Dec. 26 second-biggest shopping day this holiday season

Chicago The day after Christmas was the second-biggest shopping day during the U.S. holiday season, with $7.9 billion spent, even though traffic in stores fell 6.6% from a year ago, ShopperTrak said on Wednesday.

Only the day after Thanksgiving, or "Black Friday," was busier in terms of traffic and sales, at $10.66 billion, the firm said.

Sales during the full week ended Dec. 26 rose an estimated 8.8%, while traffic at U.S. stores fell 1%, ShopperTrak said. Still, four of the top seven traffic days in the holiday season came last week, it said.

The week was expected to take on more significance this year after a major snowstorm disrupted shopping plans for many consumers on the East coast during the final weekend before Christmas.

"Although traffic was slightly off for the week compared to last year, consumers purchased more with fewer trips driving sales and assuredly pushing retailers into the black this holiday season," ShopperTrak co-founder Bill Martin said.

"Based on last week's performance we believe our prediction of a 1.6% retail sales increase with a 4.2% total U.S. foot traffic decline is accurate," he said.