Holiday shopping “Recommerce” season stretches into January

The popularity of gift cards with Canadians means that this year the holiday commerce season will extend well into January as recipients go to their favourite retailers to redeem them, according to FedEx. In a new survey of 1,510 Canadians commissioned by FedEx Express Canada, 35% of respondents reported using gift cards within a month of receiving them. The survey also discovered that those who redeem gift cards online say online redemption is preferred because they can avoid store lineups (58%) and packages are shipped directly to them (54%).

The survey also found only one in four gifts are exchanged or returned. When it comes to making returns, half of survey respondents who return items purchased online agree that it’s convenient to do so, while 54% agree that returning online purchases is simple and straightforward.

“E-commerce is the new normal in Canada. Each year, we see continued growth of online shopping throughout our FedEx network, especially around the holiday season,” said Lisa Lisson, president of FedEx Express Canada.

“Canadians are also continuing to click and ship even after the holidays, extending the holiday shopping season and allowing FedEx to provide dependable shipping solutions by handling e-commerce shipments and returns post-holiday.”