Boxing Day shoppers spent a record £4.3billion

Retailers are pinning their hopes on online sales this year after Boxing Day shoppers shunned the high street yesterday.

Monitoring service Springboard said footfall was down 4 per cent on the hours until noon compared with last year, while they predicted a rise of more than 6.2 per cent in online sales.

Numbers flocking to the high street were said to be down 4.7 per cent over the same period and 4.3 per cent lower at shopping centres, while retail parks saw a drop of 2.1 per cent. 

International customers – encouraged by the weaker pound and cheap flights – were boosting sales. Pictured: Shoppers queue for the Boxing Day sales at Selfridges in London

People queuing outside Selfridges for a bargain on Boxing Day in London yesterday

But international customers – encouraged by the weaker pound and cheap flights – were boosting sales, with shoppers on track to spend a record £4.3billion yesterday.

In Scotland, more than 500 shoppers were lined up outside Edinburgh’s Fort Kinnaird shopping centre from 4am – with the earliest person arriving an hour earlier.

The centre estimated about 85,000 people would visit on Boxing Day, with a further 90,000 expected today.

At Glasgow Fort, staff began work in the early hours of the morning to ensure snow and ice was cleared for an estimated 50,000 shoppers, with another 70,000 expected tomorrow.

And at the city’s Silverburn shopping centre, watches and diamond jewellery were the most popular items, with jeweller Chisholm Hunter’s best-seller being a £1,200 diamond ring. 

Numbers flocking to the high street were said to be down 4.7 per cent over the same period and 4.3 per cent lower at shopping centres, while retail parks saw a drop of 2.1 per cent. Pictured above, shoppers on Oxford Street in London

Shoppers look for bargains in Selfridges department store during the Boxing Day sales 

Retailers were boosted by those who got in early and ordered goods online on Christmas Day, with sales said to be up by 5 per cent in the 24 hours since midnight on Christmas Eve, according to ecommerce trends experts PCA Predict.

Currys PC World said more than a quarter of a million customers logged on in one hour on Tuesday morning, with 63 per cent using phones to place orders.

Diane Wehrle, insights director at the group, said: ‘We did anticipate a drop in footfall on Boxing Day this year, but the scale of the drop is greater than expected.’

Meanwhile, a record-breaking £895million was spent online on Christmas Day itself – up 11 per cent on last year.

Consumer experts claim £932,000 was spent every minute of the 16 hours people were awake.

VoucherCodes and the Centre for Retail Research also predicted the Boxing Day sales will attract more than a third of the UK’s population, expecting them to spend a record £4.3 billion – a 12 per cent rise on 2016.

A record-breaking £895million was spent online on Christmas Day itself – up 11 per cent on last year. Pictured above, Oxford Street in London on Boxing Day

Barclaycard’s poll found months of ‘feeling the squeeze’ this year is resulting in many consumers looking forward to the sales to ease their budgets.

Thousands flocked to Oxford Street in central London on Tuesday morning to grab a bargain, with shoppers clutching large numbers of bags from stores like Next and Selfridges.

Queues formed outside the department store from around 2.30am as people waited to get items with up to 50 per cent off.

Security guards kept watch and maintained barriers as bargain hunters got in line for high-end brands such as Gucci, Prada, Jimmy Choo and Burberry.

After three hours of trading from 9am, Selfridges said it had registered £4million in sales at its London, Birmingham and Manchester stores and online, and was expecting a record-breaking day.

The first item sold was an Alexander McQueen bag for £695, down from £1,390, it said.

The New West End Company, which represents 600 businesses on London’s Oxford, Bond and Regent streets, predicted takings of £52 million on Boxing Day.

Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of New West End Company, said: ‘Today, spending across the West End is expected to reach £52 million, rising to a total figure of almost £200 million by the end of the Boxing Day week.

The New West End Company, which represents 600 businesses on London’s Oxford, Bond and Regent streets, predicted takings of £52 million on Boxing Day. Pictured above, shoppers make purchases inside Selfridges in London

Customers queued outside in cold conditions to get access to the perfumes section of the famous department store as others scoured the designer stands looking for discounts. Pictured above, shoppers make purchases inside Selfridges in London

‘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, spending £62 million across the district this week.’

Customers queued outside in cold conditions to get access to the perfumes section of the famous department store as others scoured the designer stands looking for discounts.

Steven Madeley, general manager of the St David’s shopping centre in Cardiff, said: ‘Boxing Day, and the days following it, continue to be very popular and there’s always a real festive buzz across the centre.

‘The mall is packed with tens of thousands of shoppers treating themselves and enjoying a festive day out.’

Meanwhile, London Fire Brigade warned those shopping online for fridges and freezers to ensure they have fire resistant backings.

Assistant commissioner for fire safety Dan Daly said: ‘Not covering a fridge back in fully fire retardant material is like wedging a fire door open – it’s an unnecessary risk as there is around one fire a day in London which involves white goods.

‘Buying online means it’s even harder to see whether a fridge is properly covered so please check before you click.’

How foreign visitors are boosting post-Christmas sales by £500million thanks to the cheap pound

A record 2.5 million-strong overseas shoppers’ army has invaded Britain’s post-Christmas sales to boost spending by £500million – splashing up to £2,000 per person due to the cheap pound.

Visitors are splurging up to 13 times more than Brits’ average spend of just £150.

This Christmas is seeing the biggest-ever influx of international shoppers – more than twice as big as a year ago, when a million visited, said a Centre for Retail Research study for VoucherCodes, based on interviews with 50 major retailers and 1,000 shoppers in each major country in Europe.

The rush has been triggered by the message getting out about how Britain is up to 13 per cent cheaper for overseas shoppers since Brexit, analysts said.

Overseas shoppers spent an average of £1,043 per person in the sales in London, said the New West End Company, representing 600 retailers in and around London’s Oxford Street.

One pound in every £3 spent in London’s West End on Boxing Day was by international visitors. Jewellery, fashion, handbags and small electronics are popular purchases.

Shoppers from Qatar are kings of the big-spenders in the sales. The oil-rich Gulf state’s shoppers blow a mega average of £2,058 per transaction – a record for any foreign shoppers in the UK – overseas shopping experts Global Blue said.

Chinese shoppers’ average spend per transaction is £894.

Foreign shoppers’ total spending in the post-Christmas sales totals £500m – double last year’s total – as their average spend UK-wide per transaction is £200, the Centre for Retail Research said. Overseas shoppers outside London spend less than in London.

Visitors are being lured by Britain being up to 13 per cent cheaper for them since the pound’s devaluation since the vote to leave the EU, analysts said.

Compared to June 2016, the pound is 13 per cent down against the euro and 10 per cent down against the dollar and the Chinese yuan.

Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, said: ‘This Christmas is seeing the largest number of shopping tourists ever to visit the UK, with around 2.5 million people understood to be visiting the UK to shop in the post-Christmas sales.

‘The message has got out about how cheap Britain has become since Brexit. Overseas shoppers are being sucked in by the cheap pound.

‘It’s cheaper for them to buy the same product here than in their own country – including in China.’

‘Overseas shoppers spend much more on the average Brit. Jewellery, fashion, handbags and small electronics are popular buys.’

Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of the New West End Company, said: ‘A high number of international visitors have taken advantage of currency fluctuations and low-cost flights to come to London.’

Mintel director of retail research Richard Perks said: ‘Overseas shoppers love the sales due to the value they get.’