London shoppers set to spend around £1.7billion – £3million a minute over nine hours of trading – amid fears the capital city is about to move into tier 3 restrictions.
With 60,000 shoppers expected at Brent Cross and 80,000 at Lakeside on Saturday December 12, the London Mayor has warned shoppers to avoid public transport and wear a facemask at all times to help prevent the spread of the virus. Up in Manchester, around 130,000 shoppers are expected to descend on the Trafford Centre.
Many shops are opening for 36 hours straight this weekend, as retailers attempt to claw back some of the profits lost during November’s controversial lockdown of so-called ‘non-essential’ stores. The mammoth shopping event saw overnight queues outside Primark in Braehead Shopping Centre, Glasgow, and Abbey Wood in Belfast. Both Primarks opened at 9am, Braehead won’t close until 9pm tonight and Abbey Centre will stay open until 6pm tomorrow.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, told The Sun newspaper: “Saturday will be a big day. Spending is happening earlier this year. More customers will be in shops as most purchases will now be through stores, as shoppers are aware of delivery issues online.”
Second class post sent through Royal Mail has been taking up to two weeks to arrive and the service has acknowledged delays due to ‘exceptionally high volumes’. It also blamed the longer delivery times on social distancing rules in place in local mail centres and delivery offices.
A huge rise in online shopping has resulted in 200million more parcels entering the postal and courier system this year. The fear of delayed deliveries is pushing shoppers out onto the high street in the quest for Christmas gifts. By going out this weekend ahead of a potential tier 3 lockdown they can also sit down for a pub or restaurant meal as part of their shopping trip.
Supermarkets, meanwhile, are gearing up for a major challenge as everyone gets ready for a big Christmas food shopping trip. Many are implementing traffic light systems, digital queueing apps and 24-hour trading to get through the rush without breaching lockdown rules. Brits are expected to spend around £12billion in supermarkets and convenience stores this month, around £1.5billion more than last year, according to analyst, Kantar.
More than 300 Tesco stores will open for 24-hours from December 14 until Christmas Eve, while others are set to open from 5am. The Guardian has reported that Waitrose is launching an online queuing system with Qudini next week – allowing customers to book time slots to visit more than 100 stores.
Waitrose will be opening until 11pm up to December 23, closing at 6pm on Christmas Eve, while the great majority of Sainsbury’s branches will open from 6am until midnight from December 21. Pre-ordered turkey sales are up 138 per cent in Waitrose, according to Kanter, with sales of turkeys overall in the grocery sector up 36 per cent in November.
