Boxing Day sales: shoppers spend big but footfall down on last year

Online discounts and rising prices fail to deter enthusiastic shoppers - but crowd numbers are down on Christmas 2016, analysts say

Millions of Britons have enjoyed a last hurrah in the Boxing Day sales with determined shoppers camping out in the early hours to secure the best bargains although crowds were smaller than in previous years.

Shoppers started queuing outside branches of high street chain Next at 12.30am while on Oxford Street, in London a crowd started forming outside Selfridges at 2.30am. However, retail experts said that overall shopper numbers were significantly down on 2016.

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