New research obtained from the Canadian Grocer suggests that a large portion of Canadian shoppers in 2020 are avid readers of print flyers. According to a survey conducted by Postmedia in June 2020, 85% of respondents read printed flyers at least some of the time, and 52% indicated that they always read print flyers.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused certain companies to rethink their strategies regarding flyers. For example, Loblaw Companies Ltd. has decided to put flyers on hold for some of their brands, with No Frills and the Real Canadian Superstore brand flyers being permanently discontinued. Postmedia has also seen a decrease in flyer revenues from early on in the pandemic, resulting from less inserts in newspapers.
However, on the consumer side, the Postmedia survey indicates that 83% of respondents have made no changes to their flyer habits amidst the pandemic, and 12% have made an only temporary shift away from print flyers. Similarly, just 9% of survey respondents only looked at digital flyers, with 27% indicating that they never looked at flyers online.
In a study conducted by Totum Research on behalf of News Media Canada, the results were similar. Of the respondents that read flyers, 89% used printed flyers and 15% did not use online flyers at all. 54% of respondents also indicated that their printed flyer usage was about the same compared to a year ago.
From their survey results, Postmedia concluded that print flyers will continue to remain significant in the future, and that the minimal changes are only a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results obtained from News Media Canada support a similar conclusion.
To read more about the Postmedia survey, click here. To read the article by the Canadian Grocer, click here.
