Canadians Doing More, and Spending More, Online

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Mick Haupt: Unsplash @rocinante_11

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.