Boxing Day a bust for bricks and mortar retailers

UK in-store sales are set to fall on 26th December for the second year in a row, according to a report commissioned by VoucherCodes.co.uk and carried out by the Centre for Retail Research (CRR).

Purchases are expected to total £3.25 billion for Boxing Day, a decrease of 12.4% compared to last year. In 2018, in-store sales were down by 6.5% on the 2017 spending total. 

Online sales will, however, hit £1.14 billion this year, with 58% of transactions being made on mobile devices. This represents an increase of 10% compared to 2018. With discounts also on offer throughout the festive period, the report anticipates total online and offline expenditure will reach £14 billion between 26th-31st December.

“With the growing popularity of other discount days in the weeks leading up to Christmas, such as Black Friday and Singles’ Day, there may be an element of shopper fatigue by the time we get to the Boxing Day sales,” says Anita Naik, Lifestyle Editor at VoucherCodes.co.uk.

“However, there are still some great deals to be had during the December sales, and the switch from offline to online purchases shows that people are choosing to capitalise on this from the comfort of their own homes.”

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