 Selfridges took 10,000 transactions in its first hour of opening |
Hundreds of thousands of shoppers have snapped up bargains as stores began their winter sales on Boxing Day. A record number of big-name stores - including Next, Debenhams, Dixons, Currys, PC World and Argos - threw open their doors this year.
Some customers arrived as early as 0330 GMT to bag their places in queues.
The Trafford Centre in Manchester had a queue of 3,500 by the time its first shop opened at 0700, and described it as "probably our best Boxing Day ever".
Other shopping hotspots were also busy from early on. Taruna Patel of Upton Park, east London, was the first to queue outside Debenhams in London's Oxford Street on Friday.
"We were standing outside here by 0800," said
"We thought the shops would be open earlier but most don't seem to be opening until after 10."
A spokeswoman for London's Selfridges store said more than 10,000 transactions were processed in the first hour.
Queuing
"We've had huge crowds today. The store has been absolutely packed," she said.
Brent Cross shopping centre in north London opened on Boxing Day for the first time in 27 years.
An estimated 100,000 shoppers made their way to the centre, and marketing manager Norman Black said it appeared as busy as Christmas Eve.
In Glasgow, about 500 had gathered outside Debenhams by the time it opened its doors at 0900 GMT.
In Leeds, one man camped outside the Sony Centre from Christmas Eve, to ensure he was first in line for the Boxing Day sale of a camcorder, reduced from �499 to �99.
Sheffield's Meadowhall Centre opened fully for the first time on a Boxing Day - and retailers reaped the rewards.
"We opened at 0700 GMT and there were people queuing outside," said a spokeswoman.
"Last year the sale started on the 27th and we had around 170,000 customers. It has been so busy that we are hoping to have topped that today."
David Southwell, spokesman for the British Retail Consortium, said Boxing Day "has become like any other bank holiday," for many people.
"Shopping is seen as a leisure activity," he added.
Some stores began their Christmas sales even before Christmas itself, although the sales will begin in earnest this weekend.
Richard Perks, director of retail research at analysts Mintel, said many stores needed sales to get rid of some of their excess stock after poor pre-Christmas trading - especially in clothing.
"There has been a lot of anecdotal evidence that things have been quite bad with a growth in pre-Christmas sales of between 2% and 3% compared with 6% last year.
 |  It will be a strong sales period and there will be lots of stock to clear, particularly in clothing  |
"Trade has slowed down this year, partly because consumers have begun to realise that debt has got too high. "However, I still think it will be a strong sales period and there will be lots of stock to clear, particularly in clothing."
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