Aussie shoppers crowd shops as they hunt for Boxing Day bargains
Myer will extend its Stocktake Day sales after customers were forced to pay with cash when the department store’s EFTPOS crashed.
Retail
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Aussie shoppers love a bargain.
It’s the day after Christmas and deal hunters have turned out at shopping centres, department stores and malls across the country to take advantage of the Boxing Day sales.
While some shops have coped with the wild Boxing Day attention, other retailers — including the hugely popular Myer — seem to have crushed under the pressure.
Eftpos machines in Myer stores across Victoria and NSW crashed this afternoon with customers being told to leave their items at the counter and return with cash.
Herald Sun reporter Monique Hore was shopping at Myer’s Bourke St store in Melbourne when the technical glitch hit.
It seems EFTPOS at Myer’s Bourke St store has crashed. Staff now holding customers’ items, including the👖 I wanted to buy, while withdraw cash at nearby ATMs. #BoxingDay
— Monique Hore (@moniquehore) December 26, 2019
An in-store announcement has apologised to shoppers for the inconvenience and “wait times at registersâ€.
— Monique Hore (@moniquehore) December 26, 2019
“At present we have limited registers working. We are experiencing an IT issue and are working for a resolution.†#BoxingDay
Other disgruntled customers commented on the outage.
EFTPOS is down @ highpoint MYER. Apparently its nation wide oof
— Tess (@Prophe_Tess) December 26, 2019
@myer is your eftpos down again ! Just been to Charlestown and lucky I had cash
— Karen Ley (@ParismeetsScot) December 26, 2019
In a statement, a Myer spokesman said the department was extending its sales.
“We had an issue with EFTPOS which affected payments in a number of stores for a short time intermittently this afternoon, with registers still able to take cash payments,” the spokesman said.
“EFTPOS is back up and running and we can advise that this did not affect myer.com.au. We apologise for inconvenience caused to our customers and as result will extend all Stocktake Sale launch day offers tomorrow.”
Myer was hit by a different, unrelated technical glitch just two weeks ago when their registers were forced to shut down for a few hours.
To our valued customers all over Australia, we apologise. Today, an unforeseen technical glitch shut down our registers for a few hours. We're back up and running, and we will be keeping our stores open later across the next week to make things easier in the lead up to Christmas. pic.twitter.com/VSGVP88zup
— MYER (@myer) December 14, 2019
SHOPPERS SPEND BIG AT BOXING DAY SALES
Aussies are predicted to spend a massive $2.62 billion at the sales today, as retail workers strap in for what is likely to be their biggest, longest day of the year. Online shoppers are expected to spend a further $530 million, according to 7 News.
Shoppers lined up outside Myer and David Jones in Melbourne, with the iconic department stores both offering big discounts across their multi-level outlets.
At Myer, shoppers in Melbourne streamed through the doors as the Bourke St store opened at 5am today, with one particularly keen woman breaking into a run as they opened. Other shoppers were pushed up on the glass as they waited to be let inside.
Seven reported traffic became backed up at malls across Melbourne.
In Sydney, a line snaked outside the Louis Vuitton store as shoppers waited to be let into David Jones at 6am, where fashion, homewares and electronics were heavily discounted.
“We got here at quarter to six this morning,” Natasha Birt told news.com.au.
“There were no lines at Myer at 6am. There had been some issues with the trains this morning so luckily for us we could just walk straight in.”
Ms Birt has been coming to the sales every year since she was 18 – and now it’s a tradition the whole family takes part in.
Samantha, 16, Anastasia, 14, and Kristian, 12, all made the most of the cheap post-Christmas goodies, with Kristian nabbing a pair of Nike kicks for half price, down to $100.
Aaron Wilkinson, 27, was spotted resting on the “man chairs” while his partner and her mother finished off the rest of their shopping.
The North Sydney man said Westfield was actually a “ghost town” when they arrived at 7am, and they had expected it to be a lot busier.
“If it had been as busy as this (we spoke to him at 10am) this morning, I would have hated it,” he said.
“Mr Wilkinson added that he spent a good hour in David Jones, taking advantage of the sales to purchase homewares, wine glasses, linen and “all that pretty stuff” to use in their home, which they’re currently renovating.
From the comfort of the public seating on Pitt St, he said his family would “wrap up” around 10:30am and “go enjoy a day of not shopping”.
The once-a-year event is tipped to a big one this year, with 9.7 million Aussies expected to attend the sales, according to Finder.
Those heading to the sales are warned that traffic is likely to be heavy around shopping centres.
Congestion is heavy on roads around the factory outlets in Homebush, in inner west Sydney, and drivers should be aware of heavy traffic on Underwood Rd, Australia Ave and Homebush Bay Drive, near Parramatta Road. Drivers are urged to allow extra time.
SYDNEY OLYMPIC PARK TO HOMEBUSH: Heavy traffic on Underwood Rd, Australia Ave, and Homebush Bay Dr near Parramatta Rd/M4 due to heavy traffic in and around the factory outlets for boxing day sales
— Live Traffic Sydney (@LiveTrafficSyd) December 25, 2019
Exercise care and allow extra travel time pic.twitter.com/EdtpiSWjxh
In Sydney on Thursday, Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman had been in the CBD from about 5am.
He said there had been a reasonable crowd, but it probably wasn’t as big as he’d seen in previous years.
“I think the reason for that is, though, that we now know, and we’ve had it for a number of years now, that the whole of NSW is open for business,” Mr Zimmerman told AAP.
“And because of that, I think that the crowds have now dispersed themselves through the regional shopping centres and don’t have to come into the city.”
He said there was a possibility that pre-Christmas sales – including the recent Black Friday sales – would impact the popularity of the Boxing Day event.
“But as I said earlier, people love the atmosphere of Boxing Day and that may then mean that people still come out and shop,” he said.
“We also need to remember that at 6 o’clock on Christmas Eve, you could actually get online and start your Boxing Day sales.”
– with AAP
Originally published as Aussie shoppers crowd shops as they hunt for Boxing Day bargains