Shoppers on Oxford Street — Britain’s busiest shopping street — in London’s West End yesterday.
LONDON: British retailers risked missing out on the traditional pre-Christmas rush yesterday as dire weather hit the country, potentially putting off millions of shoppers holding out for last-minute discounts.
Despite huge red signs announcing sales of up to 70 percent, many of the stores on London’s Oxford Street were quiet yesterday, with many shoppers heeding the advice of the national weather service to stay at home.
“With the weather, well, it’s really quiet,” shopper Betty Sanger said in the Marks & Spencer’s Oxford Street store, having snapped up discounted toiletries. “A few years ago you wouldn’t have been able to get in here.”
Some indoor malls, however, were likely to benefit. The Waitrose department store-supermarket in London’s Canary Wharf had long lines waiting at tills.
Despite tentative signs of recovery in Britain’s economy, consumers are nonetheless feeling the pinch as wages have failed to keep pace with inflation.
Shoppers have also learnt from experience that the longer they leave it to buy Christmas gifts, the more shops will slash prices to tempt them.
“Do you reckon this is going to go on sale soon?” one shopper was heard asking a sales assistant last week in a London fashion store.
“We’re not allowed to know,” was the response, adding with a smile the customer should try again.
Clothing retailers have endured a particularly tough autumn, with the milder-than-expected weather putting shoppers off from buying winter clothes. Department stores are also seeing sales seep away to the Internet, official data last week showed, while a pick up in the housing market has meant that many Britons are spending what money they have on their homes, and not on what they wear.
“I think the consumer has got used to the idea that there will be a last-minute price cut and so may have held off their spending,” said Gerard Lane, equity strategist at Shore Capital.
Omar Deedat, aged 29, and shopping on London’s Oxford Street said he had a lot to buy yesterday.
“I was here on Saturday and it was horrific, especially with the rain,” he said. “A lot of discounts are on. I bought a pair of Kurt Geiger boots for £85 ($140), reduced from £195.”
Reuters
