Smyths’ £10 off every £50 spent event has previously taken place at the end of September.

According to media reports, Smyths Toys has cancelled its long-standing Christmas promotion of €/£10 off for every €/£50 you spend. According to the Irish Mirror, the retailer made the decision due to the Covid-19 pandemic, saying that it cannot risk having large volumes of shoppers flock to stores in a short period of time with social distancing in place. The decision will apply to the retailer’s stores in both Ireland and the UK.

A Smyths spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, our 10 off every 50 promotion will not run for 2020. We cannot responsibly encourage a large volume of customers to visit our stores in a short time period while adhering to social distancing guidelines.

However, we are excited to announce we will have more promotions and super savings on your favourite toy brands throughout the autumn-winter period.”

While it is undeniably true that bricks and mortar retailers will have to adopt different strategies when it comes to crowd management in stores in the run-up to Christmas this year, suppliers have been speculating for months about what may happen with retail discounting during this year’s festive season. Potential logistics challenges, together with the possibility of product shortages on some hot items, has led some to wonder whether aggressive discounting might be a less widespread tactic this year.

In addition, despite the fact that many toy retailers have enjoyed far better trading than many other retail markets, the whole retail sector is facing increased costs and ongoing uncertainty; under the circumstances, each retailer’s individual market share is arguably less important than maintaining a viable, profitable operation. So, while there will inevitably still be a raft of retail promotional activity to entice consumers, perhaps this year’s offers will be less cut-throat than we have seen in recent years?