Canada's retail market is recovering! Clothing and jewelry transactions are growing!

According to data from Mastercard SpendingPulse, Canadian retail spending fell slightly by 0.1% in January, driven by rising demand for travel and dining. E-commerce sales fell 11.1% in January compared with the same period last year, while in-store sales increased 3.5% due to the lifting of epidemic prevention and control measures.

“The Canadian retail market is picking up as consumers continue to spend on travel, live entertainment, dining and other experiential activities,” said Steve Sadove, senior advisor at Mastercard.

Key retail trends for January include:

The restaurant industry performed strongly: Canadians continued to seek entertainment activities outside the home and eat out. In January, retail sales in the restaurant industry increased by 55% year-on-year, and retail sales at gas stations and convenience stores increased by 11.2% year-on-year.

Housing-related industries are weaker. As Canadians increase travel, consumer spending is slowing in the home improvement (-11.9% year-over-year) and furniture and furnishings (-6.5% year-over-year) industries.

Jewelry and apparel saw growth. With the arrival of spring, many apparel retailers offered promotions and discounts to clear out remaining winter inventory, which drove growth in apparel (up 13.7% year-over-year) and jewelry and leather goods (up 13.6% year-over-year) in February ahead of Valentine's Day.

“The current uncertain economic environment continues to impact Canadians’ purchasing decisions,” said Michelle Meyer, Mastercard’s chief economist for North America. “With less discretionary income, consumers are becoming more selective, shifting their focus from big-ticket purchases like electronics to smaller items like apparel.”

Editor ✎ Nicole/

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