Although Christmas is past, the holiday shopping season continues this week due to returns, gift cards and after-holiday discounts.

Seasonal Christmas shopping “doesn't end on the 25th for retailers,” Scott Krugman, spokesman for the National Retail Federation (NRF), told USA Today. “Even if you're making a return, retailers are getting (customers) in the door and finding an opportunity to keep those dollars in the store.”

From the day after Thanksgiving through Dec. 24, adjusted retail sales, excluding automobiles, grew about 3%, compared with last year's 5.2% growth, said SpendingPulse, which calculates retail sales figures based on credit card shopping for MasterCard. Holiday season sales rose 6.6% without adjusting for an extra sales day between Thanksgiving and Christmas, SpendingPulse said.

NRF expected holiday sales growth of about 5%, USA Today reported. Final December sales figures won't be released until next week.

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