Ten million people to hit the shops on 'Super Saturday'

In-store spending on ’Super Saturday’ on food, drink and gifts will amount to £1.38bn, according to research by VoucherCodes and the Centre for Retail Research.

Online shopping for last-minute items is expected to reach £268m, bringing the total splashed out that day to £1.65bn, or £2.38m per minute.

Online sales are anticipated to peak the day before, when they will reach £321m.

VoucherCodes director of marketing Jimmy New said: “Super Saturday is one of the most important days in the retail calendar as millions of people finalise their Christmas preparations.

“Many retailers are making the most of the increased online spending on Friday and are continuing to offer delivery in time for Christmas, while high street stores will be looking to capitalise on the increased footfall with last-minute deals and incentives.”

This year’s weekend performance is likely to be slightly higher than last year’s. However, it is even more important than usual after a tough period for many retailers, in particular fashion specialists.

Fashion retailers including Primark, Sports Direct and Superdry have all said that November was an extremely challenging month.

Yesterday online fashion giant Asos issued a profit warning. It reported that performance in November was “significantly behind expectations”, partly because of widespread discounting.