ORLANDO, Fla. — The day after Christmas is usually one of the biggest shopping days of the year for those looking for bargains, but this year that looked a little different due to the pandemic.

Marketing analysts say it should come as no surprise that in store traffic this holiday season significantly dropped, while online shopping nearly doubled from last year.

Shoppers peruse the shelves of Writer’s Block bookstore in Winter Park, skimming the sales and seeking the thrill of a new novel.

This big day of shopping is only one chapter in the store’s holiday shopping success story.

“We’ve actually done better this year than last, which is a surprise considering the pandemic," said bookseller Andrew Corder.

“We’ve really pushed for the online sales, especially with orders. That’s actually the majority of our business, at least this season,” he added.

It took a shift to get on the same page as those shoppers though.

“We also did online gift cards as well, to just help with the flow of traffic and just get more people on the website," Corder said.

University of Central Florida associate marketing professor Anand Krishnamoorthy says, with a boost in online sales, comes a financial loss with online returns.

“The reason online returns are going to be bad for retailers is that there is shipping both ways, there is restocking," said Krishnamoorthy. "Online returns are usually a much bigger problem in terms of profitability for retailers.”

Corder says they’ve gotten around that by ensuring their virtual bookworms know they can call the store to get remote advice and help on returns and exchanges.

Overall, he says he’s at a loss for words when it comes to customers’ rave reviews.

“Not a day goes by that we don’t hear somebody saying how thankful they are that we’re still here, and we’re definitely very thankful for the support we get from our customers," said Corder.

Writer’s Block just opened up a second location in Winter Garden last month. They say business has been booming in both locations.