Green worries to cut sales spending
Environmental concerns cited for fewer purchases
CONSUMER: Britons are expected to spend £200m less in the post-Christmas sales this year as environmental concerns drive down buying, it was claimed by a Barclaycard survey.
Some four in 10 UK adults will make the most of sales from Boxing Day, spending an average of £186 each and a total of £3.7bn.
BRITONS ARE expected to spend £200m less in the post-Christmas sales this year as environmental concerns drive down buying, it was revealed.
Some four in 10 UK adults will make the most of sales from Boxing Day, spending an average of £186 each and a total of £3.7bn, according to Barclaycard.
However, due to concerns about the environment, 62 per cent intend to make fewer purchases, rising to 68 per cent of women.
Almost seven in 10 consumers (67 per cent) also plan to spend less on “fast fashion” because of the potential environmental impact of its production.
The predictions will cause alarm at the end of another tough year for the beleaguered UK retail sector.
Store closures, business failures and job losses have continued as online has continued to drive growth and competition in the sector.
Yet shoppers were out in force in Leeds yesterday with many queuing outside some stores for hours prior to opening to make sure they were first to bag the bargains.
As seen in other UK cities, people braved the December temperatures to wait outside cult beauty store Lush. A trainee manager said: “It has been super, super busy. People are buying the gift sets and the very popular Snow Fairy shower gel.”
There was a security guard on the door of the designer store Flannels letting people in on a one out, one in basis while at River Island, which had 60 per cent discounts, there were queues at the tills more than 40 people deep.
Barclaycard, which processes nearly half of all credit and debit card transactions in the UK, said Boxing Day spending was 4.8 per cent higher in 2018 than 2017, but a record Black Friday this year could mean that shoppers may have already made the majority of their purchases.
Just 33 per cent said they planned to spend more on Boxing Day than they did during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
Online spending is also predicted
to overshadow in-store receipts, with 60 per cent of post-Christmas sales shoppers making the majority of their purchases from the comfort of their homes.
Rob Cameron, chief executive
of Barclaycard Payments, said: “Despite Boxing Day remaining a key moment in the retail calendar, savvy shoppers have been planning their large purchases throughout the entire festive sales period,
which begins long before December.
“Our data for Black Friday and Cyber Monday revealed a huge jump in transaction volumes this year, so it’s not surprising that consumers expect to have less money to spend after Christmas, so retailers need to take that into account.
“What’s more, our research shows that shoppers are increasingly thinking about how their purchases impact the environment. Forward-thinking retailers should be making a conscious effort to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability, in order to boost their appeal – and their revenue.”
VoucherCodes.co.uk and the Centre for Retail Research also predicted shoppers will shun the high street on Boxing Day, with in-store sales set to drop by more than 12 per cent on last year.
Savvy shoppers have been planning their large purchases.
Rob Cameron, chief executive of Barclaycard Payments.