RETAILERS CONTINUE TO SLASH PRICES TO ATTRACT CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS AFTER YEAR OF POOR SALES
Disappointing
sales on the high street this year have seen retailers slash prices to
attract last-minute Christmas shoppers - days before the traditional
Boxing Day sales.
Analysts
say online demand has risen by 20 per cent this year alone, leading to
fewer people taking to the British high street and spending their cash
in-store.
Retailers
including River Island, H&M, Sports Direct, Argos and Sainsbury's
are already offering huge seasonal discounts - with many more sales due
to kick off early instead of after Christmas.
Gap
replaced the Christmas displays in many shop windows last week with
huge banners advertising its sales, while companies such as PC World
offered discounts of hundreds of pounds on electronic gadgets.
Discounts
averaged around 45 per cent on Saturday, which some see as the most
stressful shopping day of the year, according to Deloitte. Around 12.6
million Britons were expected to hit the sales in search of cut-price
buys, according to the Centre for Retail Research.
But
a mild autumn and unexpectedly low Black Friday sales have left
businesses desperate to shift a build-up of stock, industry experts
said.
Shopper
Nina Smith, 26, a producer from London, braved the crowds to visit
Oxford Street on what was deemed 'Panic Saturday' for some last minute
gifts and said she was surprised to see the size of offers shops were
advertising.
She
said: 'These are the sort of sales you normally see on Boxing Day or
even later - it makes you think you shouldn't bother getting your
Christmas presents early if they are going to offer these sort of sales
days before Christmas.
'It
seems a bit short-sighted from a business perspective - and as a
shopper it makes me think what's the point in being organised and paying
full price when last minute panic buyers get these deals?'
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