Sask. shoppers looking for more meaningful gifts this year

A recent study has shown Saskatchewan residents are losing interest in online shopping.

Seventeen per cent of those surveyed by Insightrix Research indicated they planned to do less shopping online this year.

Canada Retail Council’s John Graham said consumers were looking for gifts with more meaning than gift cards.

“The data that we've seen is that consumers are looking to get more bang for their buck because they're facing financial strains of inflation and interest rates and fuel, but at the same time, looking for things that are more meaningful,” he told CTV News.

The Downtown Saskatoon Association executive director agrees.

“For many shopping is a bit of an experience,” Brent Penner said. “Going out, touching a fabric, seeing the actual color of something in person versus you know, looking at it on a digital screen, and trying things on with your friends, getting their opinion on how something might look on you or getting the assistance of a salesperson as well. I think that's a big part of it.”

Penner said Saskatoon retailers were looking forward to the holiday shopping season.

“It certainly tends to be one of the busiest if not the busiest shopping periods of the year.”

“Having a strong in-store presence is very important this year as people return to stores and feel more confident about being able to shop in [the] community,” Graham said.