The craze for Boxing Day will not end, even if the current context is not favorable for consumption, believes professor at UQAM’s School of Management Sciences, Benoit Duguay.
• Also read: Boxing Day: Good deals after the storm
“Boxing Day is a tradition,” he told LCN on Monday. It’s folklore. People will go to Montreal if only to enjoy the atmosphere. It’s a bit like the continuation of the party from [la veille]. […| Ce n’est plus la même chose [qu’à l’époque]but there are people who go to Sainte Catherine Street for the holiday spirit.”
However, Benoit Duguay does not expect record sales for dealers. The over-indebtedness of households in times of inflation has to do with this. In his opinion, the many consumer incentives for a few weeks do not help the cause of Boxing Day.
“We’ve had sales continuously since October,” he emphasized. A shortness of breath effect occurs. The main quality of a sale is the time limit. If we have continuous sales, there is no longer any incentive effect for the consumer.”
According to Benoit Duguay, some Quebecers seem to be abandoning online commerce to focus on buying directly from stores.
“In the past few months, there has been a drop in online sales,” he said. To consume means to enjoy. When shopping on the computer, you press a few keys and put it in the shopping cart. It’s not much fun.”
“The two [modes d’achat] will continue, he said. I’ve never been scared of stores closing and I’m not scared of online sales going down. There are people who say they don’t have time to shop and buy everything online.”