Thousands of bargain-hungry Australians are hitting major department stores to grab post-Christmas discounts.

The Retailers Association expects Boxing Day sales to reach $14.7 billion by the mid of January as compared with previous year’s sales of $14.25 billion.

However, the spending during the lead-up to Christmas Day may miss projected sales target of $38.7 billion.

Market experts said that retailers in Canberra could hope for a busy but not a record Christmas trading season this year.

Commenting on the issue, Australian National Retailers Association’s CEO Margy Osmond said, “It will be a solid but not spectacular Christmas with a slight amount of growth on last year.”

Shoppers are showing interest mainly in electronics, clothings, cookware and TVs.

Fresh figures show an improvement in the consumer confidence from previous year, when the global financial crisis was at its peak.