Shoppers hit the High Street on ‘Stampede Sunday’

‘Stampede Sunday’ is set to see shoppers spend £3.3million a minute today on what will be the biggest ever spree on the Sunday before Christmas.

It will even exceed the dizzy spending levels seen yesterday as panicked shoppers look to secure their last-minute presents.

Nine million shoppers are expected to spend a record £1.2billion in just six hours today at a much faster rate than yesterday’s £1.4billion spread over ten hours of trading.

Nine million shoppers are expected to spend a record £1.2billion in just six hours today

It means Britons will be forking out double the £600million which was spent on the final Sunday last year, a Centre for Retail Research study for VoucherCodes showed.

For many, this will be the last chance to finish their shopping before Christmas.  

But last year, many had already wrapped up their shopping before the final Sunday, which fell on December 23, when they travelled to see loved ones. 

This year’s scramble is also due to the fact that shoppers have waited until the last moment to spend in the expectation of bigger discounts, already hitting 76 per cent, analysts say.

On Sunday, 160,000 shoppers are expected in in just six hours at St David’s, Cardiff, with 140,000 at Birmingham´s Bullring, 110,000 at Manchester’s Trafford Centre and 70,000 at Lakeside, Essex.

Some shops have unofficially extended Sunday trading hours by opening 30 minutes early for ‘browsing time’, and closing up to 60 minutes late for ‘checkout time’.

Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, said: ‘It looks like the biggest-ever “Stampede Sunday” just before Christmas for spending.

Today will even exceed the dizzy spending levels seen yesterday as panicked shoppers, pictured in Glasgow today, look to secure their last-minute presents

Some shops have unofficially extended Sunday trading hours by opening 30 minutes early for ‘browsing time’

‘The amount being spent per hour will be a lot more than on Panic Saturday, due to Sunday trading laws compressing a very big shopping day into just six hours.

‘Spending will double from last year’s last Sunday before Christmas, when many people were travelling as it was the day before Christmas Eve.

‘Many people have left it late this year and need their presents to take with them when they travel on Monday.

‘Sunday will also be hectic because people have been waiting for discounts to increase by another 20 per cent, and now discounts are increasing, they have been convinced to spend.’ 

Trevor Pereira, commercial director for intu – one of Britain’s biggest shopping centre owners with 14 malls including Manchester’s Trafford Centre, Gateshead’s Metrocentre, Essex’s Lakeside and Braehead, near Glasgow – said: ‘Christmas is almost here – but reduced hours on Sunday mean shoppers will be making the most of the little time they have left. We’ll be buzzing.’