Retailers are looking to Easter sale season for some sort of resurrection following solid indication that more and more consumers shied away from the shopping scene during the Christmas holiday shopping spree.

Official figures that came out Wednesday showed that consumer spending in December shrunk by 0.1 percent, further highlighting the continuing struggles of the retail sector, which key players have been attributing to the surging Australian dollar and the strong presence of online shopping.

The mining boom has been blamed too for the slump, with the latest data furnished by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealing that non-resourced-focused states, such as New South Wales and Victoria, have seen their retail industries absorbing losses in February.

Retailers in both states, according to The Daily Telegraph, were hoping to cash in on the four-day-break by rolling out attractive price cuts and other promos that hopefully could lure back shoppers.

But traders also hope that authorities would provide sufficient support by extending the hours of trading and give them more room to realise the expected $875.1 million sales for the Easter season.

Both Victoria and NSW will benefit if state authorities would allow for more trading hours, according to CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian, citing Victoria's last year haul of about $145 million more or a spike of 2.8 percent in total sales for the entire span of the Easter sale.

In the case of NSW, retailers in the state could earn around $150 million more when granted extended trading hours this Easter, Sebastian said.

"If the same were to apply in NSW I think we'd most likely see even more spending in NSW," the CommSec analyst told The Telegraph on Wednesday.

The four-day Easter sale will offer consumers maximum of 60 percent discounts, buy-one-take-one deals and other promo packages that Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) chief executive Margy Osmond were designed to convince shoppers that they'll get to see Boxing Day-like sales extravagance.

"Boxing Day sales are events now in their own right and there's a buzz around that shopping experience. It's about people's desire for experiences, and in a strange way, creating excitement around the shops and sales," Osmond was reported by The Telegraph as saying.

But she strongly called on authorities to allow for flexible selling hours for conventional retailers to effectively compete "in an environment where shoppers are turning online because it's more convenient."

Otherwise, "we're not allowing brick-and-mortar retailers the opportunity to operate," Osmond added.

Big name retailers, like David Jones, Dick Smith, JB Hi-Fi, Myers and Target, have all prepared unique promotional ploys in order to attract as many shoppers as possible.

Dick Smith and JB Hi-Fi have lowered the prices of their premium consumer electronic items with significant sticker price reductions while both David Jones and Myer have implemented steep discounts on all products found on their stores.

Target, according to The Telegraph, aims to jump the gun over its competitors by unleashing its sales offering ahead, commencing the sales frenzy by Thursday night, which the retailer has lumped with raffles promos that will give away free shopping cash.

It's going to be a Boxing Day experience all over again inside of the Easter season, Osmond said.