Shoppers score big deals day after Christmas

COLMA, Calif. (KGO) -- Hard core shoppers knew getting up early was worth it on this day after Christmas. They weren't returning gifts as much as they were buying more.

Instead of packing up the Christmas decorations, shoppers are stocking up on them. The deals today are just too good for many to resist. A Target store in Colma this morning was full of shoppers willing to suffer for the sales.

"When we opened doors today at 7 a.m. which is an early opening for us, there were hundreds of people outside, even though it was freezing outside, coming in looking for the deals," said John Saddi, manager

Anna Marie Martin and her daughter were among the early birds.

"My daughter woke me up at 6:30 in the morning and said 'mom we have to go to Target, it opens at 7 a.m.' I am thinking 'oh shoot,'" said Anna Marie Martin, San Bruno resident.

Your email inbox was probably full of alerts telling you about today's markdowns. But experts say it usually pays to get off your phone and go to the store. There were people at Target doing some returns, but retailers say the tradition of this day has changed.

"We are talking about online sales growing twice as much. So the inventory online may be lean, but in the malls, in the brick and mortar retailers, they are itchy today to get rid of extra inventory; that means sales," said Becky Worley, ABC News consumer correspondent.

There were some people at Target doing returns, but retailers say the tradition of this day has changed.

"Today is a huge day. It's a big, big sales day. I know there is always talk about it's a big return day, but from a sales perspective it is a huge day," said Saddi.

"The Christmas stuff was obviously a little chaotic and everyone was just kind of in that, but sales were good 50 percent off you can't beat that," said Samantha Tan, Brisbane

Now shoppers just have to find a place to store all these goodies.