Despite economic uncertainty, Canadian retailers should expect a boost from back-to-school shoppers who plan to spend more or the same during the second busiest shopping season of the year, says a BMO Bank of Montreal report.
About one-third of Canadians are expected to spend at least $200 on back to school purchases this year, and they will spend an average of $319, according to a Leger Marketing survey conducted this month for BMO..
“For many retail businesses, the back-to-school shopping season is the second most important sales period in the year,” Cathy Pin, vice-president of commercial banking for BMO, said in a news release Monday.
BMO also said that Canadian retail sales were expected to grow at a moderate 2% in the August-September period.
“Retails sales in Canada, excluding autos and gasoline, over the August and September period are expected to continue growing at a moderate rate of 2%, similar to the pace this time last year,” said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.
But Guatieri sounded a note of caution, indicating that shoppers won’t be free spenders.
“Continued low interest rates will provide support, though concerns about the global economy will also weigh on the back to school shopping season.”
The survey also found that more consumers in Quebec plan to spend $500 or more than consumers in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Forty-one per cent of consumers surveyed in Manitoba and Saskatchewan expected to cut their spending.
The survey was conducted online for BMO by Leger Marketing from Aug. 2-4 with 1,501 adult Canadians participating and with a margin of error of 2.5 per cent.
