SHOPPERS got an early start to the Boxing Day sales in Wangaratta this morning, with many keen to get all their bargain hunting completed before today's forecasted extreme heat kicks in.

Big W and Kmart were both bustling with many hundreds of shoppers, keen to take advantage of significant reductions on a large range of items.

Judy and Wal Miskle, visiting from Evans Heads on the far north coast of NSW, had their shopping trolley full of toys as they left Kmart.

"We've made the two day drive to visit our son and his partner and our grandkids at Springhurst," said Judy.

"I've never been to a Boxing Day sale, but we've made the most of it, spoiling the grand kids.

"We found plenty of bargains, and we're not done...we're off to Big W to look for more."

As has been the trend in recent years, only a few of the city's CBD retail stores were opened for Boxing Day.

Most were the larger chains such as Harvey Norman, Athletes Foot, Cotton On, Platypus, Gazman and Sussan, with Edgars Books and News one of the few local stores.

Much of the local foot traffic was concentrated around popular local cafes which were doing a roaring trade.

Across the country, consumers are predicted to splash $3.7 billion in the last week of 2024 on top of an expected $70bn in the lead-up to Christmas, according to projections from the Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan.