By: Rosie Leonard
With the holiday season upon us, Jean Kim, a fourth-year film student at Ryerson, said she typically does her holiday shopping in-store, but is planning to switch to online shopping this year.
“I just have no time to go to the actual physical store and it’s just easier for it to be shipped to my house,” Kim said.
Kim isn’t the only student making the switch to online shopping.
Millennials in Canada make up 30 per cent of the demographic of online shoppers, according to Statistics Canada.
Online shopping is on the rise among millenials, and the general population, with 39 per cent of shoppers reporting half or more of their total spending being online rather than in-store, according to a report by Canada Post.
For Nick Zhelkou, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, online shopping is the only way.
“[I shop] online exclusively, it’s easier.”
Infographic by: Adele Lukusa
However, not all students are willing to make the switch from in-store to online.
“I’m an in-store shopping person,” said second-year biology student Renee Coelho.
“I personally like to look at the items.. especially if it’s clothes, you never know what it’s gonna look like.”
One of the commercial kickoffs of the holiday season is Black Friday, the day after American Thanksgiving, known for it’s good deals and long lines.
For some students, Black Friday shopping is a good way to get their holiday shopping done, while also saving money.
But for the Black Friday bargain hunters, in-store shopping can come at a cost.
Abhishek Gupta, a masters student studying electrical engineering, said Black Friday shopping went well for him, despite having waited “four hours in Best Buy to get Beats headphones.”
For the students not willing to face the crowds on Black Friday, some find other ways to save money while holiday shopping.
“I usually try to save up during the year, and I try to cut down my costs during Christmas so I can afford to buy presents for everyone,” said Coelho.
Kim said she likes to save money by using coupons, and in some cases, buying in bulk, “it’s kind of lame to buy the same gifts for everyone but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.”
Despite the rise in online shopping among millenials, there are no clear, consistent shopping habits among that age group, according to the Canada Post report.
However, one thing that is made clear through the report, is that millennials are the key demographic in the growth of online shopping, through the holidays and beyond.
Video by: Emma Buchanan
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