Visits to UK shops and malls for post-Christmas sales hardly picked up this year, according to reports Friday.

Research company Experian Footfall said the number of Britons making trips to the shops gained just 0.6% on Boxing Day, as more people sought bargains online.

Britons made 107m visits to retail websites on Boxing Day, up 86% on last year, after UK store owners began offering discounts online on Christmas Day.

Westfield’s UK General Manger Myf Ryan told Bloomberg the company’s discounts were similar to last year.

Next and Debenhams made some the biggest discounts, taking off 50% to 70% on some items, Ryan added.

Boxing Day shopper numbers met Westfield’s expectations but Ryan declined to say if that represented an increase on last year.

Shoppers waited in line for five hours until Westfield opened its doors with sales at 06:00, she said.

However sales for UK retailers only increased modestly overall during what is traditionally the busiest time of the year, British Retail Consortium reported.

‘Christmas hasn’t been a boom time,’ BRC Director General Helen Dickinson said in a statement.

‘Customers bought only similar amounts to last year. Sales were hard-fought and often driven by discounts, so cutting into margins, though retailers worked hard to ensure they had the right products available, whether in store or online, and at the right prices.’

RD