What do you think of the Boxing Day Sale Petition? Maybe you’ve signed it? Maybe you’re scared of it – hello retail CEO?!
Parts of me understand the Boxing Day Petition; extra “things” from a Personal Organisers’ perspective should be purchased as a need and not on a whim, seeing things on sale creates a sudden need in people who go on to purchase items they never use, wear or even take out of the box or remove the tags from.
When buying more, people have more things to take up space in their home and then need to find a place to store them. In turn, they get more disorganised and take longer to make decisions on what to wear or use – wasting time; “I should wear this as I purchased it in the sale but never have worn it.” Everyone has done it, not only is it having extra things to put away or have sitting gathering dust somewhere it is a waste of hard earned money.
The petition is about making memories and respecting the day as a religious holiday, years ago we managed without it – remember Wednesday early closing and Sunday’s as a day of rest? Aimed for the retail workers who work tirelessly leading up to Christmas, having 1 day off (if they are lucky, there are shops open Christmas Day, let’s not forget those!) then having to end their celebrations early with a extra early start to meet the queues.
I’ve no doubt that the retailers have done their research, looked at timelines and how possible this could happen as they will lose a days sales. Boxing Day for some is a huge day, moving stock that would otherwise not shift (yes, there will be old stock on the shelves as people buy because it is on sale) and responding to the queues at the door at 6am.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has commented that the shops are responding to customers demand. This is true, if people didn’t get up at 6am to queue on the high street the shops wouldn’t open, staff costs are high and many managers will not want only 1 day off but, profits on Boxing Day are high so they do.
The way to bring change, behaviour needs to change. There are few out there who will get a buzz from finding what they wanted at full price now less than 50% off but others will not enjoy the stress and sometimes fights – yes, fights, remember the videos on social media in previous years of people storming in shops on Black Friday? So why go out?
If you really needed an item you would purchase it at full price to avoid the risk of unavailability rather than wait just in case it may go on sale. Yes, you are spending more but if it is worth it and you can’t live without it, spend per use will be lower than anything you buy on sale just because you may want it at that time.
To stop the shops opening, stay at home with your family, make more memories on the extra day that so many people do have as a Bank Holiday. Fewer customers will mean fewer staff needing to work – fact. You’ll save money and have more time to do what you enjoy most.
I’d love to hear peoples views and thought on this, do you agree and have signed the petition or do you go out every year and enjoy it as an event?
If you can relate to feeling disorganised, please get in touch via E-mail or phone to discuss how I can help.
