What time to start shopping the Boxing Day sales
Maybe you have a specific list of things you need to buy, or maybe you’re just browsing around for fun. Here’s what you need to know about shopping online this Boxing Day.
Online shopping is a preferred option by many - especially by Australians - for good reasons: No crowds and no queues. Plus, you can browse around while enjoying a wine on your couch.
But just like in-store shopping, online sale periods can have a big impact on how you shop. On Black Friday this year, we saw the Sephora, Missguided and Cotton On websites crash from a traffic overload. Plus, many of the more popular items sold out within just minutes of the sales going live.
With this in mind, here are a few things you need to know about shopping the boxing day sales.
Most people shop in the mornings
More than 50% the people shopping the boxing day sales were online between the hours of 6am and 1pm. Shopping in the afternoon will certainly be a smoother experience with fewer sites experiencing lags and delays, but many of the most popular items could be sold out by then.
A significant number of people shop as soon as the sales go live at midnight
Nearly one fifth of people shop the boxing day sales during the early hours of the morning from midnight to 5am. Most of these early morning shoppers log on at midnight to ensure they snag all the items on their wishlists. If you’re after something really popular, you might want to consider doing the same.
Very few people shop during the evening
Less than 10% of people are shopping the Boxing Day sales after 8pm. If you’re looking for an uninterrupted shopping experience, post-8pm is the time for you to shop.
But the most important thing to successfully shopping the Boxing Day sales is to have a plan. If you have something very specific in mind, it may be worth jumping online at midnight to ensure you get a chance to buy before the item sells out. The same goes if you’re interested in a range of products that are very popular - they’ll probably sell out early. But if you’ve got nothing specific in mind, shopping during the evening may provide you a smoother experience without excessive page loading times due to heavy traffic.
*Statistics are based on the traffic volumes on the finder.com.au Boxing Day hub from 2015.
