Industry News

18/08/2009 - While Canadian consumers may be shopping less frequently as a result of the recession, they are spending more per shopping trip, according to the latest Nielsen Economic Current.

The study found that the frequency of consumer shopping decreased slightly in May, the most recent month for which data was available, but the amount of money spent per shopping trip experienced "very strong growth."

The increased price tag per trip could be a result of a number of things - the two most likely explanations are that consumers are making the majority of their purchases all together in a few big shopping trips instead of shopping in frequent, smaller intervals; or that consumers have not been deterred from making large, big ticket purchases.

For either of those explanations, the study results highlight how important it is that Canadian small businesses accept credit cards. The more a customer is spending per trip, the more likely they are to be paying with a credit card or debit card instead of cash - therefore, merchants that do not have credit card processing capabilities are at risk of losing a significant portion of possible sales.