Boxing Day draws deal-seekers, but maybe fewer than in times past

Boxing Day shoppers seek deals at Chinook Mall.

Calgarians hoping to save some money—or get that last gift they missed out on for Christmas—headed to the store for Boxing Day.

But maybe not as many Calgarians as in times past.

Employees at the Best Buy in Sunridge expected they would welcome thousands of people through the doors and estimated they'd make more than five times the number of sales they would see on a regular day.

But experts say Black Friday, Cyber Monday and online shopping somewhat dampen the impact of Boxing Day.

2023 Moneris data shows consumers spent 48 per cent less on Boxing Day compared to Black Friday, and the busiest shopping day of the holiday season was the Friday before Christmas.

One retail analyst says for those shoppers looking to stretch their dollar even further this Boxing Day, use a gift card and flag which items are included in the GST/HST holiday.

"The wild card here, too, is that this threat of impending tariffs, whether they be tariffs on Chinese goods, tariffs on U.S. goods, could potentially mean that retailers are really looking to blow out inventory so that they can get new inventory in before those potential tariffs take effect," said Doug Stephens.