Completely disregarding the bitter storms that the season bore down on them, shoppers in the U.K. spent a record amount in post Christmas clearances, which helped provide relief to retailers who felt it very difficult leading up to the holidays. Interestingly, even intense flooding couldn’t stop shoppers. Inspired by gifts galore and possibilities of discounts, the people braved intense weather and headed out to get the job done. Bloomberg notes that “the number of people visiting Britain’s stores today will be 20 percent higher than yesterday, according to Tim Denison, director of retail intelligence at Ipsos Retail Performance.
Discounts were as deep as 50%. As a result of delayed discounts, Britons adjusted their purchases to take advantage of the post holiday shopping blitz and get more for their money. Britons in general spent almost $4 billion in a collective massive shopping spree today in the name of goodwill to all, and unbelievably low prices.
Joshua Bamfield, the director of the Centre of Retail Research in Nottingham noted that while the $4 billion that British consumers spent went mainly to “discounted clothes, electronics and accessories in stores” making today a record breaking day for shopping and retail, that “an additional 400 million pounds will be spent online.” So e-commerce gets its fair share of the national shopping spree this holiday season.