Whatever the reason may be, people in Saskatchewan and across Canada really enjoyed their two-wheel transportation throughout the fall, to the point that sales figures for bicycles and motorcycles saw the highest jump across all categories through the month of October.
According to the Moneris payment processing company, motorcycle dealers in the province broke a new record for October sales with an 84 per cent increase compared to last year’s volume. Overall in Canada, 22 per cent more motorcycles and accessories were sold in the month.
Bicycle shops and services, meanwhile, also hit a record high across the country, seeing a 51 per cent increase over last October.
As an overall category, household items continue to dominate and have seen a 20 per cent sales increase. Perhaps fueled by COVID lockdowns and a little too much familiarity with quirks of older items, appliances lead the household category with 27 per cent growth, followed by furniture at 20 per cent, and, interestingly enough, fireplace stores at 22 per cent greater volume.
The beautiful fall weather in the area also led to golf courses seeing a boost of 44 per cent sales volume, while boat dealers sold 32 percent more watercraft and recreational utility vehicles saw a 26 percent increase in sales — more indication of more outdoor activity.
That also includes gardening and the like, which increased by 38 per cent.
The Moneris report also included information as to when holiday spending can be expected to hit its highest point, and it should come as no surprise: Black Friday, taking place this year on Friday, Nov. 27, the day after American Thanksgiving and the now-traditional start of Christmas shopping season. The event sees businesses, especially big box retailers, offer large discounts on a massive number of items and has become one of the must-do shopping days on the calendar.
Prior to 2019, the largest shopping day in Canada was the Friday before Christmas; Black Friday surpassed that day last year.
While year-to-year sales volumes were down heading into November, a steady uptick has been seen since and could indicate holiday shopping has started earlier — which Moneris found through a survey was exactly what 16 per cent of Canadians planned to do.
Based on ongoing data, Black Friday and Cyber Monday will again be the highest dates of sales for businesses this year.
That’s led to Moneris recommending a focus on sales during that weekend, with an opportunity to ‘leverage e-commerce as the holiday season approaches and more Canadians are shopping online’.
Check out this link for more information on what spending could look like as Christmas approaches.
