The annual holiday shopping rush looks to stay strong this year, even after Christmas Day.

Both local and national stores in Pike County expect customers shopping on Saturday, either to purchase gifts or make returns.

Derek Daniel, a senior game advisor at GameStop on U.S. Hwy 231, said that the days after Christmas are typically just as busy as those leading up to the major holiday.

“It fluctuates from year to year, but it typically stays just as busy in the days before Christmas as it is afterwards,” he said. “We always have a lot of returns after Christmas, as well as special sales that kids spend their Christmas money and gift cards on.”

Daniel said shoppers purchasing gifts should always keep their receipts, and be certain as to what items the people on their list want, so as to avoid purchasing the wrong items. By keeping the receipts, shoppers can still return gifts and be fully refunded if they happened to have purchased the wrong thing.

Just next door to GameStop, things are much the same.

TeAndrea Burnett, an assistant manager at Hibbett Sports, said that the days after the Christmas holiday are only slightly less busy than those leading up to it.

“It’s a pretty even distribution of what kind of transactions we make,” she said. “We see returns, exchanges, gift cards and regular purchases. It’s honestly hard to say if people buy more with gift cards or normally.”

The holiday shopping season, which starts on Black Friday and goes through Christmas Eve, is known for being the busiest time of the year for stores and shoppers alike, and this year has been no different.

With all the extra shopping going on, consumers will need to be smart about how they go about buying, and returning, items on their shopping lists.