![Canadian Retail Sales - October 2020 Canadian Retail Sales - October 2020](https://s.realtyninja.com/static/media/med/7650_bcfb5d2d_Canadian_Retail_Sales_-_October_2020.jpg?width=400&dpr=2)
Sales were up in seven provinces in October. In BC, seasonally-adjusted retail sales were up by 2.1% ($8.0 billion) and by 2.8% ($3.7 billion) in Vancouver. Contributing the most to the increase were sales at health and personal care stores. Compared to the same time last year, BC retail sales were up by 11.5%.
In October, e-commerce sales totaled $3.1 billion, accounting for 5.2% of total retails sales, which is down from 5.6% in the previous month. Meanwhile, e-commerce sales were up by 68% from a year ago. This excludes Canadians purchasing from foreign e-commerce retailers.
Despite the rising cases of COVID-19 and stricter lockdown measures in many provinces, positive retail sales are expected going into the holiday season, especially in e-commerce.
![October 2020 - Retail Sales October 2020 - Retail Sales](https://s.realtyninja.com/static/media/med/7650_3a27f44a_BC_Retail_Sales_up_in_October_2020.png)
![October Retail Sales by Sector October Retail Sales by Sector](https://s.realtyninja.com/static/media/med/7650_82014b03_October_Change_in_Retail_Sales_by_Sector.png)
Source - BCREA