Boxing Day sales hit FIVE-year high as bargain hunters spend hours in snaking queues for biggest discounts in a decade

BALMY winter weather sent shoppers scurrying to stores yesterday in search of Boxing Day bargains.

Snaking queues formed as city centre shops had their best sales for five years.

Despite the cost-of-living crisis, retail experts at Barclays reckoned customers were on course to splash out £253 per head on post-Christmas bargains.

Shoppers were predicted to splurge up to ten per cent more than last year in-store and online — taking the total to £4.7billion.

The surge came despite big names including Next, John Lewis and M&S keeping their doors shut yesterday to give staff a well-earned day off.

But huge queues developed in cities including London, Manchester, Newcastle and Liverpool.

The increased footfall led to many drivers having problems parking.

Early birds started queueing at 4am outside Selfridges department store in the capital.

Keen consumers  were also lining up outside Harrods and Primark’s flagship stores in London.

One of the longer queues was around the Lush cosmetics store  in Liverpool — which offered up to 50 per cent off bath bombs.

There were similar scenes at Lush and JD Sport’s stores in Manchester’s Trafford Centre.

Yesterday’s scenes were a welcome boost to businesses as research by Mastercard showed in-store spend across the festive period was up 3.5 per cent on last year — although online spending fell 2.8 per cent.

Restaurant spending increased by 11.4 per cent along with clothing (eight per cent) and jewellery (8.3 per cent), according to the research.

Data shared by Mastercard SpendingPulse for the first time analysed UK retail spending from November 1 to December 24 — not adjusted for inflation.

Despite chaotic scenes, footfall on Christmas Eve was down 20.6 per cent on last year — and 6.8 per cent lower than last week.

Jenni Matthew from MRI software said a number of factors were to blame for falling footfall this year, including the cost of living crisis.

She told the Evening Standard: "Consumers are likely to have spread the cost of Christmas and started shopping earlier."

A third fewer shoppers hit stores on Christmas Eve than in 2019.

But total UK retail sales were up 2.6 per cent year-on-year.

Natalia Lechmanova, senior economist at Europe for Mastercard, said: “The British consumer has been savvy with spending this year.

“Shoppers have been willing to splash out for gifts, with spend on jewellery and clothing up considerably year-on-year, but wanted to do so at the right price. We’ve also seen a cautiously optimistic return to the High Street.

“British consumers want to celebrate during the festive period, and we’ve seen spend on restaurants increase by more than ten per cent as people continue to value experiences and spending time together post-pandemic.”

However, the rise of online shopping means Barclays predicts more than three quarters of Brits will do the majority of their festive sales shopping online.

Nearly a fifth were thought to have spent  part of Christmas Day shopping online for discounts as retailers launched promotions  early.

Following a lacklustre Black ­Friday for some businesses — with shoppers strapped for cash — stores have more winter stock to shift than normal in post-Christmas sales.

But there was a considerable spike on Cyber Monday, with an increase of 9.2 percent compared with 2022.

Karen Johnson, head of retail at Barclays, said: “While Boxing Day remains the most popular day to start bargain hunting, retailers are no longer putting all their eggs in one basket.

“They are instead spreading out their discounts to boost ongoing demand.”

Shoppers praised stores that stayed shut yesterday to give staff an extra day off.

A Home ­Bargains fan said: “I’m so pleased to hear this.”

John Lewis said: “Our partners work so hard to help customers in the run up to Christmas, so we give them an extra day off to recognise this.”

Several major retailers including John Lewis, B&M and Amazon slashed their prices ahead of Boxing Day.

Deals included 50 per cent off Kim Kardashian’s Skims range, 40 per cent off Balenciaga trainers and 30 per cent off Balmain handbags. 

There were hundreds of discounts on clothing, cookware and tech - with The Sun finding some stores offering up to 70 percent off items.

If you missed Boxing Day, January sales can still be the perfect time to bag some bargains and put them away for next Christmas.

Best Boxing Day sales as shops launch up to 70% off in discount bonanza including Boots and Currys

Health and beauty

Boxing Day sales can be a time to stock up on cheap gift sets and fragrances for next year's presents.

Here are deals from Boots and The Perfume Shop: