U.S. shoppers with noses for savings have reportedly been going online and sniffing out deals North of the Border, where the value of the Canadian dollar is roughly 25% below that of U.S. currency.
As Bloomberg notes, Americans have long enjoyed looking north for discounts at times when the U.S. dollar is especially stronger than the Canadian loonie. And now is certainly one of those periods, as the Canadian dollar has dropped roughly 18% against the U.S. dollar since 2014. As a result of that disparity, likely, 2015 saw a 20% spike in the amount spent by U.S. consumers on Canadian websites through PayPal (PYPL).
According to Bloomberg, PayPal found that the Canadian products most often ordered online by U.S. shoppers were auto parts, with fashion apparel coming in second ahead of web services and software.
In January, the value of the Canadian dollar fell below 70 U.S. cents for the first time in 13 years (it now stands at 74 U.S. cents), according to Money. While the loonie has rebounded of late amid a recent bump in oil prices, the massive decline in the price of crude oil over the past year and a half has weighed heavily on the country’s currency.