THE future of the great British high street is once again at risk after fewer bargain hunters hit the high street for the Boxing Day sales.
In the first day of the post-Christmas sales, footfall dropped by four per cent by Tuesday afternoon compared to last year.
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The falling consumer appetite for high street sales seems to be a 2017 trend, after Black Friday deals also failed to tempt people offline with spending down 4.2 per cent on 2016.
Even though hundreds of people were snapped queuing outside shopping centres in the early hours of the Christmas bank holiday, most shoppers chose to spend online instead.
Brits spent £4.5billion in the nation's biggest one-day spree, with some 23 million — more than a third of the country — joining in the £8.26million-a-minute bonanza.
The 34 per cent taking part was up from 23 per cent in 2016 with 9.4 million shoppers going online.
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Web sales hit £1.03billion, topping £1billion for the first time and up 7.9 per cent on £954million in 2016, according to Centre for Retail Research.
Retail experts at Springboard - who monitor consumer spending - found that the number of people spending on the high street to be down by 4.7 per cent on last year.
There was also a fall of 4.3 per cent for those spending in shopping centres, while retail parks saw a drop of 2.1 per cent.
Diane Wehrle from Springboard said: "We did anticipate a drop in footfall on Boxing Day this year, but the scale of the drop is greater than expected.
Know your online shopping rights
Whether it's making sure you're getting a good deal or making sure you get your money back on returns, it's important to know your rights.
GETTING A GOOD DEAL
- PREPARE Research the items you want to buy and find out the cheapest price. Websites like PriceSpy, PriceHistory and CamelCamelCamel will give you historical data on prices so you can see how much you should pay.
- EARN CASHBACK Check websites like Quidco and TopCashback BEFORE you place your order. Cashback websites PAY you to shop. All you have to do is click through their links and the money is added to your online account, usually within 14 days.
RETURNS
- 14 DAYS You automatically have a 14 day "cooling off period" when you buy online and haven't seen it in person. It starts the day after you receive your item and you have another 14 days from the day you let the retailer know.
- REFUNDS The seller has to pay you the refund within 14 days from when they receive the item.
- FAKES If the goods arrive but you know they're fake, ask for a refund. You're entitled to be paid back the full amount up to 30 days after you bought it.
"Given that last year footfall rose up to 12pm, but dropped over the 24-hour period as a whole, we are now expecting footfall to decline by more than four per cent compared with last year over the day as a whole."
Retailers were boosted by those who got in early and ordered goods online on Christmas Day, with sales said to be up by 5% in the 24 hours since midnight on Christmas Eve, according to ecommerce trends experts PCA Predict.
BOXING CLEVER Boxing Day 2017 sales sees bargain hunters queue through the night ready to spend £4.5 BILLION on the busiest shopping day ever
But experts have warned that you won't be able to bag discounts on gear from "this season" until January 5, where you're likely to see extra discounts of up to 35 per cent.
This means shoppers who missed out on Boxing Day bargains will have a second chance to bag a bargain.
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Here's when Tesco is open over the 2017 Christmas holidaysVicky Brock from Clear Returns told the Telegraph: ""We are likely to see a second wave of bargains when it all re-emerges next week.
"Items could well have an extra 35 per cent off existing discounts, so rock bottom prices as retailers need to shift it by then."
Eager bargain hunters queued through the night to be the first to get the discounts, with queues spanning two flors at Trinity shopping centre, Leeds, ahead of Next opening at 6am.
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https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/5216382/shoppers-ditch-high-street-boxing-day-sales-to-hunt-out-bargains-online-but-the-best-deals-are-yet-to-come/
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