period or Black Friday. Last year, Metroland experienced an 18% increase in its flyer distribution over the Black Friday weekend.
The Metroland research said Canadian Black Friday shoppers planned to spend an average of $347 this year, approximately $100 more than they anticipated spending on Cyber Monday sales ($246).
Electronics will be a major consumer focus, with nearly 60% of shoppers surveyed (57.1%) saying they planned to shop the category, followed by clothing and accessories (40.7%).
The new research supports a study conducted by Brandspark on behalf of Metroland Media Group earlier this year, which found 81% of consumers used flyers as a resource for local community and shopping information.
The research also found more than half (52%) of consumers now look at online flyers such as Metroland’s Save.ca, with approximately one-third of survey respondents indicating they planned to check online flyers before shopping at brick-and-mortar stores.
Digulla said Save.ca is one of Metroland’s fastest-growing digital properties, distributing millions of coupons each year that can either be printed at home or ordered via mail. While redemption rates vary by coupon, Digulla said the average redemption rate for Save.ca coupons is approximately 15%.
