North America

Vending is highly dependent on high traffic locations like colleges, clubs, lounges, transport hubs and shopping centres. As such, vending was one of the hardest-hit retail channels by the pandemic, with mobility being severely impaired during 2020,…

Sobeys Inc, Metro Inc, and Loblaw Cos Ltd together account for most supermarket sales in Canada. These players have a wide market reach under a variety of popular chains. However, they came under scrutiny in 2022 as some investigations found that…

Many consumers in Canada appear to sympathise with the struggles facing small local grocers in the country and continued to spend part of their food budget at independently owned and operated stores. Nonetheless, despite this support due to high…

Retail in Canada witnessed solid growth in current value terms in 2022 with offline sales benefiting from the lifting of the remaining COVID-19 restrictions, with this encouraging consumer spending on a range of products. However, growth was also…

After the dynamic growth seen in 2020 and 2021, e-commerce saw more stable growth in 2022. Many people missed the in-store shopping experience and therefore as COVID-19 restrictions were lifted many people returned to shopping in-store. This was…

When it comes to hypermarkets consumers are displaying mixed shopping behaviour, with leading players such as Wal-Mart Canada highlighting how customers are adopting an omnichannel approach to shopping. For instance, depending on how busy they are…

Homewares and home furnishing stores witnessed dynamic growth in the first half of 2022 in spite of various supply chain issues at the beginning of the year. With COVID-19 restrictions lifted there was improved consumer confidence while consumers…

Beauty specialists is a highly competitive channel in Canada, with the landscape being highly fragmented. After suffering heavy losses in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic the channel saw a significant recovery in 2021, with sales…

Department stores was one of the hardest hit retail channels by the pandemic with sales suffering due to a sharp drop in tourism, reduced store traffic and declining discretionary spending. Furthermore, unlike other channels many department stores…

Discounters remained on an upward trajectory in 2022 with sales supported by an increasing number of value-conscious consumers. Canada witnessed elevated rates of inflation in 2022 as food, energy, housing and many areas of consumer goods witnessed a…

After the dynamic growth seen in some direct selling categories in 2020 and 2021, direct selling started to show signs of slowing down in 2022, with value growth largely fuelled by inflation. With COVID-19 fears subsiding and life in Canada returning…

After a strong sales recovery in 2021, convenience retailers saw slower growth in 2022. Sales through convenience retailers slumped in 2020 as Canada went into lockdown, with this impacting where consumers chose to shop for groceries. In 2021…

Appliances and electronics specialists suffered heavy losses during 2020 as consumers went online to purchase these products as COVID-19 restrictions meant consumers were unable or unwilling to shop in store. There was a reversal of fortunes in 2021…

Continuing on from the promising performance seen in 2021, apparel and footwear specialists continued to see dynamic double-digit growth in current value terms in 2022. With COVID-19 restrictions lifted many consumers were keen to start shopping in…

All-purpose cleaning wipes in Canada experienced another year of volume decline in 2022, as Canadian consumers resumed their pre-COVID-19 lifestyles more fully, spending more time outside of the home, and demand returned to pre-pandemic levels.…

2022 saw a partial recovery of Canada’s economy, thanks to supply chain improvements, the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions and employment improvement, as well as recovering immigration inflows. Such recovery lent strength to the…

In 2022, retail value sales of sanitary protection products recorded strong growth. Inflationary pressures were a key contributor to this strong value increase, while volume sales saw only marginal growth. Overall, increases in the cost of raw…

Inflationary pressures placed a downward pressure on consumer purchasing power and ultimately on volume growth in the sales of retail tissue in 2022. Consumers responded to the rise in retail prices by buying less, trading down to private label or…

Heightened health awareness and a continuously ageing population continued to contribute to healthy top-line and per capita consumption growth in retail adult incontinence in 2022, with moderate/heavy incontinence seeing slightly stronger sales…

2022 saw a marginal increase in the volume consumption of nappies/diapers, due in part to a marginal increase in live births. However, inflation-induced financial continued weighing on family formation and potential parents’ child-bearing…