No Boxing Day Blues This Year for Shoppers

The early reports are in from around the world. It appears as though this is going to be the "busiest Boxing Day sale in living memory." Today, December 26, 2008, may live on in the annals of history as the "Boxing Day Bonanza of 2008."

Discounts as high as 90% have been reported.

500,000 shoppers were expected in London's Oxfort Street district. And some US department stores reported record numbers of shoppers in line as early as 5am. J.C. Penney Co. was offering 70% off its gold jewelry opening it's doors at 5:30am. Even those stores with no pre-dawn hours at least opened early -- and plan to stay open later than normal.

And there is more good news online. It appears that E-commerce was actually helped by inclement weather in much of the country. Perhaps because many shoppers were anticipating a white Christmas or icy roads, Amazon reported their holiday sales are up -- way up. And bowing to the positive trending online, Target focused much of their Boxing Day efforts at driving customers to their e-commerce operation for discounts and free shipping on over 30,000 items.

Summing up the online season, Amazon said that this holiday season was its "best ever."

I am sure you'll read about retail gloom elsewhere, but if you are out shopping today or online at Amazon, you no doubt are one happy shopper. And let's face it, where else would you be today?

Share your Boxing Day Bonanza experience with the rest of us in the comments section below...