Some Vancouver shopkeepers are feeling the pinch this December as more Vancouverites head online to buy their Christmas gifts.
“Online shopping is becoming an ongoing issue for us,” said Anders Bjorklund, co-owner of Sigge’s cross-country ski shop on West Fourth Avenue in Kitsilano.
“We are seeing an increasing number of customers coming in and spending up two hours with one of our salespeople and writing down all the sizing information and then walking out the door simply to go home and shop online,” Bjorklund said.
A recent Scotiabank holiday poll found B.C. residents do 57 per cent of their holiday shopping in malls, 18 per cent of their shopping online and 18 per cent at small boutiques and shops.
“More and more people are discovering how convenient it can be to shop online. There’s certainly been an increase in that over the last few years,” said Paul Beaumont, who works in retail consulting services for PricewaterhouseCoopers, now known as PwC.
Beaumont said Canadian retailers are also feeling the pressure from American retailers to introduce Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
“Canadian retailers figured out that if they don’t offer something similar then they’re going to lose a lot of customer traffic across the border,” Beaumont said.
However these sales, coupled with Boxing Day blowouts, are conditioning Canadian consumers to push their holiday shopping later into December in order to get the best deal. This affects local retailers because it lowers the number of days for December sales, an important month of the year for any shop owner, Beaumont said.
Beaumont said the remaining days leading up to Christmas will determine whether retailers have a successful Christmas season.
Donna Hohl, owner of Coco’s Closet, a women’s fashion boutique on West Fourth Avenue, said she relies on offering quality service to regular customers in order to keep business strong.
“We try to have things that are little different. We do gift-wrapping for no charge. We deliver presents,” Hohl said.
“If people send their husbands in, we direct them in things they like. We’ll run around to lingerie stores or cosmetic stores or workout stores if we know there are things that their wives like.”
Hohl said she gives regular customers early Boxing Day deals to thank them for their business throughout the year.
“I wouldn’t do that for everybody or advertise it. It’s more for people who have supported us over the year as a thank you,” Hohl said.
Hohl agreed with Bjorklund that online shopping is becoming a concern for her business, as well as the expansion of Nordstrom into Canada next year. The U.S. retailer will be offering similar brands at similar price points to her shop.
Bjorklund and Hohl say the weather, the one factor they can’t do anything about, has a big impact on Christmas sales. While Hohl wants it to stay mild and dry to encourage shopping, Bjorklund needs snow to drum up currently slow sales. “It’s a very emotionally driven industry.
People see snow on the mountains and they get the bug and they want to go skiing,” Bjorklund said.
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