Fancy a golden ticket to the best bargains on Boxing Day?
Retailers are pulling out all the stops for this year's post-Christmas sales, with shoppers set to front up in their millions despite falling consumer confidence.
Myer will be handing out "golden tickets" to the first 500 customers through its doors at flagship stores in Melbourne and Sydney, which are opening at 5am.
Ticket-holders will be entitled to exclusive discounts and prize giveaways, while those who miss out will still be able to take advantage of Boxing Day-only specials. It has $200 million worth of stock to clear, with discounts of up to 70 per cent.
David Jones Melbourne and Sydney CBD stores will also be open from at 5am.
If you can't stand the idea of fighting your way through the hordes, bricks-and-mortar retailers have also stepped up efforts at their online stores this year.
David Jones and electronics retailer Dick Smith jumped the gun, with online Boxing Day specials live since Christmas Eve.
The festive discounts won't be available in bricks-and-mortar stores until Boxing Day itself, however.
"We had a lot of feedback last year from our customers wanting to access Boxing Day offers before Boxing Day," said Dick Smith sales and marketing director Neil Merola.
"Customers can purchase online, beat the queues and sleep in."
Myer's online Boxing Day specials began just after midnight on Christmas morning.
Last year a fatal technical glitch crashed its online store for days during its biggest shopping period of the year, preventing a record number of potential customers who visited the website from making their purchases online.
Myer spokeswoman Jo Lynch reassured customers this year would be different.
"A significant amount of work has been done during the course of the year to ensure the stability of the website," Ms Lynch said.
"We certainly don't anticipate a repeat of last year."
The Australian Retailers Association is tipping 3.6 per cent growth on last year in the post-Christmas period, totalling $16.1 billion in sales between Boxing Day and January 15.
Boxing Day alone is expected to generate about $2 billion in sales - $72 million more than last year.
Myer is awaiting some 1 million shoppers through its doors nationally on Boxing Day.
Retail analyst Brian Walker said this year's Christmas trading had proved strong, at about $30 billion in sales.
"When we consider some of the forecasts in September and October about subdued Christmas trading and subdued consumer confidence - a hard Christmas for retailers - that's not what we're seeing," Mr Walker said.
"Australians are opening their purses up this year. I don't think we'll ever see the days of double digit growth, but it is steady."
