Derek Bo once said, ‘Whoever said money can’t buy happiness, simply didn’t know where to go shopping.”

Well, the shoppers in GTA knew really well where to go shopping this Boxing Day, and retailers promised sales for not only the Boxing Day but the ENTIRE Boxing week and this mere promise made the shoppers really happy.

Be that the outlets at Square One, Eaton Center, Yorkdale, Shoppers World or Heartland, the lineups were long and sales associates really busy ( I hope the bonus they get for working the boxing day was worth the pain.)

The Boxing Day mania started early as the malls opened at 8 a.m. in the morning and it was a challenge to find parking space. While people were busy celebrating Christmas, the rest of Canada was anxiously waiting to go shopping the next day. The banks were busy making transactions for their worthy clients, depositing, transferring and withdrawing money from their accounts.  The day for shoppers started early, but the day for retailers started even earlier (some went to work as early as 4 a.m. in the morning)

But shopping at the mall outlets was not the only option shoppers had. In an effort to avoid the headaches often associated with boxing-day shopping,  a poll conducted by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of PayPal  reported that among the shoppers who will shop on Boxing Day this year, 41% (4 in 10) will do a portion of their Boxing Day shopping online (up from 34% last year.)  Among those that will, 5% will make all of their purchase online, while 42% will make some online, and 52% hardly any, perhaps just making one or two purchases. Three quarter of Canadians (73%) didn’t rule out shopping on the Boxing Day this year.

Well, when three-quarter of Canadians are out shopping, you can well imagine the conditions of the mall. And this makes you really think whether the sales are really worth spending an entire day at the mall.

A simple stroll through Square One, took us more than 2 hours. The big posters at every window promised up to 80% discounts and shops like Costa Blanca had even closed the doors because of space issues. Store managers had sale target starting at $13,000 for the day, which I am sure no one had difficulty to meet.

Most of the shoppers had already chosen their favorite brand stores to shop at while others were browsing the mall to come across a ‘good enough’ deal. While some sales were genuinely good (such as 50% off at the entire store at Espirit) others were attracting customers because of a single good deal (American Eagle selling a hoodie at only $20) whereas nothing else in the store was on sale.  When the shoppers make a tedious trip to such outlets, they do end up buying things at regular price and spending more on Boxing Day.

Talking to a few customers, we found out that the usual complain was the long line-ups and most things on regular prices. Some stores (such as Suzy Shier) had even closed the fitting rooms to save themselves the trouble. While women were busy purchasing shoes (as low as $10), bags, accessories, clothes and make-up, men were also busy lining-up outside Best Buy and Future Shop. Many agree that it is a good time to buy electronics, be that a Dell laptop (that is offering up to $200 off) or the kitchen appliances where you save by making use of the ‘no tax Boxing Day sale.’

Many smart shoppers had reviewed the flyers, done their homework and saved up for the exciting day from a long time.  While the malls were busy as a bee-hive, many seniors had just decided to spend the day at the nearest coffee shop in the mall. The experience to watch people go crazy over a discount deal is even better than standing in the line for an hour to pay for that single item on sale.

Whether you shopped this weekend, or just enjoyed your meal in the food court, or spent the day with your friend going from one shop to the next, the warm weather added to the happiness of shopping.

This weekend, we also discovered the true meaning of ‘shopping therapy.’ The continuous swipes of credit cards, the excited shrieks and broad smile, indicated that it does work, well just sometimes. I hope those smiles long last and credit card bills paid on time!

But after the shopping trip, I did ask my friend what she would prefer next, a Spa treatment or another shopping trip? Well, go ahead and make a guess…