News
Two-thirds of Canadians say they plan to holiday shop at Wal-Mart

Nov. 25, 2008 – This year two-thirds (66 per cent) of Canadians plan to
spend their holiday dollars at Wal-Mart, with Canadian Tire and Zellers
coming in second and third place with 51 per cent and 40 per cent
respectively, according to a survey by Maritz Research Canada. The
company encourages retailers to view customer service as their best
differentiator and offers tips on how they can do this.

This year two-thirds (66 per cent) of Canadians plan to spend their
holiday dollars at Wal-Mart, with Canadian Tire and Zellers coming in
second and third place with 51 per cent and 40 per cent respectively.
According to a recent holiday retail survey conducted by Maritz
Research Canada, Canadians plan to spend 14 per cent less than last
year from an average reported spend of $663 in 2007 to an average
planned spend of $571 for the 2008 holiday season. And, 70 per cent of
Canadians say they will use cash (including debit cards) to pay for
purchases.

More than two thousand people responded to the online survey and the
current economic climate had a clear impact on their responses.
Overall, those planning to decrease their holiday spend include women
generally, Ontario and Atlantic Canada provinces, students, and those
with household incomes of less than $100K.

"This year, the consumer mood is changing and as a result retailers are
facing fiercer competition for a smaller pool of spending dollars,"
said Robert Daniel, Managing Director Maritz Research Canada. "With a
reduced budget, shoppers will be less tolerant and retailers are going
to have to do more to make sure customers feel they have a good
experience; customer retention is key and retailers are going to have
to assess how they can do more to delight and surprise their customers
in order to keep them in the store and purchasing."

What can retailers do to ensure a positive shopping experience?

According to the survey findings, sales and special holiday offers is
the most important improvement retailers could make to enhance the holiday
shopping experience.

"There are many approaches retailers can take to prepare for a positive
shopping experience this holiday season," added Daniel. "Some things
retailers can do include getting the pricing equation right, reducing
wait times, ensuring the check-out process is well designed and
investing in training employees whose direct contact with the shopper
impacts the customer's overall experience."

Where do Canadians plan to shop this holiday season?

Canadians have indicated that Wal-Mart is the number one go-to store for holiday shopping this year.

What do Canadians plan to buy?

According to the Maritz Research survey, entertainment and electronics
topped the list of gift-giving with 57 per cent and 43 per cent
respectively of Canadians planning to purchase these items. The top ten
holiday gift categories for 2008 are as follows:

How do we plan to pay for it?

Cash is the preferred method of payment. Intention to pay for gifts
with cash this holiday season has increased since 2007 with 70 per cent
of Canadians favouring paying up front (as opposed to buying on credit)
– up 6 per cent compared with 64 per cent of respondents last year.

"In a slowing economy Canadians are tightening their wallets; by
telling us they intend to pay for more purchases with cash, consumers
are indicating they recognize the need to be more careful about
personal debt," said Daniel. "This is another indication that the
consumer mood is changing and consequently retailers and credit card
companies will also need to assess how to retain customers through
superior experiences."

This online Maritz Poll, which was conducted October – November 2008,
featured responses from 2,072 randomly selected adults from an Internet
panel survey on topics related to holiday shopping, buying behaviors
and gift-giving trends. To ensure the data was representative of the
Canadian population, data was weighted to Statistics Canada data for
several demographic categories including gender, province and age.