December 14, 2010

Interac surveys offers insight into shopping trends

Reveals when and where shoppers spend

In anticipation of this year's busy December shopping period, Interac Association and Acxsys Corporation (Acxsys) are pleased to release their holiday spend data revealing insights into the shopping behaviours of Canadians during this festive time of year.  Based on proprietary data, results detail  spending habits of shoppers who used   Interac  Debit,   Interac  Online, Interac  e-Transfer   TM  and Cross Border Debit in   December 2009  - and help predict 2010 holiday shopping trends. 

"The transactional data provides a glimpse into where, when and how Canadians are using their   Interac  debit cards to buy everything they need for the holiday season," said Caroline Hubberstey, Director, Public and Government Affairs, Interac Association and Acxsys Corporation.  "Whether it's shopping for turkey and all the fixings at the local grocery store, taking coworkers out for festive lunches at restaurants, or buying family members their must-have presents at their favourite retailer, we expect Canadians to continue to rely on Interac  and Acxsys products for this year's holiday spending." 

Data shows that Canadians have historically had last-minute shopping fever, waiting until   December 23 rd  to make key purchases.  In 2009, this day not only reflected the month's greatest amount of spend for in-store   Interac  Debit purchases ( $860 million), but it also marked the busiest shopping day with the highest number of in-store   Interac  Debit transactions (16.1 million).  This day continues to be the busiest shopping day of the year (up from the 15.9 million transactions processed on the same day in 2008). 

Shoppers can make trusted, convenient and reliable transactions using  Interac  Debit at more than 400,000 merchant locations across Canada. In December 2009, the following seven merchant categories ranked the highest based on in-store transactions using   InteracDebit: