Grab a bargain on Boxing Day 2026

What is Boxing Day?

Boxing Day is the day directly after Christmas, and takes place on the 26th of December. It's known for offering big sales directly after the main day, and has gained huge popularity over the years. Families and retailers alike enjoy the benefits that Boxing Day brings, with shoppers flocking to the stores on this day. With huge sales in place, it has gained commercial significance as a time to grab a bargain. For families, it's become a tradition to simply head to the shops the day after Christmas, partly to get out of the house, and partly to continue getting some fun presents as many items are on sale.

Why is it called Boxing Day?

Boxing Day has been around for over a few hundred years, and was traditionally a day off for the servants. Any servant who had worked on Christmas Day, would get the day after Christmas off. On top of that, their employers would often send them home with a Christmas box, typically containing food, gifts and even a bonus to take home.

Additionally, charities jumped on to this with boxes placed in churches throughout the Christmas period to gain donations. These boxes were traditionally opened the day after Christmas and the contents distributed to the poor. The tradition is a long-standing one, and dates back to the 17th Century, where Christmas boxes were first recorded. It was the Victorians, however, who popularized the practice, soon formalising it.

Is Boxing Day a Bank Holiday?

It became so popular that the day was made a public holiday by the UK government back in 1871. Public holidays or bank holidays are days when, traditionally, the banks were closed. Many offices also close on these days and as such, these days are dubbed bank holidays.

As Boxing Day is indeed a bank holiday, it means that workers can get this day off without having to use any annual leave. Better still, if it happens to fall on the weekend, a substitute weekday becomes the bank holiday. Usually, this is the following Monday. This means that employees who can claim the bank holiday as a day off do get a paid day off for a working day instead. Christmas Day is also a bank holiday, so if both days fall on the weekend, the following Monday and Tuesday are provided as holidays.

Boxing Day discount codes

For many UK shoppers, Boxing Day discounts have become a key shopping day in the sale calendar. Originally, these sales took place in-store, but increasingly, Boxing Day sales take place online, making them even more accessible to a wider range of shoppers. Some of these sales spill over into the post-Christmas and January sales period too, but it's worth noting that the specific deals on Boxing Day are typically a lot bigger. Finding these sales is easy if you know where to look online too. Most retailers will clearly advertise them on their sites. But there are also aggregate platforms like Discoup.com that collect all the Boxing Day-related deals and codes from online stores and put them in one place for easy access. Shoppers can quickly go to the Boxing Day page and search for specific brands to see what's on offer.

The best Boxing Day Sales

Many different high street retailers take part in the Boxing Day sales. Some of the main categories that typically have sales include fashion, electronics, homewares and travel. For those opting to head in-store, many stores actually open early on this day to anticipate the large influx of shoppers. The same is true of the online sites, with many retailers dropping their Boxing Day discounts right after midnight. Items can sell out quickly too, so it's often worth being ready to jump in to snatch up a particularly good deal. Combining the voucher codes found on Discoup.com, with the Boxing Day sales offered by the retailer is an excellent way to maximise savings when these sales launch.