Web shoppers get an early taste of sales

Photo / Thinkstock

Retailers are bracing themselves for the Boxing Day bargain hunters, despite some technology-savvy shoppers hitting online stores after opening their Christmas presents.

The Warehouse's Boxing Day online bargains started early with between 20 and 50 per cent off a range of items including the big drawcard - a 32in LCD Sanyo television for $399 - on offer from 6am yesterday.

Harvey Norman also let eager shoppers sniff out early deals online.

While other stores such as Kathmandu launched their Boxing Day sales early, Westfield spokeswoman Deb McGhie said retailers started putting up sale signs before they left the stores on Christmas Eve in preparation for what was traditionally the busiest day of the year.

Shops along Queen St in Auckland including Just Jeans, Jeans West, Overland, Sunglass Hut, Portmans, Hallensteins, Glassons and Valley Girl were all advertising ripper deals for when they opened this morning.

People who lived close to Westfield were encouraged to walk or take public transport to avoid any parking chaos, Ms McGhie said.

Retailers will be hoping last year's downward trend doesn't carry on, as the amount of money spent on Boxing Day last year fell 2.8 per cent to $98.9 million compared to the previous year, according to figures provided by electronic transaction company Paymark.

Pre-Christmas shopping bucked the trend this year, with Friday set to beat Christmas Eve as the biggest day for retailers with more than $230 million being spent on Paymark's network. The spend rose $6.3 million on Friday from the same day last year.

Paymark chief executive Simon Tong said Friday and Saturday had been equally good trading days rather than the usual Christmas Eve spike.

Retail spending had been creeping up over the past two weeks and the next retail spending figures would not be released until Tuesday.

Christchurch had been the exception, with the disruptive earthquake on Friday forcing a number of malls and retailers to close and causing a 17.5 per cent drop in spending compared to a year earlier.

Westfield Riccarton reopened on Saturday, and business was steady as people rushed to pick up last-minute gifts.

BOXING DAY BARGAINS

* Bond and Bond and Noel Leeming: 20 per cent off all big brands

* JB Hi-Fi: 20 per cent off all DVDs, CDs and Blu-rays, LG 50in 3D plasma TV $688

* The Warehouse: Up to 20 per cent off phones, 50 per cent off watches, 20 per cent off toys and between 20 to 50 per cent off outdoor furniture

* Max Fashion: Sale items between $9 and $99

* Farmers: 10 to 50 per cent off everything in store

* Beds R Us: 20 to 50 per cent off beds

* Kathmandu: Extra 20 per cent off the sale price of selected gear

* Cotton On Body, Glassons, Barkers: Up to 50 per cent off store-wide

* Country Road: Up to 60 per cent off

* Valley Girl: Up to 70 per cent off

* Bivouac: 20 per cent off for one week

* Hallensteins: $10 T-shirts, $20 jeans, $20 polos, $15 boardies

* Others: Danske Mobler, Payless - The Stock Liquidators, Portmans, Overland, Sunglass Hut, Just Jeans, Jeans West, Supre, Cue