Footfall figures confirm Boxing Day boost
Sales lifeline follows low Christmas turnout
December 27 2002
Shopping centres and retail outlets saw an 8.6 per cent increase on Boxing Day compared to the same day in 2001, according to figures released by the FootFall Index.
However, the same measure showed an 11.3 per cent decrease in UK shopper numbers on Christmas Eve, indicating that the sales slump reported in the build up to Christmas continued right up to the last day, with the much hoped-for last minute turnout by Christmas shoppers failing to materialise.
With Boxing Day, December 26, marking the official start of the sales – although many retailers were already discounting in the weeks before Christmas – the figures seem to show hat many consumers were waiting for the sales to start before hitting the shops.
David Smyth, marketing manager at FootFall, said: “Both the week before Christmas and the weekend before Christmas were significantly down on the same period in 2001 with drops of 7.2 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively.
“Now prices have been slashed as the sales start, it will be interesting to see whether this massive increase in the number of shoppers on Boxing Day will continue over the course of the first week of the sales.”
The FootFall Index covers 40 million sq ft of retail space, which includes 100 shopping centres and over 5,000 retail outlets UK-wide.
