Bluewater to stay open until midnight

Kent shopping centre Bluewater is extending its trading

hours to midnight for the first time this Christmas to capitalise on the last minute rush of festive shoppers.

On December 23, around twenty retailers including Bank Fashion, All Saints, Schuh, Superdry, Gap and Boux Avenue will stay open until midnight on the last full day of Christmas trading.

The move has been promoted from data captured by Bluewater’s new mobile optimised site, which showed a 43 percent increase in users searching for information on stores’ evening opening hours since November 11, compared to the previous four weeks. This is in addition to the strong post-7pm sales and the evidence that the shopping centres car parks have remained 50 percent full at 9pm from Monday to Saturday.

Bluewater general manager Robert Goodman said: “Consumers have greater choice than ever, so it is vital retail destinations engage on both rational and emotional levels.

“Bluewater’s support of midnight trading, the launch of the mobile-optimised website, and promotion of click and collect reflect the changing ways consumers shop and access information.”

At present, retailers are open until 11pm six days a week until December 21.