Boxing Day ails

Fewer shoppers went out to sales | More of us buy online, say experts

- NATASHA WYNARCZYK

FEWER people hit the shops for the Boxing Day sales than last year, despite queues outside retailers around the country.

Shopper footfall slumped by 7.9% from 2023 across all retail destinations up until 5pm yesterday, consumer analysts reported.

It was 10.1% lower on high streets, 4.9% at retail parks and 6.1% in shopping centres compared to last year.

In 2023, footfall across all destinations was up 3.3% from the previous year, largely due to high street activity which was up by 7.1%, analyst MRI Software said.

Marketing and insights director Jenni Matthews said: "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.