Shoppers to spend £91m in single day

IT’S not just the biggest night of the year for bars and nightclubs, the high street is also expecting a bumper payday.

Scottish shoppers are expected to blow £91 million today, which will be a welcome relief to retailers who have seen a slow start to the festive period, with the Scottish Retail Consortium reporting like-for-like sales down 2.2 per cent year-on-year in November.

The Centre for Retail Research suggested shoppers’ realisation that Christmas is close will trigger the biggest shopping spree this year.

The CRR, which has surveyed 2000 consumers and 150 major retailers in the run-up to Christmas, said spending will be boosted further by people shunning shopping next Saturday as they have other festive plans.

Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, said: “Many retailers expect a very busy Saturday as shoppers realise Christmas is only ten days away, so you could call it ‘Anxious Saturday’.”