Consumers are torn between penny pinching and splurging, at least as evidenced by their search engine queries, according to new data from Google on shopping during the holiday season.

Google Canada says it is seeing more searches for discount codes, as befitting an uncertain, inflationary environment, with price-related searches up 20% year-over-year. However, it is also seeing a 12% hike in lux-related searches. For example, searches for “luxury eyewear” and “Louis Vuitton belt bags,” have doubled in the last year.

“There’s a really interesting dichotomy between Canadians looking to save and Canadians looking to splurge,” explains Eric Morris, managing director of Google Canada Retail, who tells strategy most Canadians don’t easily fall into either category, but often straddle both.

When it comes to what to buy, inspiration searches – people looking for holiday shopping ideas – are at a 10-year high, Morris says. Price comparison searches are up 13%, and budget-conscious consumers are looking for goods where they can find them with cross-border ecommerce rising in popularity globally and expected to grow by 8% in 2023.

“We want to be more choice-ful about the things we buy,” Morris says, adding that part of that choice includes heightened query specificity.

According to the Google data, shoppers are getting more specific with their purchases and looking for more personalized products to meet their needs.

Since 2021, searches with the word “for” are outpacing “best” searches by an average of 10x, as shoppers looking for specific items aren’t content with default results. For example, rather than “best TV,” consumers are searching “best TV for gaming.”

Google also found that last year, YouTube video uploads with the phrase “shop with me” in the title grew by 35% year-over-year.

Google numbers reveal that 92% of Canadian shoppers search online before visiting a store, and 86% discovered products and brands while browsing online, meaning in-store visits are more informed and influenced by digital than ever before.

Finally, the holiday shopping period has extended according to data from IPSOS, commissioned by Google. IPSOS’ findings showed that only 13% of Canadian shoppers waited until the last minute to shop for the holiday last year, and nine weeks was the average time that elapsed from when Canadians started thinking about holiday shopping, to completing it.