HUNDREDS of thousands of Scots took their Christmas shopping to the wire with a surge in last-minute buys and falling prices reported by retailers.

Yesterday was reported to be the busiest shopping day of the year, with some shops opening at 7am to meet customers' demand.

At Silverburn shopping centre in Glasgow some 83,000 shoppers headed through the door, with menswear, lingerie and chocolate proving to be the top choices for gift hunters. A further 60,000 are expected today.

David Pierotti, general manager of the centre, said: "The past few days, really from Wednesday evening, have been madness – good madness – but madness.

"The depth of [price] markdown is significant this year. Over the past week there have been more efforts by retailers to tempt spend. The reductions are starting off around 20% but by Boxing Day we will see very large markdowns."

Around one-third of stores at Silverburn are currently holding their sales, Mr Pierotti added.

He said the centre was also braced for a "crazy" sales period after Christmas, given that £1 million-worth of gift vouchers bought in late November and early December had yet to be spent.

"That indicates to us that customers are going to go absolutely crazy during the sales.

"The gift vouchers are a double whammy for us as the purchaser will be coming into Silverburn to get them then the receiver comes back to spend them."

Peter Beagley, general manager of Braehead shopping centre near Glasgow, said shoppers were queuing up at the centre's customer services desk to buy gift cards before the centre officially opened at 9am.

He added that its branch of Marks & Spencer opened at 7am with the store "extremely busy" within half an hour.

He added: "We've had a brilliant Christmas this year and the centre has been extremely busy. Our footfall was up in November compared with the same month last year and we expect footfall to have increased this month as well."

Kathy Murdoch, centre manager at Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow, said yesterday felt like the busiest day of the year.

"There has been a last-minute rush of gents buying for their wives and partners and money has been no object. Several queues have been out the door."

Despite the retail rush, consumer analyst Which? predicted one in 10 cash-strapped consumers will be celebrating a late Christmas as they plan to buy some of this year's gifts during the January sales.

It found that three in five people were waiting to hit the high street, with top items including clothes and accessories, health and beauty products and home entertainment software such as CDs, DVDs and games.

Richard Lloyd ,Which? executive director, said: "Squeezed budgets mean many people are planning to head to the January sales to buy late Christmas presents.

"But people should look out for returns policies in stores and online to avoid getting stuck with unwanted items. Stand your ground if you're refused returns on goods that turn out to be faulty, as you have the right to return these, even when they're bought in the sales."

Meanwhile, e-retail association Interactive Media in Retail Group forecast consumers would spend £186.4m online on Christmas Day, with Boxing Day expected to be almost double that at £367.8m.

These estimates were said to represent a 12% increase on the total spends last year.

But the British Retail Consortium has warned that although sales in the shops meant good bargains were around for those who had money, they might not be good news for businesses.

"Sales will eat into the margin," a spokeswoman said. "Disposable income has taken quite a hit this year, hence the discounts we're seeing."