Delivery firms hire thousands to help get presents
the system is out and delivered by Christmas Day.”
Preparations for the big day went into overdrive yesterday as shoppers also blew a fortune on Super Saturday – the busiest spending day of the year.
An estimated 500,000 people descended on the country’s major shopping centres with many thousands more hitting high streets yesterday.
Traditional shopping magnets including Buchanan Street in Glasgow, Princes Street in Edinburgh and Aberdeen’s Union Street were mobbed despite the gloomy weather. Tills across the country are expected to have rung up in excess of £100million.
Another £50million is expected to be spent today, according to analysts.
The last- minute spree is being boosted by the weekend falling on the two days immediately before Christmas Eve for the first time since 2012.
An estimated 100,000 shoppers hit Braehead, near Glasgow, yesterday, with 80,000 at the city’s Silverburn and another 80,000 at Glasgow Fort.
The same figure was expected at Edinburgh’s Gyle Shopping Centre with 60,000 at Aberdeen’s Union Square, 50,000 at Livingston’s The Centre and 40,000 at Dundee’s Overgate.
David Lyon, marketing manager at intu Braehead, said yesterday: “We’re now seeing shoppers really up the pace when it comes to buying their presents.
“We’re finding new mobile phones,