Brits are shunning Boxing Day sales on the high street due to Omicron fears - but are spending more than ever shopping online instead.
Boxing Day sales are traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year, but research shows Brits are staying home because of worries about Covid-19.
Trips to physical shops in high streets, shopping centres and retail parks are down more than 45% on pre-pandemic levels, according to retail analysts Springboard.
Adding to the low footfall, many retailers gave their staff Boxing Day off as a thankyou for working during Covid-19 - including John Lewis and Next.
Bad weather across much of the country also didn't help - nor the fact that Boxing Day fell on a Sunday, which is the day of the week Brits are most likely to stay home.
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Springboard insights director Diane Wehrle told the Guardian : "A major reason for the significantly lower footfall compared with 2019 will be due to consumers’ ongoing nervousness about the Covid infection rate.
“This will have been compounded by the fact that a few multiple retailers opted not to open [on Boxing Day], which will have deterred some shoppers.
"In addition, Sunday generally has the lowest footfall on any day in the week, so a comparison with 2019 when Boxing Day fell on a Thursday will always have meant that footfall would be lower than two years ago.”
However, Brits are still planning on snapping up Boxing Day sale bargains, but are increasingly looking online from the safety of their homes.
Research from credit card firm Barclaycard said the country would spend £1.4billion online and £2.5billion in shops.
The average shopper will spend £247 , up from £162 last year and £186 in 2019, before the pandemic hit.
Barclaycard said Boxing Day remains the most popular day to start sales shopping for almost four in ten people (37 percent), up on the quarter (27 percent) who said the same in 2020.
Some bargain hunters admit they started browsing the sales on Christmas Eve (30 percent), while 27 percent will have spent some time shopping on Christmas Day.
Clothes, shoes and accessories (31 percent), and food and drink (25 percent), are at the top of shoppers’ sales lists this year.
And savvy savers say discounted Christmas-related items, such as decorations, are close behind - with 24 percent of shoppers looking to make savings now by preparing for Christmas 2022.
The research, into 2,000 adults, was commissioned by Barclaycard Payments, which processes nearly £1 in every £3 spent on credit and debit cards in the UK.
It found Brits will also be sales shopping with families and friends in mind, with a quarter (24 percent) planning to buy gifts for their nearest and dearest.
A fifth are shopping for deals on experiences they can share, such as concert tickets, and the same number are hoping to book a discounted holiday to make up for missed trips over the past year.
Similarly, 29 percent said they’ll be shopping for next Christmas, and 22 percent will be looking for Mother’s Day gifts.
