Bargain hunters hit sales
Updated on 26 December 2007
Shoppers hit the high street in big numbers today as stores opened their doors for the first post-Christmas sales.
Bargain-hunters began queuing at 4.30am on Oxford Street in London, and retailers reported improved sales on last year.
Many chains opened their doors early and offered bumper discounts to lure in shoppers low on confidence after months of financial uncertainty fuelled by the Northern Rock crisis.
Half a million shoppers are expected to brave the west end of London today, while department store Selfridges said they had had their best ever start to a sale.
An estimated 3.6 million people spent part of their Christmas day shopping for bargains online.
Richard Dodd, from the British Retail Consortium, said: "Today is much busier than Boxing Day last year as more stores have started their post-Christmas sales early, rather than waiting till tomorrow.
"It's clear that retailers are going to have to offer bumper sales to tempt customers in, because finances are under strain this year.
"A lot of customers are reluctant to spend and there are worries about how their finances are going to stand up."
Selfridges' Oxford Street branch saw 9,000 customers come through the doors in the first hour of trading alone, and expects to have dealt with 120,000 by close of business at 9pm.
In Birmingham, 60 per cent of Selfridges sales were on ladies accessories.
A spokesman for the White Rose Shopping Centre, in Leeds, West Yorkshire, said the centre had seen the best ever start to the Boxing Day sales.
He said the malls were "extremely busy" before the centre officially opened at 10am and two car parks were full before 9am, with some people arriving at the centre at 5.30am.
"This has got to be the briskest start to a Boxing Day I've known for years," the spokesman said.
Not everyone, though, was ready to brave the crowds today, as an estimated 3.6 million people spent part of their Christmas day shopping for bargains online, according to Interactive Media in Retail Group (MRG).
In all, around £52m would have been spent during the day, the e-retailing trade body said.
Marks & Spencer, which launched its online sale just after midnight yesterday, reported brisk trading.
A spokeswoman said: "The online sale started at one minute after midnight and we were particularly busy between midnight and 1am.
