It’s a Christmas tradition as old as decorating the tree or leaving out mince pies for Santa – but Boxing Day sales could be a thing of the past, experts say.
Shops looking to preserve profit margins or supply shortages will likely increase the number of days they sell earlier in the year. This could mean that bargain-hunters after Christmas are unlikely to find much to choose from.
PwC consultants stated that big sales days have been decreasing for years. Their figures indicated that 2021 would be ‘particularly weak’ due in part to increased US imports on Black Friday.
Boxing Day sales in Selfridges in 2018, the year when an estimated 27 million shoppers joined the frenzy on December 26, spending a record £3.71billion
The ongoing supply chain chaos has led to an increase in prices for items that often make up the bulk of discounts such as electronics and furniture.
The Xbox One and Xbox 360 games have always been big sellers since their release at the close of the year.
Shops already struggling to fill orders will not be able to cope with the extra demand of holding sales – and in addition many are having to deal with staff shortages.
In their heyday the Boxing Day sales lured millions to high streets and shopping centres – with queues forming outside some of the biggest department stores before dawn.
As recently as 2018 an estimated 27 million shoppers joined the frenzy on December 26, spending a record £3.71billion.
But in 2019 that fell to £3.25billion and, as shops across large swathes of the country were closed in 2020 amid Covid restrictions and lockdowns, the figures declined even further.
Boxing Day 2016: A handbag for sale Boxing Day Sales attracted many millions to shopping malls and high streets during their peak.
This year, the discount season is already less popular than ever with retailers not offering any pre-Christmas offers.
PwC predicts that the trend will continue after Christmas, with around 10% less retailers selling in December than last year.
Covid fears have caused even the stores that are selling sales to have to distribute what could have been an immediate bonanza across weeks.
Harrods launched its Boxing Day sales this year ten days before the deadline. To allow customers to spread their spending sprees, the luxury department store will continue its winter sale into the New Year.
You will find discounts up to 50% on homeware, kitchen appliances and clothing as well as beauty and skincare products.
Black Friday buyers in London, 2019. According to consultants PwC, the decline in Black Friday sales has occurred for several years due partly to increased US imports.
The priciest item to go on sale will be a men’s Breitling rose gold watch, reduced from £18,220 to £14,576, a 20 per cent discount.
Boxing Day falls on a Sunday this year and this has led to some retailers, such as Marks & Spencer, deciding to keep their doors closed to give staff time off.
Next, Currys, and Boots are just a few of the big names that have pledged to carry on this tradition.
PwC tracks 200 online shop promotions and found that 72 percent of them offered Black Friday discounts, as opposed to 90% last year or 85 percent the previous year.
These promotions were smaller than last year’s 43%, which saw only 35% of the retailers offer discounts over 50%.
Lisa Hooker from PwC is the head of consumer markets at PwC. She stated: “Ongoing Covid uncertainty and challenges around Brexit, global border constraints, and ongoing Covid uncertainty suggest that stock shortages could last well into next year.
“Additionally, there are still shortages of workers and an unrecovering supply chain from the pandemic and we don’t expect to see frequent or heavy discounts anytime soon.”
“Promotional activity in the coming year will follow the same trends as last year’s, with less participants and more bargains.