"It's always a really big day and until we get the numbers we wont know for sure but it seems like the rain definitely helped out.
"Instead of the whole family heading out to the beach, people will choose to go into town and do some shopping for Boxing Day instead."
Ms McDade said while she would not have initial spending figures until next week, she had gauged that sales would be slightly better than last year.
"It looks to me, just from having a look in town and talking to a few of the retailers, like it will be slightly above last year. They seem to be doing a bit better.
"It's definitely one of the biggest days of the year and a lot of stores have what's called loss leaders which are things they sell for cost just to get people through the door."
A free shuttle bus running between Napier and Hastings, funded by the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, seemed to have proved popular too, she said.
Hastings Red Rat staffer Kelly Dunn said the store had been busy with plenty of returns and exchanges, as well as younger people spending their Christmas money.
"It's been steady but the town is busy so we've had a lot of foot traffic through. We'll probably be a lot busier later in the afternoon when people have recovered from Christmas Day."
Fortify owner William Atkin said the perception that Boxing Day was the biggest day of the year didn't apply to all retailers, particularly boutique stores in Havelock North.
"Boxing Day is regarded as a 'price slash' bargain day and for small retailers such as Fortify, which dominate Havelock North, it's impossible to compete with the prices of the mainstream giants."
He said this was reflected by the very few retailers open in the village on Boxing Day.
"It's very, very quiet in the village. It's just not worth it. People are all in Napier or Hastings because those price-driven businesses put themselves together so you go and do that circuit. You wouldn't bother going out of your way to the small areas."
Alexanders on Tennyson staffer Stephen Jensen said the store had been busy all day long, only just slowing down in the final few trading hours.
"There's definitely more foot traffic coming by and we've had people coming into the store who haven't been here before.
"I worked Boxing Day last year and it's the same sort of vibe. We have some people with coupons, doing exchanges and then visitors in town who arrived here for the Christmas period."
Last year Paymark figures, which processed 75 per cent of electronic transactions, showed Hawke's Bay shoppers spent $4 million on Boxing Day; a decrease of 0.5 per cent from the previous year where shoppers spent $4.1 million.