Black Friday Deals Brings Customers to Stores

Original release date: January 20, 2023

Canadian retail sales saw smaller growth in November with All Stores up 5.9% YOY, All Stores Less Automotive up 3.8% YOY, and All Stores Less Automotive, Food and Pharmacies up 2.8% YOY.

Black Friday seemed to be the driver of growth for Clothing and Accessories Stores up 6.3% along with an early winter storm driving Shoe Stores up 20.8%.  However, these sales are likely at a cost of margin and deep discounts as Lululemon reported it expects holiday gross margins to decline, dealing with increased costs amid a drop in consumer spending due to persistently high inflation.  

This performance is in alignment with data from Mastercard Spending Pulse reporting Black Friday sales were up 5.6% YOY with in person sales seeing an increase of 7.5% YOY. JCWG data also saw FootFall up with the majority of in person traffic being seen within Main Streets and Shopping Centres in November.

Categories affected by the housing market and discretionary spending, previously top performers, seem to be struggling with Furniture and Home Furnishing Stores down -3.2% along with Building Materia and Garden Equipment down -2.6%.

Food and Beverage Stores saw a slight increase of 2.9%, not accounting for inflation. Consumers are feeling the pinch at the checkout and sharing their frustration with the sharp price increases.

Luggage, Jewellery and Leather Goods saw a decrease of -5.5% as pent-up demand for travel has subsided as well as Jewellery struggling with a slower economy.

While we wait for the final 2022 yearend numbers, the JCWG team has just returned from the annual NRF Big Show where the retail industry came together to collaborate, learn, and experience the latest innovations. Some exciting takeaways we will be sharing more detail on in the days to come include:

• The store of the future
• Customer engagement and experience
• New metrics
• Sustainability
• Optimizing associates and task management

Join us next month to see how the important holiday sales round out 2022 as early predictions suggest sales remained strong in December.