A woman uses her mobile phone in front of sale signs in the window of a clothes store at a shopping mall in central Sydney June 6, 2013. Australia's economy posted a second straight quarter of moderate growth as a drop in business investment offset gains
A woman uses her mobile phone in front of sale signs in the window of a clothes store at a shopping mall in central Sydney June 6, 2013. Reuters/Daniel Munoz
A woman uses her mobile phone in front of sale signs in the window of a clothes store at a shopping mall in central Sydney June 6, 2013. Australia's economy posted a second straight quarter of moderate growth as a drop in business investment offset gains in trade and consumer spending at the start of 2013, a disappointing result that only reinforced the case for lower interest rates. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz (AUSTRALIA - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

The Sydney city government allowed on Wednesday retail outlets to remain open for business 24 hours a day beginning December 10 until 25. It is the first time that stores have been allowed to open the whole day across the city without a need by the retailers to apply for a special permit.

Benefitting from this special permit are stores in the city central business district's Bondi Junction and major malls, including those in Parramatta, Penrith and Liverpool.

YouTube/World Travel Guides

Due to the previous bureaucratic requirement for shops to secure approval from New South Wales's planning department and local councils to open the whole night, smaller shopowners eschewed extending their trading hours during the yearend holiday season when there are more shoppers.

This development would be timely for Sydney residents who shop at David Jones and Myers as the two retailers are planning to hold their post-Christmas sale earlier because of the large inventory on its stores and warehouses due to weak sales.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that David Jones has pallets of clearance stock ready for deep price cuts if the retailer's management would signal an early after-Yuletide sales. It added that rival Myers is just waiting for David Jones's move, and it is ready to roll out too its Boxing Day sales ahead of time.

While there was a marginal improvement in consumer confidence among Aussie consumers in November, the latest Westpac Index indicate darker days ahead for the retail sector since 38 percent of shoppers plan to spend less on gifts, disclosed Westpac chief economist Bill Evans.

The longer store hours, higher discounts and earlier post-Christmas sale would hopefully improve the performance of the retail sector which relies heavily on its yearend sales.