Panic Saturday: Brits To Spend £1.5m A Minute
Christmas shoppers are expected to spend around £1.5m a minute today on what is set to be one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
It is thought over 11 million people will spend more than £1bn, according to a report by shopping comparison website Kelkoo.
It said consumers will spend £128 each on Christmas presents and other goods, taking the average family spend this festive season to almost £700.
The last Saturday before Christmas traditionally sees shopping centres up and down the country packed with people purchasing presents.
Christmas sales make up around 18% of annual retail sales.
Those who cannot face the crowds on the high street will also be making orders on the internet to make sure their gifts arrive in time for the big day.
Online sales are expected to soar by over 16% to £13.4bn this Christmas compared with last year, and compared to a 2% fall on the high street, according to the Kelkoo report.
Books, DVDs and electrical items are likely to be among the items that shoppers are buying to give to their loved ones.
And parents who have left their shopping to the last minute will be rushing to get the must-have children's toys for their little ones.
This year's most popular toys include a doll that lives in a hydration tank and a Moshi Monsters Treehouse, according to the Toy Retailers Association (TRA) .
Norman Black, head of marketing at Brent Cross Shopping Centre in north west London, said sales of jewellery and watches have risen by 20% in the run-up to Christmas.
He said: "Shoppers still want quality at Christmas, particularly with something as personal as jewellery. In fact, last week one of our jewellers sold the most expensive watch they had ever sold here, at a cool £80,000."
More than a million shoppers are expected to pass through the centre's doors between now and December 25.
Meanwhile the Trafford Centre in Manchester has seen one million shoppers over the past nine days.
Director of operations Gordon McKinnon said: "There is no doubt that many people have left it later this year, holding off spending until as late as possible, but we are now into the final run-in and people realise there are only a few days left."
The busy day will provide a much-needed boost to traders who suffered poor sales in November.
