SHOPPERS will hit the high street in their millions today as stores reopen for the Boxing Day sales.
The day will begin at dawn for those keen enough to queue for the best deals when the doors open.
But consumers have already had the chance to snap up bargains, with many big-name retailers launching their sales as early as Christmas Eve.
Nevertheless, bricks and mortar retailers are expecting heavy footfall today as shoppers head out. House of Fraser is offering designer goods at a fraction of their usual price, while both Next and Marks & Spencer have launched discounts of up to 50 per cent on sale items.
Online shoppers are expected to spend £748 million today, or £519,000 a minute, and make 167 million visits to retail sites - up 29 per cent on last year, according to data firm Experian and online retailing trade association IMRG.
Experian general manager of consumer insight, Giles Longhurst, said: "This year has seen record breaking online shopping rates, particularly on Black Friday, which saw an astronomical £810m in estimated spend due to the massive resources put behind promotions by a wide range of retailers.
"Traditionally, the Boxing Day sales have been the busiest day for retailers in the UK, but this year we expect them to come second to Black Friday."
An estimated 142 million visits were made to retail websites yesterday, a 25 per cent increase on last year.
Tesco Direct said it expected online shopping to peak at 11am today, with predicted sales of more than 5,000 televisions and more than 2,000 games consoles, and Asda is predicting more than two million shoppers through its doors.
A survey for the price comparison website Confused.com found that more than a third of Britons (34 per cent) have bought Christmas presents for people during the post-Christmas sales.
More than one in seven of those who bought presents in the sales (16 per cent) did so because they were not visiting family until December 27 or later.
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