Boxing Day sales blues (despite the queues)
High Street shopper numbers drop by a TENTH – even after prices slashed 80%
BOxING Day shopper numbers were down by more than a tenth yesterday as price cuts of 80 per cent failed to entice customers.
Dedicated bargain hunters braved the bad weather that swept across much of the country and queued from the early hours outside stores.
But as Britain heads for 2020 in the grip of a retail recession, many preferred to shop from the comfort of their sofa rather than stand in the cold and rain. Retail analyst Springboard said the 10.6 per cent annual fall in shopper numbers was the biggest since it started collecting data in 2009.
Many stores, both online and on the high street, have been running deals and promotions for a month, leading to some discount fatigue and scepticism.
At the same time, surveys suggest people are spending less on presents, festivities and their homes amid uncertainty about the economy and reports of a green backlash against excess.
The fall will be a dagger to the heart of many retailers and suggest there will be more failures in the New Year, dealing a heavy blow to town centres.
Some of the deepest price cuts have been offered by Debenhams and House of Fraser, which are both lining up store closures for the New Year, largely because of crippling business rates and rents. At Debenhams, for example, the price of a pair of Miss KG Leopard ‘Perry’ Print strappy sandals has been cut by 87 per cent from £69 to £9.
One of the retail success stories was Next, which attracted long queues for a 6am opening time. The chain is one of the few that refuses to run promotions ahead of Christmas and its Boxing Day sale is always a big event. Price cuts include a 54 per cent reduction on a black squareneck dress, from £35 to £16.
In Scotland, around two million shoppers spent £691,000 a minute. However, that £373million total meant the Boxing Day outlay north of the Border fell for the first time in seven years.
Spending dropped £31million, or 8 per cent, from the same day last year, despite shoppers getting up early to queue in towns and cities across Scotland.
Springboard said shopper numbers on high streets were down by an alarming 13.6 per cent between dawn and noon compared with Boxing Day last year.
These are particularly vulnerable to bad weather and anger over high parking charges. But there was also a fall of 8.8 per cent in shopping centres and 5.9 per cent in retail parks, which offer free parking.
Across the UK, the average fall in numbers was 10.6 per cent. In 2018 it was 4.6 per cent, while in 2017 it was 6.1 per cent. Springboard said it was the biggest Boxing Day drop since 2010 when it was on a Sunday – which has a shorter trading day – and the UK was in recession.
Diane Wehrle, of Springboard, said: ‘This result reflects a number of underlying structural changes in terms of how consumers shop, with more going online, the increased spending around Black Friday and the fact that the number of blended families means that many consumers are still celebrating Christmas on Boxing Day with their family.’
However, it was still Scotland’s third-biggest shopping day ever, behind the £404million Boxing Day last year and the £379million on December 26, 2017.
‘Still celebrating Christmas’