Record Boxing Day opening as retailers launch sales
Thousands queue for bargains across the UK
The fact that Boxing Day fell on a Sunday proved little obstacle to many retailers as the UK’s post-Christmas sales got off to a very quick start.
The traditional two-day break now appears to be officially a thing of the past. Out-of-town furniture retailers, who have traditionally had Boxing Day retailing largely to themselves, saw competition from the likes of Marks & Spencer, Dixons, Debenhams and Selfridges, which all opened significant numbers of store for the first time, mainly in major shopping centres.
Restricted Sunday opening hours, which only allowed six hours trading, did not deter shoppers from queuing early at destination centres such as the Bullring, Bluewater, Lakeside, and the Trafford Centre in order to get first crack at the bargains.
Along with Oxford Street, many stores in town centres also opened, with branches of stores such as HMV, Game, WH Smith and Woolworths giving customers their first chance to redeem Christmas vouchers.
The British Retail Consortium estimated that around 20 per cent more stores opened on tne day after Christmas this year. BRC director of communications David Southwell told the [i]Guardian[/i]: “I would not say it started with a bang but there has definitely been a post-Christmas pop. The feedback we are getting is that it has been a good day, busier than most retailers expected.”
Howver, the impact of Sunday hours kept overall numbers down year-on-year. SPSL’s Retail Traffic Index of shopper numbers tallied with the BRC’s estimates. Despite more shops being open, overall shopper numbers were 16.1 per cent down on last year, according ot the index.
Dr Tim Denison, Director of Knowledge Management at SPSL, said: “The fall is not as bad as it sounds. With Christmas and Boxing Day spanning a weekend this year, many people took a break from shopping altogether, preferring to wait until the two bank holiday weekdays before hitting the high street.
“The fact that some retailers have chosen not to start their Sale until today, Monday 27, has also had a bearing. Typically, those who take the trouble to suffer the ignominy of scrummaging on day one of the sales, want to know that their efforts will be worthwhile, with all the stores that they want to visit open and on Sale. The fact that some stores weren’t, yesterday, will have dissuaded shoppers from going at all, preferring to delay their trips till today.”
