LaTonya Reliford, an elementary school teacher says she prefers giving her kids cash for Christmas so they have more freedom to buy what they want. Now she and her three children will be hitting the stores.
"We give them part gifts and part cash, so on the day after Christmas we take our kids and go to the malls," the Beverly Hills resident said. "There are good deals, and they can find what they really like."
Stores that are expecting to do good business are opening earlier and closing later the day after Christmas. Most toys shops are offering exciting deals including "buy one, get one half off" specials on books and board games. Macy's has launched a "Week of Wonderful" deal on apparel and home goods.
"Typically the 26th is an important day, and retailers count on it," said Bill Martin of retail technology firm ShopperTrak. "It will be a day when you will find bargains."
However he predicts that merchants' revenue may not make as much as the $7.1 billion they made on Dec. 26 last year.
"At least some portion of the population is heading back to work on Wednesday," he said. "So it could have a little bit of a downward pressure on sales as a result."
Last year the day after Christmas fell on Monday.
"There were a lot of major distractions this year for shoppers, including the political climate, the 'fiscal cliff' and no hot items this holiday," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group. "There are more reasons why it's not going to be exceptional growth. It will be 3.5% to 3.8% growth at best."
Retail experts predict shoppers could expect to see after-Christmas sales, early hours and some Black Friday-type door-buster deals designed to draw people into stores.
"The inventory was better controlled this year, so there won't be that last-minute deep discounting unless it is largely planned by the retailer," said Kamalesh Rao, director of economic research at MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse.
At the Best Buy store in Westfield Culver City, a few items will be on sale Wednesday, "but before Christmas is definitely better for sales," general manager Margie Kenney said. "We do see a lot of shoppers looking for bargains right after the holidays."
"Customers will not be looking at just leftover goods and markdowns," she said. "Our stores are well-positioned with new merchandise. New spring colors, maybe a little bit lighter-weight products and new fashions."
Stores keepers are also expecting as many shoppers coming in to redeem gift cards.
"Dec. 26 tends to have the highest redemption for gift cards," Target spokeswoman Donna Egan said. "Most gift cards are redeemed in electronics. We will also focus on apparel, toys and holiday decor.
"Now the day after Christmas is a lot more sales generated by people redeeming gift cards," she said. "We will see that trend for the rest of the year and the rest of January as people are still out on the holidays and kids are out of school."
