Page "Boxing Day" Paragraph 15

Many retailers open very early ( typically 5 am or even earlier ) and offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores.

It is not uncommon for long queues to form early in the morning of 26 December, hours before the opening of shops holding the big sales, especially at big-box consumer electronics retailers.

Many stores have a limited quantity of big draw or deeply discounted items.

Because of the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, many choose to stay home and avoid the hectic shopping experience.

The local media often cover the event, mentioning how early the shoppers began queueing up, providing video of shoppers queueing and later leaving with their purchased items.

The Boxing Day sales have the potential for customer stampedes, injuries and even fatalities.

As a result, many retailers have implemented practices aimed at managing large numbers of shoppers.

They may limit entrances, restrict the number of patrons in a store at a time, provide tickets to people at the head of the queue to guarantee them a hot ticket item or canvass queued-up shoppers to inform them of inventory limitations.