With less than 72 hours until Christmas morning, hundreds of thousands of shoppers are still expected to make a last-minute dash to major shopping centres before they close late afternoon on Christmas Eve.
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The week leading up to Christmas is retailers' busiest, and they are optimistic about this year's sales despite consumer confidence concerns.
Sales began to pick up as last-minute shoppers flocked to shopping centres at the weekend, Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman said.
"It's been a little softer than what retailers would have liked to see over the last few weeks, but from Friday onwards it has really picked up," he said.
It is not the first time the holiday shopping season has gone down to the wire, according to Myer executive general manager (stores) Tony Sutton.
"We're following a similar trend to last year and leaving it to the last few days," Mr Sutton said.
On Monday major shopping centres in Melbourne including Chadstone, Highpoint and Westfield will remain open until midnight.
Chadstone and Highpoint will open their doors for a marathon shopping session from Tuesday morning until late afternoon on Christmas Eve.
Highpoint senior retail manager Nathan Gill said he expected the extended hours on Tuesday and Wednesday to draw in 190,000 shoppers.
In the final days before Christmas, about 100,000 people shop at Chadstone each day, with numbers expected to peak on Tuesday, Chadstone general manager Anthony Rafaniello said.
Mr Zimmerman said that at this point it was difficult to determine whether Australians were spending more or less than in previous years, but an overall increase in spending was predicted.
The Australian Retail Association forecast shoppers across the nation would spend $45 billion in the pre-Christmas period, an increase of 4.3 per cent, or $2 billion, on last year.
The association partnered with research firm Roy Morgan to predict retail sales in each state and expects Victorians to have spent roughly $11 billion in the five weeks leading up to Christmas Eve.
For those yet to buy gifts for their loved ones, Mr Zimmerman recommends shopping as early as possible.
"The earlier you shop the better chance you've got of getting the product you actually want," he said.
"Realise, too, that lots of people will be out and retail assistants will be frazzled at this point, so be patient."
