Boxing Day sales: retailers expect shoppers to spend $1.25bn amid cost-of-living crisis

Australian shoppers were expected to spend $1.25bn on Boxing Day and $23.9bn for the entire sales period – an increase of 1.6% on last year. Photograph: Steven Saphore/AAP

Retailers are expecting Boxing Day shoppers to spend $1.25bn on Tuesday as the sector hopes for relief from a drop in discretionary spending.

Retail sales have been sluggish throughout 2023 as cost-of-living pressures bite.