Millions of Britons have enjoyed a last hurrah in the Boxing Day sales with determined shoppers camping out in the early hours to secure the best bargains although crowds were smaller than in previous years.
Shoppers started queuing outside branches of high street chain Next at 12.30am while on Oxford Street, in London a crowd started forming outside Selfridges at 2.30am. However, retail experts said that overall shopper numbers were significantly down on 2016.
The power of the Boxing Day sales has been diminished in recent years due to a combination of internet discount extravaganzas such as November’s Black Friday and the fact that major stores such as Marks & Spencer and John Lewis start their sales online on Christmas Eve. But even if crowds were thinner, shopping centre owners reported brisk trade as those who did venture out spent more.
“People like to come sale shopping because it is the thrill of the kill,” said Tom Nathan, general manager at Brent Cross, one of London’s biggest shopping centres.
“Some chains have also held back putting discounted items online, which has forced people out from behind their computers.”
Nathan said there was was also an element of people trading up to branded products: “Popular items are full-length boots, cashmere coats and knitwear. People have waited for expensive items that are heavily discounted. People are also buying more cleverly. In perfumery Boots and Fenwicks have gift items that are 30% off and people are stocking up for later in the year.”
Analysts are expecting consumers to cut back in the new year as inflation, linked to the weakness of sterling, erodes spending power and a wobbling housing market chips away at consumer confidence. Britons are also absorbing the impact of the first Bank of England base rate rise in over a decade on their finances.
Independent retail analyst Richard Hyman, said consumer confidence was paper thin: “There’s massive uncertainty. You’ve got inflation coming through, you’ve got earnings lagging to where they were years ago. This makes life difficult. Why would people be optimistic?”
But the upmarket stores in London’s West End are insulated from the country’s wider economic woes as high-spending tourists flocked to Oxford Street, Bond Street and Regent Street. The New West End Company predicted that more than £50m would be spent there on Boxing Day alone, up 4% on 2016.
“The Boxing Day sales have become a tradition for domestic customers but we also predict a high number of international visitors will take advantage of currency fluctuations and low-cost flights to come to the West End,” said Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of New West End Company, who predicted West End stores would rake in £190m over the Boxing Day week.
In Selfridges, Yang Cui is admiring an expensive haul that includes makeup, a suit, handkerchiefs and a scarf. “I am from China and there is high taxes there on goods, that’s why people buy clothes and handbags here,”he said.
Source : The Guardian