Sunday Trading Poll
New research by Ipsos suggests that a permanent relaxation in the Sunday Trading laws may become inevitable sooner rather than later as the current younger generation of shoppers matures.
Groups wanting to keep Sunday special have always argued that allowing stores to trade on a Sunday would destroy families. However the research shows that those with children are actually more likely to be in favour of permanent extended hours on a Sunday than those without children. 42% of those with children in the household are in favour of a permanent extension compared to only 33% of those without children. Perhaps this is because for today’s generation of families, shopping at the weekend has become a leisure activity in itself for the whole family, as opposed to just an essential chore (or maybe those with children are more desperate to get out of the house!).
Associate Director at Ipsos Marketing, Sasha Birkin, said:“The government hopes that by temporarily suspending the rules, visitors coming to London will take advantage of longer trading hours which will help boost falling retail sales. Retailers in Britain are hoping the relaxation could provide them with a much needed boost in sales of around £220 million.
“This generation of youngsters have spent most of their shopping lives post the 1994 Sunday Trading introduction and have grown up accustomed to unrestricted trading hours on other days of the week. The research shows that the younger generation of shoppers are less conservative than their parents and less attached to the idea of keeping Sunday special.”
Business minister Norman Lamb said,
‘This will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase, not just London, but the whole of the country to the rest of the world and provide a boost for the economy, sales and employment’
Technical note
Ipsos spoke to 999 adults in GB aged 15+ between 6-12th July 2012, using Capibus, our face to face omnibus. Data is weighted to match the profile of the population.
