Boxing Day shoppers out in force
Shoppers queue overnight and flock to stores across the UK, and are predicted to spend almost £3bn at the Boxing Day sales.
26 December 2012
Last updated at 14:32 GMT
Some retailers report their busiest day ever, while a survey suggested shoppers will spend almost £3bn in the one day.
Market analyst Experian says online spending is expected to be the "biggest and busiest ever", accounting for almost £500m on Boxing Day.
Price comparison website MoneySupermarket.com said shoppers were planning to spend £2.9bn in the Boxing Day sales, according to a survey that it had conducted.
But rival website Pricerunner said said almost half of the people it asked in a separate survey were not planning on buying anything in the sales.
Tube strike
"We've had a couple of records," he said. "Christmas week was our busiest single week ever for footfall and Christmas Eve was the biggest we've had here."
Other shopping centres were also claiming record numbers of visitors, including the St David's centre in Cardiff.
However, Mr Stratton conceded it was too early to say whether the bigger crowds in shops had actually spent more than last year.
In central London, there could be problems for shoppers as Tube drivers chose to go on a Boxing Day strike for the third year in a row - although extra buses are being provided to the West End and the Westfield shopping centres in Stratford and White City.
Despite the Tube strike, London's West End shopping district is packed
To add to the difficulties, the A40 in London has also been closed both ways at Greenford for planned roadworks.
London's main West End shopping streets, including Oxford Street, were nonetheless packed, with shoppers obstructing the traffic in places due to their sheer volume.
At Burberry, which began its winter sale before Christmas, staff at the luxury fashion retailer's new flagship store on Regent Street said it was the busiest day they had known, after what had been an eerily quiet run-up to Christmas.
Other central London luxury retailers were also kept busy, with a long queue at lunchtime outside the Vivienne Westwood boutique.
Shoppers in the London suburbs were equally undeterred, with Next reported by BBC readers to be completely overwhelmed by demand at some of its branches.
In Kingston-upon-Thames, queues were seen tailing around the block just after the clothing store opened at 06:00 GMT.
Business failures The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said Christmas spending in shops this year was "acceptable but not exceptional".
"Christmas hasn't been a boom time for UK retailers, but it hasn't been complete doom and gloom either," said Helen Dickinson, the BRC's new director general.
She said that spending by shoppers was likely to have increased in 2012 only broadly in line with rising prices, and that there had been big variations in individual retail performances.
The BRC has said some High Street retailers would "undoubtedly" fail after Christmas.
"Sales were hard-fought and often driven by discounts, so cutting into margins," said Ms Dickinson.
The normal surge in pre-Christmas came late this year, partly due to shoppers holding back for a bargain, she said, and partly because many crammed their purchases into the weekend just before Christmas Eve, which fell on a Monday this year.
The BRC director general said that the outlook is not particularly encouraging either: "The pressure is coming from adapting to conditions that consistently deliver minimal year-on-year sales growth.
"There is only so much cost-cutting and new efficiency retailers can achieve."
Shoppers queued up around the block before dawn to get into Next in Kingston-upon-Thames
Further rises in utility bills in the New Year, as well as a
continued focus by customers on repaying their debts, meant that 2013
was likely to be characterised by "more of the same", she added.
Online 'record-breaker' Another factor hurting High Street retailers is the general shift to online sales.
Business recovery group Begbies Traynor has warned that many shops faced the threat of closure as more customers turned to the internet.
Experian said visits to retail websites were expected to reach 126 million on Boxing Day, an increase of 31% on last year.
James Murray, from Experian, said: "Christmas 2012 is on track to be another record-breaker for online retail, outstripping 2011 on all fronts.
"The current market trends suggest that in the UK, Boxing Day will be the biggest day for online retail, with an estimated 126 million visits to online retail outlets and a massive 17 million hours spent online shopping on this day alone."
Amazon UK said it had seen sales on Christmas Day increase by 263% over the last five years.
This was partly due to the growth in home broadband and the popularity of tablets and smartphones.
MoneySupermarket.com's survey found four million people plan to head to the stores, while five million will shop online.
However, the BRC took a more sanguine view: "There are a lot of myths around online retail," said BRC spokesman Richard Dodd,
"Ten per cent of overall retailing over the year comes from online shopping and actually it presents lots of opportunities for the retail sector."
Boxing Day sales: Shoppers flock to stores
Shoppers queued outside Selfridges, London, grappling for bargains once the doors opened
Shoppers have flocked to stores across the UK for the Boxing Day sales.
