£3bn Boxing Day shopping spree
It’s queues round the block in tier 3... but deserted streets in gloomy tier 4
WHETHER shivering in queues before dawn or surfing the internet at home, Britons did their best yesterday to give UK retailers a Boxing Day boost.
In places spared tier 4 restrictions and the closure of all nonessential shops, hardy bargain hunters took to high streets from as early as 4am.
In Leicester, which is a tier 3 city, around 200 people had formed a socially distanced queue by 5.50am outside a branch of Next. The streets of Newcastle and Liverpool – which are in tier 3 and tier 2 respectively – were also packed.
By contrast, London’s most popular shopping streets including Oxford Street and Regent Street were almost deserted as coronavirus rules stopped all but a handful of retailers from opening.
There were, however, no such restrictions online where an estimated 15 million people logged on to snap up products discounted by up to 80 per cent.
While footfall was down across the country, experts predicted that online retailers would rake in £ 1.9 billion during the 16 hours when people were awake – working out at almost £32,000 each second.
The Centre for Retail Research predicted that online Boxing Day
‘Newcastle, Liverpool packed; London desolate’
sales would leap 56 per cent year on year.
An estimated £2.7 billion will be spent on the internet by the New Year, according to research by Barclaycard Payments. Rob Cameron, its chief executive, said: ‘While high street footfall will be down, we’re optimistic that an online shopping boost will give retailers a much-needed uplift as they head into the New Year.’
Overall, Boxing Day sales were expected to be worth £3.2 billion – a 26 per cent year-on-year fall.
Boris Johnson urged people to ‘ think carefully’ about avoiding crowds, but hundreds of shoppers were seen queuing outside shops in tier 1, 2 and 3 areas – even though footfall as a whole was down 40 per cent from last year, according to retail analyst agency Springboard.
In areas where stores were open, shoppers stayed local with market town footfall down 49 per cent, far less than the 71 per cent seen in large out-of-town shopping centres. In tier 4 areas, footfall plunged 77 per cent year-on-year.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said: ‘Boxing Day has been attracting less retail footfall each year in five of the past seven years as shoppers turn online to grab the best bargains. It has been evolving into more of a leisure based day, with shoppers starting their trips later on in the day, and combining shopping trips with eating out and catching up with family and friends.
‘We expected a drop in footfall... but this year, after spending so much time online, consumers are experts at online shopping, whereby they know they can enjoy the same discounts, from the comfort and safety of their own home.’ Several
High Street favourites, including Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and John Lewis, kept some or all of their stores shut yesterday – even in areas where they could have opened. M&S had planned to open more than 200 shops, but decided to let staff have a break after a ‘uniquely challenging’ year.
Stores like Debenhams and Topshop, which have both entered administration in recent weeks, offered massive online sales. A black sequin maxi dress from Principles, for example, was down 80 per cent from £49 to £10 and Kurt Geiger snake print wedges slashed by 79 per cent from £89 to £19.
Fast fashion behemoth Boohoo offered discounts of up to 91 per cent, with one red tasseled beach dress on sale for just £1.
At the other end of the retail market, Harrods was offering a pair of Jimmy Choo leopard-print knee high boots for £1,470, down 50 per cent. Its Knightsbridge store was closed due to tier 4 rules.
Retail expert Richard Hyman said the importance of Boxing Day to retailers had dwindled. ‘Years ago Boxing Day sales were really significant and now they’re not,’ he said. ‘ When you’ve got sales on pretty much each of the other 364 days in the year, Boxing Day stops being particularly special.’