- Total retail saw +39.2% improvement on Boxing Day (26 Dec 2023) footfall as bargain-hungry shoppers headed in-store
- Cost-of-living pressures increase consumer appetite for discounting days, such as Boxing Day and Black Friday
- However, visitors to stores on Boxing Day dipped -1.2% year-on-year, as a growing number of retailers opted to remain closed to give staff an extra day off
- London bucked the trend, seeing a +1% improvement in footfall compared to 2022
27 DECEMBER 2023 – Solihull, UK – Data from Sensormatic Solutions, the leading global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls, has revealed that total UK retail footfall on Boxing Day saw a +39.2% week-on-week boost, as price-sensitive consumers hit the shops in search of deals.
Data from the Sensormatic IQ platform, which captures 40billion shopper visits globally each year, showed that while retail shopper traffic on Boxing Day (26 Dec 2023) was up compared to the week prior, footfall dipped -1.2% year-on-year, as a growing number of retailers, including John Lewis, M&S, Waitrose, Aldi, Home Bargains and Poundland, remained closed on Boxing Day to give staff an extra day off. With UK consumer expected to spend £13.53billion on Boxing Day, London bucked the year-on-year dip, seeing a +1% improvement on shopper numbers compared to 2022.
“Continued cost-of-living pressures on consumer spending means that while shoppers will remain cautious with spending, demand for discounting remains high. And this make sales events like Boxing Day and Black Friday, which also saw a +52.4% week-on-week rise in shopper visits, all the more popular,” Andy Sumpter, Sensormatic Solutions’ EMEA Retail Consultant, commented. “And this is why many retailers will have experienced a Christmas of two halves, bookended by peaks prompted by discount trading days with Black Friday at one end, and Boxing Day at the other.”
“With rising demand for discounting, retailers are having to delicately balance their discounting strategies to drive demand while protecting margin – never an easy circle to square – as well as weighing up the benefit of staff welfare initiatives, with some retailers opting to stay closed on Boxing Day to give employees extra time off, forgoing in-store sales opportunities.”
