A total of $1.3 billion is expected to be spent on Boxing Day itself, an almost 2 per cent increase on last year's spending figures, data from the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) shows. For the six days following Christmas, it is expected shoppers will spend $3.7 billion across that period, which is 2.7 per cent more than last year.

A Northland retail expert’s “gut feeling” that shoppers in this region would be sure to check out Boxing Day bargains but not necessarily spend a lot of money, seems to have been proven right – at least in Whangārei.

Although it is predicted that £4.6billion will be spent in today's sales, this is a 2 per cent decrease compared to last year, according to analysis published by Barclays .

They are also predicted to splash out a further $2.4 billion during the last days of December, Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan research shows.