Smaller crowds spend big on Boxing Day

Large crowds of manic shoppers have all but shied away from Australian cities’ big Boxing Day sales, with noticeably smaller crowds being drawn to the bargains amid the pandemic.

Melbourne and Sydney, the cities hardest hit by rising case numbers and consistent lockdowns, were noticeably quieter.

When stores opened in Sydney on Sunday morning, the Myer and David Jones CBD stores only had a handful of about 50 people, in stark contrast to previous years of crowds of shoppers bursting through the doors.

In Melbourne, bargain hunters descended on shopping centre Chadstone as well as the Bourke St mall in the city.

However, crowds were also noticeably smaller in both locations than in previous years.

The smaller crowds can be attributed to the rise in Covid case numbers across the country and fears of spread in large crowds.

Shoppers Fabian and Marisa Rosin told the Herald Sun they were searching for “anything but everything” during the sales.

“We are double vaxxed and at the end of the day, everyone is going to get it,” Fabian said.

“If we do the right thing we are going to be okay.”

Despite the lower numbers, experts had predicted Australians would flood shops and splash a record $21 billion this Boxing Day.

“We are expecting great trade,” said Magna Combrinck, regional sales manager at David Jones, who expected a million customers would shop at the retailer’s outlets around the country today.

Ms Combrinck said the pivot to online sales has influenced the way that bargain hunters now shop in store.

“A lot of customers have done online research, customers can come into our stores, and are very prepared and know what they want,” she said.

“It’s been great to be back open and see our customers back in store”.