Good news for procrastinators: Even if blowout after-Christmas sales are a thing of the past, stores are still ramping up their competition because they know that about 40 percent of holiday purchases are made in the last 10 days before Christmas. Here are some strategies for last-minute shoppers:
• TOYS NOW, CLOTHING LATER: As Christmas approaches, toys will start getting more expensive. They're probably going to be at their cheapest this weekend, says Dan de Grandpre, editor-in-chief of Dealnews.com. Look for discounts of 50 percent to 90 percent as Target, Walmart and Amazon.com do battle over prices. But note that Walmart's 50 percent-off deal on some toys and electronics ends Sunday.
For clothing, on the other hand, it's worth waiting until Christmas is even closer and some major retailers such as Victoria's Secret start clearing out merchandise.
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• PROBABLY NO ELECTRONICS: Except for televisions, one category where last-minute shoppers aren't likely to find any deals on popular items is electronics.
• ORDER ONLINE, PICK UP IN STORE: Many stores - including Walmart, Nordstrom, Sears and many others - now offer same-day in-store pickup on online orders. Best Buy said Tuesday that 40 percent of its online orders are being picked up in stores.
• SHOP EXTENDED HOURS: Toys R Us will keep its stores open 88 hours straight, from 6 a.m. Tuesday until 10 p.m. Christmas Eve. Sears is open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and Kmart from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m.
The deals Sears plans for Dec. 24 include 50 percent to 60 percent off coats, fleece and sweaters and $20 off a digital camera; Kmart will offer slippers for $3.99 and men's boots for $14.99. Walmart stores will offer $50 gift cards with the purchase of Apple products like an iPhone 3GS 8GB or an 8GB iPod touch in a sale that runs from today through Christmas Day.
• THE LAST RESORT: 7-Eleven, open all day on Christmas, is expanding its wine offerings and adding handheld games and more stuffed animals to its gift cards, videogames, DVDs and CDs.
At CVS, from Sunday through Christmas Day, there will be buy-two-get-one-free deals on bath and body gift sets and a 7-inch LCD TV and DVD player combo for $89.99 ($10 off).