Seems they weren’t the tips of Christmas trees.

If you were hoping for festive largesse from your friends, co-workers or customers, sorry, not this holiday season. And if you’re in the gift-selling business, times are still going to be tight.

The latest Holiday Forecast Consumer Behavior Report from PriceGrabber.com finds that this holiday season consumers will NOT be buying Christmas goodies for:

• Acquaintances, 57%
• Co-workers, 53%
• Service providers (eg parking attendant, housekeeper), 44%
• Extended family (sorry auntie), 42%
• Friends, 31%

Other Holiday Trends from the PriceGrabber.com survey of 2,018 online consumers, conducted from Sept. 24, 2009 to Oct. 12, 2009:

• Consumers are using more money-saving techniques
  More than ever, comparison shopping is on the forefront of consumers’ minds, with 70 percent of consumers doing more research and comparison shopping online, compared with 38 percent last year. And fifty percent of consumers are planning to shop at discount or outlet stores this year, while only 43 percent did so last year.
• Consumers are cutting back
  Fifty-three percent of consumers are planning to spend less than they did last year. Of the consumers who are planning to spend less this year, 48 percent reveal that one of the reasons that they are spending less is due to an increase in prices (necessities, gas, etc.), 45 percent cite lack of confidence in the economy, and 38 percent indicate making less money as a reason for spending less.
• Shopping starts earlier to ease the impact of holiday spending
  In past years, Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) has been the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. This year, consumers are planning to start their holiday shopping long before Black Friday, with 22 percent of consumers starting their holiday shopping in October and 29 percent starting in November.
• Gift lists are trimmed down to manage budgets
  When it comes to holiday spending this year, 36 percent of consumers expect to spend between $100 and $499, 28 percent plan to spend $500 to $999, and 30 percent anticipate a holiday spend of $1,000 or more.

More on Green Shoots and Holiday Trends in our November newsletter.

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