Retailers are set to unleash “the mother of all sales” when the high street re-opens.
Stores are expected to slash clothes and accessories by up to 70% in a bid to shift stock and get the tills ringing again.
Analysts say there is up to £15billion worth of stock in warehouses and shops.
Thousands of shops, department stores and shopping centres can open from June 15, while outdoor markets and car showrooms will be allowed to open from next Monday as lockdown is eased.
But the shopping world will look very different with many stores adopting checkouts behind screens, one-way systems and a limit on customer numbers.
Changing rooms, seating areas and loos will all be off limits.
Items will have to be tried on at home and then put in “quarantine” before they can be put back out for sale.
Shoppers are also likely to have to use hand-sanitiser stations before entry.
Businesses will only be able to open once they have completed a risk assessment, with regular spot checks.
Clive Black, head analyst at Shore Capital said: “There will be the mother of all sales for the next few months.
"It will be a real boom for bargain hunters.”
But he added: “The shopping landscape will be completely different to the sales frenzy we have got used to.”
The bonanza could last up to 12 months, Mr Black predicted.
Industry body the British Retail Consortium welcomed Prime Minister Boris Johnson ’s boost for the high street but said the shutdown was costing non-food stores £1.8bn a week.
BRC boss Helen Dickinson said: “Even as shops begin to reopen, many retailers will still be in a fight for survival.”
All non-essential stores, from book shops to boutiques, given the all-clear to re-open are now working behind the scenes to get ready for customers for the first time in almost three months.
Marks & Spencer will launch its half-price Rainbow Sale, which has already started online.
It is bringing in measures to ensure safe shopping when it fully opens 260 stores and 30 outlets.
“It will be a different experience and more likely to one where shoppers have come to buy specific items rather than for a leisurely browse,” a spokesman said.
Next said it plans to reopen 25 of its 500 stores from June 15.
Out-of-town stores with larger car parks will be first.
Tills will have Perspex screens and there will be two-metre markers on floors to ensure social distancing.
Shoe shops like Clarks and Kurt Geiger will store footwear that has been tried on for 24 hours before it is back on display.
Beauty stores will ban testers from make-up counters, while bed and sofa stores will keep furniture under plastic.
Waterstones says handled books will be quarantined for 72 hours.
John Lewis has yet to confirm it will open on June 15.
It said: “Our plan sees us open our shops on a phased basis, to enable us to test the changes.”
Troubled Debenhams will reopen 120 of its 142 stores. But it warned of hundreds of job losses despite its “best efforts” to secure a deal with landlords.
Shopping centre giant Intu which owns 14 malls across the UK including the Trafford Centre, Manchester, and Lakeside, Essex has set up a task force.
Chief executive Matthew Roberts said: “Everyone who visits our centres whether for work or to shop will play their part in keeping themselves and each other safe.”
Primark said it was “closed until further notice”. Ikea opens 19 stores with in-store marshals from Monday.
