While Boxing Day delivered a +39.2 percent week-on-week boost to store footfall, shopper traffic dipped marginally year-on-year

• Total retail saw +39.2 percent improvement on Boxing Day (26th December 2023) footfall as bargain-hungry shoppers headed in-store 
• Cost-of-living pressures increase consumer appetite for discounting days, such as Boxing Day and Black Friday
• However, visitors to stores on Boxing Day dipped -1.2 percent year-on-year, as a growing number of retailers opted to remain closed to give staff an extra day off
• London bucked the trend, seeing a +1 percent improvement in footfall compared to 2022  Data from Sensormatic Solutions, a global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls, has revealed that total UK retail footfall on Boxing Day saw a +39.2 percent week-on-week boost, as price-sensitive consumers hit the shops in search of deals.

Data from the Sensormatic IQ platform, which captures 40billion shopper visits globally each year, showed that while retail shopper traffic on Boxing Day was up compared to the week prior, footfall dipped -1.2 percent year-on-year, as a growing number of retailers remained closed on Boxing Day to give staff an extra day off.  With UK consumer expected to spend £13.53 billion on Boxing Day, London bucked the year-on-year dip, seeing a +1 percent improvement on shopper numbers compared to 2022.

“Continued cost-of-living pressures on consumer spending means that while shoppers will remain cautious with spending, demand for discounting remains high.  And this make sales events like Boxing Day and Black Friday all the more popular,” Andy Sumpter, Sensormatic Solutions’ EMEA Retail Consultant, commented.  “And this is why many retailers will have experienced a Christmas of two halves, bookended by peaks prompted by discount trading days with Black Friday at one end, and Boxing Day at the other.”

“With rising demand for discounting, retailers are having to delicately balance their discounting strategies to drive demand while protecting margin – never an easy circle to square – as well as weighing up the benefit of staff welfare initiatives, with some retailers opting to stay closed on Boxing Day to give employees extra time off, forgoing in-store sales opportunities.”

Image courtesy of Unsplash. Photo credit: Tamanna Rumee.