Yahoo Finance Canadian millionaires love to shop at Wal-Mart
Regardless of one's income, good value for price matters. That's the finding of a recent survey that shows Canadian millionaires like to shop at Wal-Mart with the underlying message being: millionaires are just like you and me.
Like you and me, millionaires want to stretch those dollars on clothing and accessories, skin care and cosmetic brands, wine, champagne and beer, vehicles and computers, laptops and tablets, a survey this week by Ipsos Reid shows.
Probably like you and me, three quarters of the 175 millionaires (yes, it's a small sample size) interviewed shopped at Wal-Mart in the past 12 months, ahead of other major retailers in Canada such as The Bay and Sears.
What's clear is the survey is aimed at retail marketers trying to tap a customer that has $1 million or more in investable assets, excluding their home or personal possessions. It's also a pretty good little marketing tool for Wal-Mart as in, hey, Canadian consumer our products are such good value even millionaires prefer to shop here.
In a country where the retail landscape is heating up with companies fighting for consumers' dollars, the message here for retailers is to ramp up your sales pitch focusing on value and all the other things that make your brand a better place to shop.
This has never been more crucial than now with U.S. retail giant Target entering Canada and Nordstrom getting ready to fling open its doors here next year.
But what's also clear is that the overwhelming majority of Canadians who value shop at places like Wal-Mart -- and Target and Costco for that matter -- don't fall into that aforementioned exclusive category.
"The purpose of polls like this is to convey millionaires are like you and me and if you can find value for money you will be better off too," says Armine Yalnizyan, a senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
"Most people are facing enormous pressure on their wages and benefits and are finding it hard to run fast enough to stay in the same place," she adds. "They need better value for money because they're losing economic ground."
Why the link to millionaires? Some of us are fascinated by millionaires and seek tips on how their frugal spending habits got them rich. It's that dream of no-guilt spending. There are also the headlines about minimalist millionaires. Of note is the recent and touching New York Times Op-Ed by Graham Hill, co-founder of Treehugger.com.
But while it's nice to draw similarities between the rich and poor, when it comes to big, fat salaries and spending choices, millionaires are probably not at all like you and me.
It's no secret the gap between rich and poor is pretty wide as the middle class rapidly vanishes, experts say. Median income -- which is probably a more stable gauge as it doesn't allow for wide swings due to ultra-high incomes -- increased to $49,300 in 2010, from $46,600 1976. This increase is miniscule at just 6.3 per cent over 34 years, according to the Conference Board of Canada.
Comparatively, average income grew to $61,200 in 2010 from $52,000 in 1976, reflecting an increase of 18 per cent. Ultimately, the fact that the gap between average and median income is growing strongly suggests that income growth is being distributed unequally.
There is no judging here about millionaires. (Incidentally, recent data by London-based consultancy WealthInsight showed that nearly half of Canada's 422,000 high net worth individuals live in Ontario, with Toronto home to some 116,000 millionaires.)
There is no doubt some millionaires are probably super nice people and very down to earth. There's also no question if you seek value for money you're going to stretch your dollar more. But the difference between choice and necessity cannot be ignored.
