Boxing Day sales: High Street suffers as shoppers stay home

The data so far suggests in-store visits are 20.5% below pre-pandemic levels.

Overall Boxing Day activity levels are down 7.6% across all UK retail destinations, as of 20:00, compared with 26 December last year.

Analysts have told BBC News that bricks-and-mortar stores are becoming less profitable as they are expensive to keep open due to rising energy costs and, for some, Bank Holiday overtime pay for staff.

Online shops are cheaper to operate and generally have fewer overheads.

MRI Software’s Jenni Matthews said a year-on-year rise in footfall is anticipated from 27 December.

But she added that this year’s fall in shoppers on Boxing Day is a “major contrast” with 2023, when footfall up until 5pm was almost 3.3% higher than the previous year.

“This could be reflective of the shift in consumer behaviour influenced by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis,” she said.

Sales volumes in clothing stores recently fell to their lowest level since January 2022, according to ONS figures, with retailers saying economic factors are to blame.