Only a few days remain in the race to the finish line, as the holiday season of 2010 comes to a close. It’s been a rapid and sometimes turbulent journey thus far, with a number of retailers reporting everything from positive numbers to dismal figures, and everything in between. Here is a look at what we can expect to see as the final lap looms ahead, and an overwhelming number of businesses are already declaring a victory.

As far as around the world in China, or even as close as the UK, the reports in holiday spending are hitting great numbers, say experts in the industry who have been monitoring activity since the first wave of sales made their impression felt just before Halloween.

This year’s festive trade period is suggesting that consumers may be shrugging off any fiscal woes, and gearing up to buy big, as year-on-year growth in sales volumes are showing numbers that reveal an upward trend that could last well into the new year.

Even some psychologists are lending their expert opinions, weighing in that consumer confidence could be getting an unexpected boost from the surge of buyers who are shaking off the winter blues, after being belted with snow and ice in many parts of the US, the UK, and Europe.

On the other hand, December’s strong balance is also likely to capture spending being brought forward, ahead of the January increase in VAT. Retailers are expecting sales growth to lose some of the current momentum in the New Year, but remain largely positive, as studies conclude.

According to CBI, 67% of retailers who were surveyed between late November and the first week of December said that sales volumes were up over last year, with a fraction of negative reports at just over 10% of retailers in the poll responding with predictions of lower activity.

Analysts are cautioning retailers to be prepared for a slowdown at some point, though. “With all the early Christmas activity we saw this year, it might be hard to expect that same kind of action through 2011.” Says Paulo Grumbacher, an art store merchant in San Francisco. “I have been seeing steady sales of art supplies and even some paintings this year, but I have a feeling people will tighten their purse strings before the year is up,” he added.

Another perspective offered by experts is one of consumer behavior being predictable along shopping venue lines, which means buyers may have done all their shopping already, with just a small percentage coming in for last-minute deals.

Discounts appear to be the deadly weapon this year, as wholesalers have come to the rescue with discounted goods. Retailers who were able to secure their inventories early were often rewarded with additional discounts and better pricing terms than the rest, leading to extreme savings that made shoppers mobilize earlier this year than last. Since Black Friday, these deals have been filtering through all venues, including the online sales channels that provided retailers and wholesalers alike a means to move product while eliminating overhead expenses and shipping to two or more locations in order to stock up brick and mortar stores.