Shoppers head for shopping centres in search of festive bargains

The Boxing Day sales marked the start of the search for bargain buys at shopping centres across the region, with plenty of people heading out to shop with festive money in their pockets.

It followed a national trend of people going out to get Boxing Day bargains, with Oxford Street in London especially busy as queues formed outside stores from the early hours onwards.

Town and city centre shopping centres such as the Mander Centre in Wolverhampton, Saddlers Centre in Walsall, New Square in West Bromwich, the Guildhall in Stafford and McArthurGlen Shopping Outlet in Cannock were all busy, as were the larger centres in the region.

At the Merry Hill Centre in Brierley Hill, the car parks were filling gradually as more and more people began to enter the centre to see what bargains were on offer.

Stores such as River Island and Hobbs were full of people looking for cheap deals on clothes, while the Eat Central food court saw long queues at many of the eateries.

The atmosphere inside the centre was noisy, but good-natured as families and friends chattered about what they'd bought or where they should go to next and plenty of people were walking away with bags full of sales purchases.

Theresa Brookes-Smith was out shopping with her husband Andy and daughter Lacey, having travelled in from Burntwood, and said the centre had been easier to get around than she'd expected.

She said: "We came here today as we've all got some Christmas money and Lacey wanted to come here, so we've got some nice clothes and a Pandora ring for her.

"It's been really good here today and not nearly as busy as I thought it would be and I think a lot of people have come here because they've got that Christmas money to spend."

For a lot of people, the sales were an opportunity to get out and see what was on offer.

Rachel from Stratford-Upon-Avon had been visiting friends nearby and said it was good to be able to come and find some nice clothes at good prices.

She said: "It was the only chance I've had to be able to come and do any shopping after Christmas and this is the nearest decent shopping centre to where I live.

"It's been alright coming here today as it's not been too busy and we've got around without any problems, so it's been good and we've got some smart clothes today."

The festive shopping comes as research by Mastercard showed physical spending in stores across the festive period was up 3.5 per cent on last year, while online spending had declined by 2.8 per cent.

Restaurant spending sharply increased by 11.4 per cent along with clothing (8.0 per cent) and jewellery (8.3 per cent), 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 per cent year-on-year, and in-store sales were up 3.5 per cent as shoppers came back to the high street.

Electronic sales were also slightly up by 1.9 per cent, but there was a considerable spike on Cyber Monday, with an increase of 9.2 per cent 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 more than 10 per cent as people continue to value experiences and spending time together post-pandemic."