Canadians less likely than the British or Americans to do holiday shopping online
December 12, 2013 – Of respondents surveyed in three countries; the UK, US and Canada, people living in Britain are the most likely to shop online this holiday season.
One in five British respondents to an Angus Reid Global poll said they do most or all of their holiday shopping online.
Fourteen per cent of Americans surveyed indicated they shop primarily on the web, while only six per cent of Canadian respondents said they’re going to do all or most of their holiday shopping online.
Canadians lag so far behind the British that 50 per cent more UK respondents aged 55-plus say they’re shopping online this year, than Canadian respondents aged 18-34.
“Movies, books, video games and electronics are the gifts most people are buying online,” says Shachi Kurl, Vice President, Angus Reid Global. “Nearly three-quarters of British respondents said they both browse and buy these items online. Compare that to 43% of Americans and 28% of Canadians doing the same.”
This survey did not find much evidence of shoppers engaging in ‘showrooming’ (browsing in stores but buying items online) this holiday season.
Across all countries and gift categories, an average of just three per cent of respondents said they ‘showroom’.
Conversely, about one in five respondents in the UK, US and Canada said they browse online then buy their gifts in a store.
Canadians are the most likely to use a credit card to make their holiday purchases.
On average, respondents from Canada reported they use a credit card on 41 per cent of their holiday purchases. The American average was 30 per cent and the UK average was 22 per cent.
Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology
From Nov. 22 to Nov. 26 2013, Angus Reid Global conducted an online survey among 4013 randomly selected American, British and Canadian adults who are members of the Springboard America, Springboard UK and Angus Reid Forum panels. 1006 Were surveyed in the US, 1007 in Canada and 2000 in the UK. The margin of error – which measures sampling variability is +/-3%. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
