First Boxing Day without COVID-19 restrictions sees full stores, but not as much business as pre-pandemic

After weeks of shopping for friends and loved ones in the lead up to Christmas, shoppers were back on Monday in stores across Canada for the first Boxing Day since 2019 with no COVID-19 restrictions.

Plenty of bargain hunters came out in person to try and take advantage of deals to get themselves some treats.

“Once we hit Boxing Day and Boxing week, we are right back to ‘Hey, what do I want?’ And gift cards and gift certificates play a role in that,” David Ian Gray, retail analyst, told CTV News. “Plus, historically its always the sport, its a tradition.”

In Sudbury, Ont., the New Sudbury Centre was packed with shoppers by midday. In Saskatoon, one family told CTV News Saskatoon that they had been out shopping since 8 a.m.

"Black Friday is obviously a very busy day for us, but Boxing Day is one of our biggest sales events of the year,” Steve Toews, store leader of a Best Buy in Deerfoot Meadows, Alberta, told CTV News Calgary. "It's been really amazing with customers this year – we've seen a large inflow of people coming through.”

He added that flat-screen TVs, gaming devices and headphones were among some of the more popular items to sell.

But although this year saw a return to stores, experts say the pandemic has still forever changed what has traditionally been the biggest shopping day of the year.

Retailers were forced to pivot to online sales, and customers followed. Now many believe there is simply no need to come to the mall on Boxing Day to get the best deals.

“I definitely think there’s a fatigue for both shoppers and retailers for the in-store line ups and crunch and big crowds,” Gray said.

In the past, Boxing Day was a one-day event, inspiring shoppers to get up early and shop for long hours. But now, retailers are often stretching their sales out for a week and sharing them online, hoping to get more eyes on them amid dwindling purchases in physical stores.

After Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales fell short of expectations last month, experts were torn on whether Boxing Day would bring deeper discounts or would see more stores trying to save money.

“Black Friday is the most important day of the year for retailers and it was a bit of a bust,” Lisa Hutcheson, managing partner at retail consulting firm J.C. Williams Group, told the Canadian Press last week.

Electronics have traditionally been the biggest Boxing Day draw, and Best Buy in downtown Vancouver was busy by mid-day.

“I think customers have been itching to get back into store like this and vice versa, I think we have been itching to have this sort of traffic and volume in the stores as well,” Munesh Gounder, Best Buy store leader, told CTV News.

Analysts expect in-person Boxing Day sales will easily surpass the previous two years which were impacted by COVID-19 restrictions.

“But in terms of product moving in store, if I’m guessing, today its going to be light compared to what it has been in Boxing Days in the past,” Gray said.

With sales moving online, we may never again see pre-pandemic Boxing Day crowds. But for dedicated in-person shoppers, the experience is irreplaceable.