The great British tradition of doing Christmas shopping in a frazzled last-minute panic at lunchtime is still going strong, with the busiest shopping hour on the high street expected to fall on Tuesday.
The annual buying frenzy will peak between 1pm and 2pm, according to Visa. The company expects consumers to spend almost £1m a minute – more than £15,000 a second – on its cards during the “golden hour”.
Despite the popularity of discount days such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday imported from the US, 23 December is expected to be the biggest shopping day of the year, with consumers forecast to spend £1.3bn.
Kevin Jenkins, Visa Europe’s managing director for the UK and Ireland, said: “Lunch hour should prove the most popular time for a shopping trip, either for last-minute gifts or final ingredients for Christmas dinner.”
The last full shopping day before Christmas is expected to eclipse so-called Panic Saturday, when consumers were thought to have spent about £1.2bn. It should also be bigger than Black Friday, a spending splurge that boosted November retail sales by 1.6%.
Visa forecast the seven-day period before Christmas Day could see a 7% rise in spending on the same period last year. Retailers have slashed prices in an attempt to shift unwanted stock, especially winter clothing not sold during the unseasonably warm autumn.
Three-quarters of the top 100 high street retailers have begun their sales, with discounts averaging 45%, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Marks & Spencer is offering 30% off coats and knitwear; Gap and H&M have reduced some items by up to 60%.
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