BATON ROUGE - While Black Friday has long been the busiest shopping day of the year, retailers say the days immediately after Christmas are becoming just as important.

That timing is drawing crowds of shoppers eager to spend Christmas cash, use gift cards and take advantage of post-holiday sales.

For Katherine Monteilh, the day after Christmas was less about returns and more about enjoying the moment.

“Spending Christmas money… and we’re just going to hang out,” Monteilh said. “We bought some books, and we’re going to go get some coffee and go out to eat.”

While some shoppers head out to return gifts that weren’t quite right or to exchange items for a different size or color, many said gift cards and Christmas cash were the main reason they were out.

“I think a lot of people are probably returning stuff, but we went out shopping and used his money,” shopper Jessica Ross said.

Despite the continued growth of online shopping, brick-and-mortar stores are still drawing strong crowds during the holiday season. Earlier this week, Visa reported that in the run-up to Christmas, 73% of holiday-related payments were made in-store, compared with 27% online.

That trend was visible as shoppers moved from store to store, often making a day of it.

“We’re spending money,” said Kassy Thammavong. “We’re going to Ulta over here with some gift cards I got from his mom, and then we’re going grocery shopping after.”

Retailers say the days after Christmas are no longer defined solely by returns. Instead, they’ve become an extension of the holiday shopping season, driven by gift cards, leftover Christmas cash and deep discounts on seasonal merchandise.

For many shoppers, the post-Christmas rush is also about experience grabbing a coffee, meeting up with family or friends, and stretching the holiday feeling just a little longer.

For Monteilh, that’s exactly the point.

It’s a simple way, she said, to keep the holiday spirit going  even after the presents have been unwrapped.