Can You Guess the Busiest Shopping Day Of the Year?

There are people who’ve had their Christmas shopping done since October - of last year - and some who are nearly finished, and others who prefer zipping around during the busiest shopping days leading up to Dec. 25.

Can you guess when it’s the busiest day to hit the stores?

It turns out the last Friday before Christmas, Dec. 22, is anticipated to be the busiest shopping day of the year, according to data released by Interac Association/Acxsys Corporation.

Forecasting data released from Interac predicts 25 million debit transactions will take place.

Interac’s point-of-sale data finds Canadians made at least 24 million transactions and spent more than $1.2 billion on Friday, Dec. 23, 2016.

This made it the busiest shopping day of last year, beating out the busiest day of the year prior (Dec. 23, 2015) by 19 percent in the total amount spent*.

When it comes to long lines at checkout during holiday shopping, it’s no doubt that contactless debit payments are a common way that people choose to pay during this time of year.

A survey commissioned by Interac finds 68 per cent of Canadians surveyed said when it came to holiday shopping, they disliked crowded stores and malls the most, followed by long lines at checkout (61 per cent).

HOLIDAY SPENDING BY THE NUMBERS

• 77 per cent of Canadians expect to spend their own money rather than go into debt over the holidays.

• 40 per cent of Canadians say feeling financial squeezed is another aspect they dislike most about the holiday season.
• Millennials are more likely to go into debt, with 34 per cent saying they expect to be in the red.

• Canadians love lists! Forty-three per cent say they budget for the holidays by making a shopping list and sticking to it.

• We are smart spenders. Almost two thirds of Canadians (61 per cent) plan on keeping their holiday spending to $500 or below this holiday season.

• No surprise, we spend the most on our kids! 43 per cent of Canadians say they will spend most on their children, followed by their partner/spouse (31 per cent) and their parents (12 per cent) over the holidays.

• Canadians almost spend as much on their pets (3 per cent) during the holidays as their best human friend (4 per cent).

(Source: Interac)