The lure of a bargain brought shoppers out in their droves on Black Friday.
With prices slashed and Christmas fast approaching, thousands flocked to Westfield Stratford City where footfall was up 25 per cent on last year.
The shopping centre opened its doors at 8am as retailers offered a range of tempting deals - although bargain hunters were still forced to queue just to gain entry to some stores.
There were almost one million visitors to Westfield Stratford City and its sister shopping centre, Westfield London, across Black Frriday weekend.
The American tradition of Black Friday - where shops cut their prices and offer exclusive deals to heighten demand - has grown in momentum in Britain compared to previous years.
Westfield director Myf Ryan said shoppers’ increased use of Click and Collect, whereby shoppers buy gifts online and pick them up in store, has further driven footfall into stores, with good news for stores as nearly half of us buy an additional product on collection.
At the Stratford Shopping Centre, retailers were also celebrating bumper footfall figures, with numbers up 20.1 per cent compared with last year.
More than 235,000 passed through the doors across the weekend with 5,500 extra people visiting the centre each day last week.
Andrew Norton, the centre’s manager, described the footfall figures as a “dramatic increase” and said the increase marked an “exceptional start” to the Christmas.
“We anticipate a strong performance through the Christmas period for our retailers and will introduce extended opening hours in the run up to Christmas to provide even more opportunities for shoppers,” he added.
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