Betting on a booming Black Friday

But for many, it has never really lived up to the hype of Black Friday south of the border.

When Black Friday brings so many discounts to so many people, the only reason it might be a “black” day is if you miss out on them – or if you get into one of those fights we see on US TV news reports.

“What what we saw past year for the first time was that Black Friday sales on that day, in terms of total dollar volume at our merchants, exceeded total dollar volume on Boxing Day for the first time, which is pretty unbelievable”.

Payment processor Moneris is making a call on whether more Canadians will be pulling out their credit or debit cards this year.

Since its introduction to Canada in 2008, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become increasingly popular with more retailers offering exciting deals and events.

Black Friday has developed strong roots in Canadian consumer culture in a relatively short period of time.

The polling industry’s professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys can not be assigned a margin of error as they are not a random sample and therefore are not necessarily representative of the whole population.

“Last year was a big year”, said LeBlanc.

The survey also revealed that about one-quarter of the respondents believed deals in Canada are just as good as those in the USA, compared to 14 per cent in a similar survey a year ago, she noted.

The impact of the 75 cents to to the US dollar paired with retailers’ extensive deals and promotions is expected to help keep sales in Canada.

LeBlanc says retailers should expect to see a change in when people buy, rather than an increase in spending. They follow it. In other words, they reflect the consumer.

The Outlet Collection at Niagara has extended its hours for Black Friday shoppers, with plans to open at 8 a.m. and close at 9 p.m.