Consumers resist the call of Boxing Day’s sales, except in London and online

Although for the vast majority of the UK, consumers fondness for Boxing Day sales appears to be waning, in Central London the streets were lined with eager bargain hunting shoppers.

According to market research firm Springboard, there was a 12.4 percent decrease in visitor footfall around the UK's high streets, shopping centers and retails parks on Friday. But this dip was hardly noticeable in the city's vibrant center, where shoppers queued for sales in department stores Selfridges and John Lewis.

Selfridges reports best Boxing Day sales to date

Over 4,000 shoppers are said to have been waiting in line at Selfridges Oxford Street store on the morning of Boxing Day, with the premium retailer having its best Boxing Day sale to date; reporting sales of over 2 million pounds across it's retail stores and online store within the first hour of its winter promotional discount, which started at 9 am.

In total, Selfridges reported 160,000 visitors to its Oxford Street store in Boxing, whilst its online store witnessed 700,000 visitors on Christmas Day, which is a 40 percent increase from the same period last year. London's New West End Company, which represents over 600 retailers throughout the city's West End, claims that tourists were one of the main driving factors behind London's Boxing Day spend.

Jace Tyrrell, deputy chief executive of the firm, said on Friday morning “high-spending Chinese, Middle Eastern and Nigerian shoppers were out in force to be the first to snap up great offers across luxury goods,” adding that international shoppers “spend on average four times more than a UK shopper”.

Online retailers also enjoyed a busy sales day on the Friday after Christmas, with market analysis firm Experian claiming this year's promotional day most likely to be “biggest and busiest ever” Boxing Day for online retailers, accounting for close to 500 million pounds of total sales.

A spokesperson from Experian revealed to the Indepedent that online retail sales looked to be very promising for Boxing Day. “It's a big increase on last year. Retailers have been getting better at connecting with their customers and people are shopping online as a leisure activity.”

“The shopping season now starts with Black Friday promotions and then online is ruling the roost right through to the middle of December, when footfall picks up again. Then after Christmas, people are getting back on their smartphones.”

Experian Hitwise analytics reported 147 million visits to retail websites on Christmas Day, a substantial increase from the 110 million visits on the same day last year.