Year-round discounts mean shoppers shun January sales says MasterCard

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 19, 2017

UK shoppers no longer feel the post-Christmas clearance sales are a must-visit because of too much discounting in the run-up to December 25, a new study from MasterCard shows.

The news backs up other evidence seen this week with John Lewis’s weekly sales figures in the final week of its clearance sale showing fashion turnover falling.

MasterCard said over 90% of the UK consumers it polled agreed that they had "fallen out of love with January sales.” It also said that the pre-Christmas period, which was previously the key time when retailers could guarantee selling higher-margin full-price fashion, is now more about bargain-hunting than the January sales are.

Nearly half (48%) of shoppers bought marked-down products in the days immediately before Christmas last month, compared to 44% buying from December 26 and into the New year.

"The January sales appear to have lost their lustre for many shoppers, as sales fatigue has set in." said MasterCard’s UK and Ireland president Mark Barnett. "This situation has been heightened by pre-Christmas price cuts, together with Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They are cannibalising the Boxing Day and January sales. By the time the New Year discounts hit the shelves, many consumers have already had their fill of bargains."

Overall, MasterCard’s research suggests that year-round discounts mean the clearance sales periods are less of a draw for UK shoppers. Ninety three percent said the late summer and post-Christmas clearances have less of an impact these days as consumers can get markdowns at many other times.

And this year-round price-cutting has also hardened consumers to the appeal of anything below 30%-off. As many as 37% of shoppers said they expect more attractive markdowns with 65% saying 30%-off is the bare minimum to qualify as a bargain. More than a quarter expect price cuts of 50%-plus.