Popularity of cross-border holiday shopping is dwindling
Posted November 1, 2012 6:29 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The allure of cross border shopping may have peaked.
A new survey indicates fewer people from the Lower Mainland plan to head south for their holiday shopping.
The annual survey by Deloitte shows a recent surge in cross-border shopping, seen after exemptions to duty-free were changed, may be short lived.
Deloitte’s Rick Kohn says just over half of you plan to do your holiday shopping in the States, down from two thirds only two years ago. “There’s an increasing presence by U.S. and other retailers in Canada, so the availability of products that people want to buy are closer to home.”
Kohn says a number of people are also going online to do their shopping, which is another factor. “We did ask people specifically about whether the new rules around bringing products across the border was going to change their shopping patterns, and generally the answer to that question was ‘no’.”
Kohn adds price and selection remain major factors that influence where people shop.
