Retailers are hoping for a last-minute surge in Christmas spending today.

Businesses say December, in general, was a slow month due to a number of factors, including poor weather and online shopping.

Director of Retail Ireland, Thomas Burke, says 2018 has been a difficult year but there’s been a welcome increase in spending over the last few days.

“Christmas, much like the rest of 2018, has been up and down to a large degree in terms of performance,” he said.

“What our members are telling us is that November was a challenging period and the Christmas season didn’t get off to the greatest of starts.

“Thankfully we have seen over the last 10 days or so a significant uptick at the level of trade and certainly retailers are hoping by the end of December and into early January, they will hit the targets they set down.”