Boxing Day sales move online amid increased lockdowns due to COVID-19 pandemic

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With non-essential retail shuttered or restricted across much of the country, the usually crowded malls and long lineups of Boxing Day are expected to be replaced with internet searches and online orders.

It’s the post-Christmas shopping day deal hunters have been waiting for.

But it wasn’t the door rushing and shoulder-to-shoulder Boxing Day this year, as the pandemic moved many shoppers online.

However, some still managed to make it out to malls around Greater Victoria.

Mayfair Shopping Centre, Uptown and Bay Centre all saw shoppers, but it wasn’t the typical hustle and bustle of years past.

That’s because industry experts say many retailers offered big sales online due to COVID-19 restrictions — though some offered in-store sales too.

“People are buying a lot of gift cards this year and not the traditional wrapped gift so there’s an excess of inventory and some pent-up demand,” says Lisa Hutcheson, managing partner at consulting firm J.C. Williams Group.

Meanwhile, shoppers in Richmond, gathered in the rain to brave the line for the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Vancouver Airport mall.

At one point in the afternoon, vehicle traffic stretched back to the highway as drivers waited to manoeuvre through the parking lot.

The outdoor outlet mall, like others in the region, placed capacity restrictions on how many shoppers would be allowed in at a time as part of an effort to control lineups in front of stores. Those wanting to go inside had to wait in a line outside the mall before being allowed in.

“We were about to do some shopping, but as you can see the line, there’s no more willingness,” said Ramanjeet Dhillon, who went to the mall with friends to shop for Nike shoes.

“I think it’s just better to go home right now.”

Shoppers who arrived earlier in the day fared better.

“We didn’t wait in line,” said Spencer Sun, who arrived at the mall at 10 a.m.

Sun and his friend Jack Yen said they both felt the lines inside the shopping area moved quickly, but found that many sizes for clothes and shoes had already been sold out.

Ally Day, the mall’s marketing manager, said in a statement that the number of days for its Boxing Day sale had been extended to help shoppers.

With files from The Canadian Press

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