£1000 a minute spent in sales

29 December 2007

Credit crunch ignored as UK shoppers spend, spend, spend

The recent credit crunch and predictions of a new year economic slowdown seemed to have been ignored by bargain hunters this week as shops all over the country reported on their sales.

The sales rush started on Christmas Day with shoppers spending £84m online. The Lakeside shopping centre in Essex saw a 29% increase in the number of people through its doors this year and the House of Fraser reported that they took £1000 a minute in the first hour of trading. In Manchester, around 500 people queued for the start of the sale in Next.

The busiest shopping day of the year, Wednesday, saw a peak in sales 45 minutes after shops opened as the first customers reached the tills. Average sales of £1000 a minute were reported by John Lewis with £2000 a minute being spent during the morning peak.

This large amount of spending comes in the midst of the grey cloud hovering over the UK economy. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development says that the UK economy weaker than it has been in a decade. Unemployment figures are expected to increase by 150,000 to 1.8m in 2008.