I'm off to the January sales, but don't tell anyone

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With the VAT rise looming on 4th January, 27 million Brits intend to splurge in the New Year sales before the 2.5 per cent increase takes effect – up by almost a million(1) shoppers on last year. However, with 14 per cent of the population having lied to friends and family about their spending habits in the past year in order to be sensitive to their economic situation, Brits will be keeping quiet about their sales shopping exploits.

The ‘Annual Sales Spending Report’(2) by Sheilas’ Wheels home insurance shows that over a fifth of Brits polled (22 per cent) intend to spend more in the sales this year than 12 months ago, despite 45 per cent admitting to feeling increasingly guilty about shopping this year than they have done before. One in six Brits (17 per cent) has even lied to friends and family about how much they have spent on the sales.

Further findings reveal that adults fork out an average £89.05 each on sales items every year – an eye-watering £4.3billion(3) across Britain alone – with 43 per cent of this (£1.9billion(4)) spent solely on clothes, shoes and accessories.

Brit’s top 10 sales purchases:

Clothes (61 per cent)
Shoes (34 per cent)
DVDs (31 per cent)
Books (27 per cent)

4=     CDs (27 per cent)
5.   Accessories (25 per cent)
6.   Toiletries (21 per cent)
7.   Computer games (20 per cent)
8.   Home electricals (19 per cent)
9.   Cookware (14 per cent)

One in eight early-birds (13 per cent) admit that they intend to get up before daylight and join the queues to make sure that they are first in line to bag themselves a bargain.

However, despite a rush to the shops come Boxing Day, nearly half of Brits (48 per cent) admit to having a sales item in their wardrobe that they have never worn or still has the price tag on. In fact, 10 per cent of the average persons wardrobe is made up of clothes that have been bought in the sales and rarely worn.

Jacky Brown, at Sheilas’ Wheels, comments: “The run up to Christmas is an expensive time of year, so it’s no wonder people are so eager to rush out and spend-to-save in the January sales.

“There are amazing deals in the sales, however for every gem there’s often an ‘unused and unworn’ bargain that ends up throwing money down the drain. As the shopping bags flow in, your contents value goes up, so it’s important not to underestimate the cost to replace a woman’s wardrobe – even the proportion that has never seen the light of day.”

The research also revealed that 37 per cent of bargain-mad Brits often buy items for family and friends in the sales – with 34 per cent even admitting to buying Christmas gifts for others.

Gender Divide

Over half of women (53 per cent) feel guilty about making a spontaneous sales purchase, compared to 44 per cent of men
Men spend on average £31.36 on clothes, shoes and accessories in the sales each year, compared to £45.20 spent by women
Men’s top three sales buys are clothes (52 per cent), DVDs (37 per cent) and CDs (33 per cent)
Women’s top three sales buys are clothes (71 per cent), shoes (44 per cent) and accessories (37 per cent)

Regional Divide

68 per cent of Londoners will be looking to bag a bargain in the sales, compared to 46 per cent of those in the South West and the North East
44 per cent of those polled in Northern Ireland admit to feeling guilty shopping in the current economic climate, compared to just one in ten Welsh shoppers (11 per cent)
Londoners are the most likely to keep quiet about their spending habits with 28 per cent admitting to lying to friends and family about how much they’ve spent in the sales
This is compared to a more honest 11 per cent of those polled in the East Midlands and 14 per cent of Scottish spenders

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For further information please contact the Sheilas’ Wheels press office at Mischief PR on 020 7100 9999 or email sheilaswheels@mischiefpr.com

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Notes to Editors:
(1) 26,771,470 compared to 25,846,776.
(2) Sheilas’ Wheels used the independent online research company Fly Research who surveyed 1,004 men and women in the UK, aged 18 and over, from across the country, between the 5th and 8th November 2010.
(3) £4,334,544,370: £89.05 (average amount spent on sales per person) x 48,675,400 (population of the UK over 18). Source: Office of National Statistics.
(4) £1,863,854,079.10: 43 per cent (average amount spent on clothes, accessories and shoe) of £4,334,544,370 (total spent in sales).