Tomorrow marks Black Friday — the biggest sales event of the year in the United States — with retailers slashing prices on virtually everything. Held the day after American Thanksgiving (this year, it falls on Nov. 25), it traditionally marks the kick-off to the holiday shopping season.
In the past, many Canadians flocked to their closest border crossing in order to take advantage of the U.S. deals, but rather than packing up the car, making the road trip south and waiting in lineups for hours, more and more Canadians will be journeying online for cross-border shopping deals this year.
According to a recent Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of Visa Canada, 34 per cent of Canadian online shoppers plan to shop online at American retailers this Black Friday. This is an increase of six per cent from last year.
“Over the past few years we have seen a steady increase in the number of Canadians who look for deals south of the border on Black Friday,” says Stephanie Wallat, business leader for e-commerce with Visa Canada. As a result, many U.S. retailers seem to be taking notice of the Canadian interest and have extended their shipping to Canada and abroad.
In a bid to keep Canadians from cross-border shopping this weekend, some Canadian retailers are ramping up sales of their own. Toys R Us Canada announced that it’s holding a half-price event this weekend. And The Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitters, Future Shop and Best Buy will also be offering special sales events this weekend.
