Surveys by Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Roy Morgan and the Australian Retail Association are all suggesting a tough peak season for the retail sector.

But the National Retail Association is optimistic in the face of the gloomy forecasts.

NRA CEO Dominique Lamb said on Tuesday her organisation expects Australian shoppers to spend $2.62 billion during this year's Boxing Day sales.

This would reflect a five per cent increase on last year.

"We do work collectively with a number of organisations around this particular data and most years we're pretty close to being on the money," Ms Lamb said on Christmas Eve.

She said online shopping sales are forecast to increase by 23.6 per cent on last year's results to $655 million.

The upbeat forecasts come despite recent data showing consumer spending and confidence is softer than previous years in an economy showing minimal growth.

Monash University Marketing researcher Dr Rebecca Dare told AAP this month the forecast retail spend for the Christmas season was anticipated to be the lowest in six years.

Growth projections were expected to be "flat to negative" on previous years.

"People don't think they have as much money as they used to," Dr Dare said.

STATE-BY-STATE BOXING DAY SPEND PREDICTIONS:

* NSW, $871 million

* VIC, $825 million

* QLD, $441 million

* SA, $129 million

* WA, $221 million

* TAS, $56 million

* NT, $27 million

* ACT, $54 million

Source: NRA

Australian Associated Press