Shoppers hit the high street for Boxing Day sales

Queues formed outside stores on Oxford Street in London in the early hours of Tuesday.

A line of shoppers outside Selfridges on Oxford Street (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Wire)

Shoppers are expected to pack out high streets across the UK looking for bargain buys in the Boxing Day sales.

But some shoppers in Oxford Street, London, said sales felt unusually quiet on Tuesday.

Several retailers including Marks & Spencer, Next and Gap kept their doors closed on the street.

Oxford Street shopper Tufael Ahmed, 47, told the PA news agency: “We were here last year and the queues were much longer – there’s a marked difference.

“I just don’t think people have money and you get the impression that the retailers have already discounted things before and now they’re taking it for granted.”

Shoppers have been willing to splash out for gifts, with spend on jewellery and clothing up considerably year-on-year, but wanted to do so at the right price

Natalia Lechmanova

Another shopper, Rola, 21, who was visiting London from Egypt, said: “I think it’s been quite quiet so far. I went to Selfridges and it was quieter than usual. A lot of shops are not even open yet, so I think most of the visitors in London are not early risers.”

It came as research by Mastercard showed physical spending in stores across the festive period was up 3.5% on last year, while online spending had declined by 2.8%.

Restaurant spending sharply increased by 11.4% along with clothing (8.0%) and jewellery (8.3%), according to the research.

The data, shared by Mastercard SpendingPulse for the first time, analysed UK retail spending from November 1 to December 24.

It measured in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment and was not adjusted for inflation.

Total UK retail sales were up 2.6% year-on-year, and in-store sales were up 3.5% as shoppers came back to the high street.

Electronic sales were also slightly up by 1.9%, but there was a considerable spike on Cyber Monday, with an increase of 9.2% compared with 2022.

Natalia Lechmanova, senior economist at Europe for Mastercard, said: “The British consumer has been savvy with their spending this year. Although overall retail spend is relatively flat, we’ve seen an increase in spending on Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions when it comes to electronics in particular.

“Shoppers have been willing to splash out for gifts, with spend on jewellery and clothing up considerably year-on-year, but wanted to do so at the right price.

“We’ve also seen a cautiously optimistic return to the high street. British consumers want to celebrate during the festive period, and we’ve seen spend on restaurants increase by over 10% as people continue to value experiences and spending time together post-pandemic.”