Boxing Day sales figures plummet 10% as hard-up shoppers are hit by cost of living

HIGH streets suffered a Boxing Day sales slump as shoppers shunned the scramble for bargains and stayed at home instead.

- Helen Barnett

Experts blamed the dismal turnout on the cash crisis, early online sales and some big retailers keeping bricks-and-mortar stores shut.

Visitor numbers in high streets dropped 10.1%, retail parks 4.9% and shopping centres by 6.1% as of 5pm, compared with 2023. Overall footfall was down 7.9%.

In 2023, the footfall was 3.3% higher than 2022, largely due to a 7.1% increase in high street activity, according to MRI Software.

It predicts shopper numbers will go up today, thanks to more stores reopening and a last-Friday-of-themonth pay-day splurge.

MRI insights director, Jenni Matthews, said of the Boxing Day dip: "This could be reflective of the shift in consumer behaviour influenced by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. But then we also saw that footfall on Christmas Eve was 18% higher in all UK retail destinations compared to the year before."

It marks a worrying time for sellers desperate for bumper takings to cushion the increase in employer's national insurance contributions in Labour's Budget.

Market research company GfK said consumer confidence was -17 for December - far below the average of -10.92 from 1981 to 2024.

Expectations for the 2025 general economy remained grim, at an unchanged -26.