Shoppers give High Street £8bn Christmas boost

Shoppers are predicted to have spent £8.64 billion in-store since Christmas day as retailers hope to use discounting to protect their balance sheets from the shift to online sales.

A survey of 2,000 consumers carried out for VoucherCodes revealed that UK shoppers were poised to spend a total of £12.85 billion in the period from Boxing Day to 30 December, as consumers hunt for bargains in the January sales.

In total, 28.6 million Brits are expected to shop the January sales both on foot (52 per cent) and online (53 per cent), offering a much-needed boost to High Street retailers which have lost out on sales in recent years due to the rapid rise of e-commerce.

In total, the survey predicted that £8.64 billion would be spent in physical retail stores during the five day period, while a further £4.2 billion would be spent online, with average household spend forecasted to reach £452.

Expected savings across the country could reach £3.31 billion as Brits claim to have saved £115.80 per head in the January sales in previous years.

Jimmy New, director of marketing at VoucherCodes, said: “Although a significant amount of January spend has moved to the [so-called] Twixmas period, the New Year sales remain a great opportunity to snap up a bargain.

“Looking at the items topping this year’s wish lists, and in spite of the financially uncertain times ahead, it seems shoppers are keen to treat themselves while they still can.”

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