Storekeepers ready your registers, holiday shopping will reach its peak Friday afternoon between 2 and 3 p.m., according to credit and debit card transaction processor Moneris.
Throughout Friday, Canadian retailers are expected to process 14,000 transactions per minute, for a total of 8.3 million by the end of the day.
Canadian retailers are expected to process 8.3 million transactions Friday, the busiest holiday shopping day of the year.
(Canadian Press)
In 2006, purchases processed on Dec. 22 — last year's busiest day — tallied $625,000,000.
The processing company noted that florists, hardware, clothing and department stores all processed average individual transactions of about $75.
Studies comparing how much consumers expect to spend on holiday shopping vary.
An earlier study released by the Retail Council of Canada found that shoppers expect to fork over an average of $1,447 on holiday expenses, including gifts, travel and entertainment.
The poll, which surveyed 2,600 participants from Nov. 27 to Nov. 30, found that 94 per cent of Canadians planned on giving gifts, budgeting an average of $733. British Columbians planned to spend the most on presents, at $950, while Quebecers expected to spend the least, at $552.
A Visa survey found that consumers plan to spend $1,061 on gifts, up 14 per cent from 2006. The poll, which included 1,318 participants surveyed in the first week of November, found that gift-givers also trimmed their lists, saying they expected to buy 11.9 gifts, down from 13.3 gifts in 2006.
Meanwhile, a Scotiabank holiday spending study found that consumers are expecting to spend an average of $907, up from $822 in 2006. The poll included 774 interviews conducted between Dec. 7 and Dec. 10.
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