it is the last Saturday as well before Christmas and if you still have presents to buy then you're not alone according to a study 15 and a half million people will stop Sho in stores across the UK today making the busiest day in the runup to Wednesday the data also shows 1.5 billion will be spent today alone our correspondent Fraser m is among the Shoppers at the Trafford Center in Manchester now spending billions apparently Fraser any signs of that well that's what the retailers are hoping isn't it it might be the darkest day of the
year astronomically they're hoping it's going to be one of the brightest days of the year economically in uh shopping centers like this and the high streets up and down the country where footfall has been down a little bit across the country not so much here at the Trafford center it's actually been up by about 18% over the last couple of weeks but retailers are hoping that this won't just be a Super Saturday it'll be a super weekend with something like 39 million people shopping TH online or in store spending a total of around3 billion here
in Manchester they're expecting something like 600,000 Shoppers to come into the Trafford Center over the next few days as we lead towards Christmas but some are saying that maybe that quite a period uh last week could be due to the fact that Christmas Falls midweek this year which means that people do have those two extra shopping days Monday and Tuesday to get those last minute Bargains and to do their last minute maybe Christmas eve even uh shopping uh for the this year so football here pretty strong at the moment getting stronger as the day goes
through uh the the main driver of a lot of the revenue here uh recently has been Health and Beauty certainly in the buildup to Christmas they've got new stores in here uh like um Sephora and Spacek that's been helping drive that uh health and beauty sales up 40% on last year for this period here in the traffic center so clearly that's driving a lot of business but as you'd expect been having a chat with a few of the Shoppers here seeing how organized they are for Christmas what they're spending their money on and how much
they're spending here's what they said I've got all my Christmas shopping to do today that's not very organized no it's not but it's a I'm a guy AR I and it's not Christmas Eve so I'm doing well to me her I know exactly what I want so we're in do what we need to and get out I've set an amount this year and have stuck to it so that's pretty good uh cuz I normally do go over I'm looking for something from my mom for my mom and are you going to be spending all your
pocket money today um yeah no well I'm not going to spend all my pocket money today I might be spending a bit of it I have been reasonably organized for Christmas this year but this is such a vitally important time for the retailers the two months uh up to Christmas and including Christmas is normally when they generate traditionally around 20% of their annual revenue so they've got to get it right so I was talking to the uh the chief here at the traffic center earlier and he said it's so important to get it right and
to make it a destination we heard one lady there saying she just wants to get in get the spending done and get out other people though prepared to spend much more time here they put on a lot of Christmas events here uh in the buildup to Christmas at the Trafford center it's all about they say trying to get people to come from further a field to see it as a destination and an event rather than just a shopping spree and they want them of course uh to stay longer and to to spend more money so
it's a case of trying to keep it fresh trying to give people what they know traditionally to expect from uh from Christmas shopping but also to try and give them something that little bit different to bring them from further a field and to keep them here a little bit longer but it's looking at the moment and certainly here at the traffic center with their sales predictions and the way that it's been performing over the last couple of weeks like it is going to be a super weekend and for those people who are going to leave
it to the last minute don't want to come out shopping on the super weekend don't worry Manic Monday is just around the corner you can get it all sorted then I think you'll find it snil up Saturday before we get to Manic Monday and besides I don't have any pocket money left myself either Fraser thank you very much
