Canadian retail sales climbed for a seventh consecutive month in November as Black Friday deals and a rush to order online gifts ahead of Christmas pushed sales up 1.3% to $55.2 billion, according to Statistics Canada.
However, the federal agency also said that its early, unofficial data for December appeared to dampen the retail momentum. Statistics Canada said sales for the last month of 2020, which is usually the peak of the holiday shopping season, potentially fell by as much as 2.6%.
Part of the downturn in December retail sales can be attributed to COVID-19 lockdowns. Toronto and the Peel region went into lockdown in late November, followed by the entire province of Ontario on Boxing Day.
Still, the latest figures show strong growth in online shopping in November. Retail e-commerce sales for November were up 75.9% from the same month of 2019, Statistics Canada said.
Food and beverage store sales were up 5.9% in November, even as about 3% of all retailers were closed at some point in the month as restrictions tightened amid a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
Meanwhile, sales at auto parts dealers fell in November for the first time since April, as truck sales declined 4% from November 2019, and passenger car sales tumbled 20.5% compared with the same month last year.
