Canadians Doing More,
and Spending, More Online
COVID-19 impacting streaming,
ride-sharing, takeout, and more
Toronto, April 17th –
In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 1335 Canadian
voters, one-sixth (15%) of Canadians say they've added a streaming service,
such as Netflix, Disney+, or Crave, since the COVID-19 pandemic started, while
about eight in 10 (82%) say they haven't.
A few said they
weren't sure (3%).
Ride-sharing use has decreased by 50%
Respondents were asked,
in an average month, how often they used ride-sharing services (before the
pandemic).
Just over eight in 10
(85%) said they never used ride sharing services, with about (15%) saying they
used ride sharing services one or more times in an average month.
Respondents were then
asked a follow up question about how many times in the preceding month had they
used ride-sharing services.
Nine in 10 (93%) said
they hadn't used ride sharing services in the past month, with just (7%) saying
they had.
From 15% use of
ride-sharing in an average month to about 7% is a drop of more than 50%.
Food take-out and delivery is down
slightly
Respondents were
asked, in an average month, how often they ordered food for take-out or
delivery.
Just under a third
(29%) said they never order food for take-out or delivery, with just under
three-quarters (71%) saying they order take-out or delivery one or more times
per month.
Respondents were then
asked a follow up question about how many times in the preceding month had they
had ordered food for take-out or delivery.
4 in 10 (39%) said
they hadn't ordered food for take-out or delivery in the past month, while just under two-thirds (61%) said they had.
From 71% ordering
take-out or delivery to 61% is down about 14%.
Online grocery ordering up
Respondents were
asked, in an average month, how often they ordered groceries online.
Nine in 10 (91%) said
that in an average month they wouldn't order groceries online at all, with
about one in 10 (9%) saying they'd order online groceries once per month or
more.
Respondents were then
asked a follow up question about how many times in the preceding month had they
ordered groceries online.
Eight in 10 (81%)
said they hadn't ordered groceries online in the past month, but one-fifth (19%)
said they'd ordered groceries online one or more times in that period.
From 9% ordering
groceries online to 19% is an increase of more than 100%.
Only a third of Canadians planning an
international trip in the next year
One-third (34%) of
Canadians are planning a vacation outside of Canada in the next year, and two
thirds (66%) say they aren't.
Of those Canadians
planning to take a trip in the next year: one in 10 (10%) plan to take that
trip in April, May, or June; one-fifth (19%) are planning to take their trip in
July or August; one-fifth (20%) are planning a trip in September or October;
one-fifth (22%) are planning their trip in November or December; and a third
(30%) are planning their trip for sometime in 2021.
Of those not planning a trip in the next
year, almost half aren't planning a trip at all
Those who said they
weren't planning a trip in the next year were asked a followup question about
when they thought their next trip outside Canada would be; almost half (46%) said
they aren't planning to take a vacation.
One in 10 (7%) said
it would be in Winter 2021, while similar proportions said it would be Spring
2021 (9%), or Summer 2021 (11%).
One in 20 (5%) say
they plan to take a trip outside of Canada in Fall 2021.
One-fifth (22%) say
their next international vacation will be in 2022 or later.
Online spending way up
Respondents were asked, prior to the
pandemic, approximately what percentage of their spending was done online.
Eight in 10 (79%) said it was 20% or less, 1
in 10 (13%) said it was more than 20% but less than 40%.
1 in 20 (5%) said it was 40%-60%.
Few said it was more than 60% (more than 60%
but less than 80% (2%), 80% or more (1%) )
In total, about one-fifth (21%) said that,
prior to the pandemic, they did more than 20% of their shopping online.
Respondents were asked a follow-up question
that asked what percentage of their spending is done online, following the
outbreak of COVID-19.
The numbers are quite different.
Fewer than two thirds (62%) said they do 20%
or less of their shopping online.
One-fifth (19%) said they do more than 20%
but less than 40% of their shopping online.
One in 10 (10%) said they do 40% to 60% of
their shopping online.
One in 20 (5%) said they do more than 60% but
less than 80% of their shopping online, while a similar proportion (4%) said
they do 80% or more of their shopping online.
In total, about four in 10 (38%) said that,
following the outbreak of COVID-19, they did more than 20% of their shopping
online.
The rise in people doing more than 20% of their
shopping online from one-fifth (21%) to four in 10 (38%) represents an
approximate 80% increase.
“Predictably, consumer behaviour has changed in
the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff,
President of Forum Research. “The travel and hospitality industries have been
particularly hard hit. Online shopping has increased overall, though, with
people far more open to online grocery ordering than before."
Lorne Bozinoff,
Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at
lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
