In addition to reporting on two new Ontario markets, Barrie and Simcoe/Muskoka, Vividata’s Winter 2024 Study also contains new psychographic statements on topics such as finance, personal care and shopping. The findings include that in-store shopping is back. Online shopping accelerated during the pandemic and remains strong, but now that the masks are off, Canadian adults want to experience a product physically before buying.
The report also covers new consumer trends, such as sources for product research, important features when purchasing a vehicle, sources for beauty tips and cosmetic product recommendations and reviews, in addition to newcomers to Canada, devices used to watch live broadcast TV, online gambling, and viewing women’s hockey.
Vividata’s 2020 COVID-19 Study estimated that 10.4 million adults shopped online on a weekly basis for various items. In the new study that was in the field between October 2022 and September 2023, that number decreases to 8.6 million even with the overall population growth from newcomers to the country.
Experiencing a product physically is important to 67% of consumers who say they like to touch and feel products before buying. It seems that a number of Canadian adults, 42%, just like the freedom to be out and about window shopping and browsing. In-store shopping focuses on three categories, groceries 71%, clothing and apparel 66%, and cosmetics/personal care 53%.
While Canadians are shopping less online, 60% still primarily research a product or service online through the website, social media or online forum before buying. The top categories being purchased online are clothing and apparel 35%, travel 25% and books 23%.
Nearly one in five Canadians, about six million, are in the market for a new vehicle and intend to buy one in the next 12 months. Vividata’s 2020 COVID-19 study found that only 2.4 million consumers were looking for a new vehicle. Gasoline vehicles remain most in demand, with 51% of automotive intenders planning to acquire one. That is down slightly from 69% in 2020. The demand for hybrid vehicles (25%) and electric cars (22%) is up 16% and 100% respectively since 2020.
Most perspective auto buyers are looking to buy a new vehicle (52%) with features such as a GPS/navigation system (27%), remote smartphone connectivity (21%) and wireless charging (20%). Bells and whistles aside, safety is the top concern for 65% of those intending to buy a new vehicle.
Brands wanting to reach potential new car buyers should focus on video streaming services to reach them as nearly two in five exclusively watch TV/video content via paid or free video streaming platforms, and are 20% more likely to do so than the average Canadian adult.
The study also discovered that cosmetics is a big product category for both female and male Canadian adults, with spending on cosmetics expected to double this year compared to 2019. In Winter 2024, Vividata found that Canadian adults spent an estimated $309,000,000 on make-up/cosmetics in an average month, a big jump from $191,000,000 per month in the Winter 2019 report.
Along with an overall increase in spending, more males are purchasing make-up/cosmetics. In Winter 2019, 1% of adult men purchased make-up/cosmetics in an average month. In Winter 2024, this has reached 7%, or 1.1 million adult men. This trend is projected to continue to rise amid the gender-fluid beauty ideal that is being driven by male beauty influencers.
When purchasing cosmetics, Canadians are relying on recommendations from family and friends (34%) as well as beauty influencers (21%), especially for those under the age of 25 (31%). The product features important to them are that the cosmetics they buy are cruelty free (42%), hypoallergenic (35%) and fragrance free (26%). Marketers can reach Canadian cosmetic purchasers online. They spend 17 hours per week online via a mobile device, two hours more than the average adult.
