More than half of Canadians expect the economy will weaken in 2021 according to Deloitte’s annual retail outlook.
Nearly all businesses suffered during the pandemic in 2020 and many have shut down for good.
But Steve Lund, managing partner for Deloitte in New Brunswick and P.E.I., believes there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“There’s a prize to be attained which is your vaccination scenario. I think it’s for sure that people will start to see optimism again and see a rebound.”
During the lockdown in March and April, Lund notes how sales dropped for so many businesses overnight and some of it was sheer panic.
But he adds spending bumped back up again in May and June when the economy reopened especially car sales which saw a huge spike.
Lund believes consumer confidence will rebound in 2021 when we return to some kind of normalcy.
