- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Busiest shopping day expected in London
- Date: 24th December 2010
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (DECEMBER 22, 2010) (REUTERS) WIDE OF LONDON'S OXFORD STREET
- Embargoed: 8th January 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Economic News
- Reuters ID: LVA4TM93722H3T58PZLF558FVDF4
- Story Text: Despite freezing temperatures and a slow economic recovery shoppers crowded London's Oxford Street on Thursday (December 23) on what is predicted to be the busiest shopping day of the year.
UK's shoppers are expected to spend an average of 833,000 pounds every minute throughout the day, according to analysis by payment card group Visa Europe.
Heavy snow prevented many shoppers from completing their Christmas purchases at the weekend, and catch up buyers were joined by the last-minute habitual shoppers.
"Because of the snow we didn't get out earlier in the week, which we thought we might do," said a London resident who also noted she was planning to "keep an eye on the pennies."
"We have all agreed... made agreements with friends and family just to sort of keep it a bit more realistic, about 20-pound budget and things like that," added a fellow consumer.
According to Visa Europe, December 23 was the busiest shopping day in 2008 and 2009, and with Christmas Day set to fall on a Saturday, It is also expected to be the top day for high street shopping in 2010.
Richard Dodd from the British Retail Consortium said it should finally be good news for retailers who, in the wake of last week's freeze, fretted they would have to struggle to make up lost sales in the few shopping days left before Christmas.
"Today has the potential to be the biggest shopping day of the whole year, the biggest in the run-up to Christmas. We normally would expect lots of food shopping to be done today, including lots of fresh food shopping of course, this close to Christmas, but on top of that I think there's a significant amount of catch up shopping, shopping that people weren't able to do because of the weather disruption last weekend and earlier on in the month and I think that on top of the food shopping that will make today a big day and certainly that's what retailers are hoping for," he said.
High street retailers have lost 110 million pounds a day when snow kept shoppers indoors in December, according to online shopping comparison website Kelkoo.
In North London residents and tourists flocked to the Brent Cross shopping centre for last-minute Christmas shopping.
"Although yesterday was a record day we think today could be even busier, and certainly the early start and the late finish at ten o'clock, eleven o'clock for some shops, means that people have got more time to be able to spend," said Brent Cross's General Manager, Tom Nathan.
UK shoppers are also expected to buy more now to beat a planned rise in purchasing tax VAT, expected in January. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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