Thousands of bargain-hunters queued overnight at shopping
centres, as shops began cutting prices and opening as early as 06:00 GMT
to tempt customers.Some retailers report their busiest day ever, while a survey suggested shoppers will spend almost £3bn in the one day.
Market analyst Experian says online spending is expected to be the "biggest and busiest ever", accounting for almost £500m on Boxing Day.
Price comparison website MoneySupermarket.com said shoppers were planning to spend £2.9bn in the Boxing Day sales, according to a survey that it had conducted.
But rival website Pricerunner said said almost half of the people it asked in a separate survey were not planning on buying anything in the sales.
Tube strike
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
Helen Dickinson Director general of the British Retail ConsortiumThere is only so much cost-cutting and new efficiency retailers can achieve”
Thousands of people gathered
from shortly after midnight at major shopping centres around the
country, such as Westfield in London, Bluewater in Kent and Birmingham's
Bullring, where Debenhams, Selfridges and Next were offering discounts
of up to 50%.
In Leeds, Dean Stratton, manager of the White Rose Shopping
Centre, told the BBC that they were experiencing a very busy Christmas
and Boxing Day."We've had a couple of records," he said. "Christmas week was our busiest single week ever for footfall and Christmas Eve was the biggest we've had here."
Other shopping centres were also claiming record numbers of visitors, including the St David's centre in Cardiff.
However, Mr Stratton conceded it was too early to say whether the bigger crowds in shops had actually spent more than last year.
In central London, there could be problems for shoppers as Tube drivers chose to go on a Boxing Day strike for the third year in a row - although extra buses are being provided to the West End and the Westfield shopping centres in Stratford and White City.
Despite the Tube strike, London's West End shopping district is packed
London's main West End shopping streets, including Oxford Street, were nonetheless packed, with shoppers obstructing the traffic in places due to their sheer volume.
At Burberry, which began its winter sale before Christmas, staff at the luxury fashion retailer's new flagship store on Regent Street said it was the busiest day they had known, after what had been an eerily quiet run-up to Christmas.
Other central London luxury retailers were also kept busy, with a long queue at lunchtime outside the Vivienne Westwood boutique.
Shoppers in the London suburbs were equally undeterred, with Next reported by BBC readers to be completely overwhelmed by demand at some of its branches.
In Kingston-upon-Thames, queues were seen tailing around the block just after the clothing store opened at 06:00 GMT.
Business failures The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said Christmas spending in shops this year was "acceptable but not exceptional".
"Christmas hasn't been a boom time for UK retailers, but it hasn't been complete doom and gloom either," said Helen Dickinson, the BRC's new director general.
She said that spending by shoppers was likely to have increased in 2012 only broadly in line with rising prices, and that there had been big variations in individual retail performances.
The BRC has said some High Street retailers would "undoubtedly" fail after Christmas.
"Sales were hard-fought and often driven by discounts, so cutting into margins," said Ms Dickinson.
The normal surge in pre-Christmas came late this year, partly due to shoppers holding back for a bargain, she said, and partly because many crammed their purchases into the weekend just before Christmas Eve, which fell on a Monday this year.
The BRC director general said that the outlook is not particularly encouraging either: "The pressure is coming from adapting to conditions that consistently deliver minimal year-on-year sales growth.
"There is only so much cost-cutting and new efficiency retailers can achieve."
Shoppers queued up around the block before dawn to get into Next in Kingston-upon-Thames
Online 'record-breaker' Another factor hurting High Street retailers is the general shift to online sales.
Business recovery group Begbies Traynor has warned that many shops faced the threat of closure as more customers turned to the internet.
Experian said visits to retail websites were expected to reach 126 million on Boxing Day, an increase of 31% on last year.
James Murray, from Experian, said: "Christmas 2012 is on track to be another record-breaker for online retail, outstripping 2011 on all fronts.
"The current market trends suggest that in the UK, Boxing Day will be the biggest day for online retail, with an estimated 126 million visits to online retail outlets and a massive 17 million hours spent online shopping on this day alone."
Amazon UK said it had seen sales on Christmas Day increase by 263% over the last five years.
This was partly due to the growth in home broadband and the popularity of tablets and smartphones.
MoneySupermarket.com's survey found four million people plan to head to the stores, while five million will shop online.
However, the BRC took a more sanguine view: "There are a lot of myths around online retail," said BRC spokesman Richard Dodd,
"Ten per cent of overall retailing over the year comes from online shopping and actually it presents lots of opportunities for the retail sector."
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