PriceGrabber, a part of Experian, just released its second holiday spending consumer behavior report, "A Deep Dive into Online Holiday Spending Trends."

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This report includes responses from 1,839-online consumers and how much money they plan to spend this holiday season. PriceGrabber collected the data between Sept. 14 and Oct. 6.

Survey data reveals more optimistic holiday spending trends, with online shopping winning a larger share of total holiday dollars that will be spent.

Holiday shoppers expect to spend slightly more this year

According to survey data, 2010 is expected to have a more optimistic outlook for holiday gift spending when compared to last year. Of online consumers who revealed they plan to spend money on holiday gifts this year, 66 percent said that they plan to spend $500 or more on holiday gifts. Last year, 59 percent of consumers spent $500 or more on gifts. This year, the average amount that holiday shoppers plan to spend on holiday gifts is $845.

Online shopping dominates offline shopping this holiday season

The survey also found that in 2010, a shopper will make 57 percent of his or her holiday purchases online. This compares with 40 percent of consumers who will shop in brick-and-mortar stores, and 3 percent who will use their mobile phones to make puchases.

Consumers plan to closely monitor retailer price wars for the best deals

Consumers are not only turning to the Internet this holiday season, but also developing new savings techniques based on retail behavior from the previous year. Last year, competition among retailers for the lowest prices on the most popular products sparked fierce "price wars." This year, 80 percent of consumers revealed they are planning to monitor price wars on their favorite products to ensure they are getting the best deal. Twenty percent of consumers are not planning to monitor price wars.

"Last year, we saw large-scale price wars between major retailers, which resulted in deeply discounted products. This year, we expect especially competitive price wars beginning early in the season," said Laura Conrad, president of PriceGrabber. "Shoppers need to evaluate the benefit of monitoring price wars for the lowest price versus potentially missing out on the most popular products of the season."

Smartphone, e-reader and tablet product wars

Retailers are not the only ones who will be fighting it out for the consumer dollar this holiday season. With many new products on the market, PriceGrabber expects to see stiff competition among popular products, especially in the categories of smartphones, e-readers and tablets.

In PriceGrabber's holiday survey, consumers were asked which smartphone they would prefer to receive as a gift this holiday season. The Apple iPhone 4 took the lead, with 47 percent of consumers choosing the iPhone 4 over other smartphones. Twenty-two percent of shoppers prefer the Motorola Droid, and 13 percent choose the RIM Blackberry Torch as the smartphone they would like to receive.

When it comes to devices that consumers prefer for e-reading, 59 percent of consumers selected the Apple iPad as their device of choice. Twenty-one percent of consumers pick the Amazon Kindle. Five percent selected the Barnes & Noble Nook, and 3 percent choose the Dell Streak as their preferred e-reader.

Tablet PCs are forecasted to be one of the most popular technology gadget gifts this holiday season. The number of searches performed on PriceGrabber for the keyword "tablet" has already more than tripled (330 percent), compared to the same period last year (Oct. 1 to 27, 2009, versus Oct. 1 to 27, 2010). The keyword "tablet pc" has increased in popularity by 76 percent.

While the Apple iPad is expected to continue its dominance in the tablet market, other winners emerging in this category include the Sony VAIO Tablet PC, based on PriceGrabber visits compared to the same period last year (Oct. 1 to 27, 2009, versus Oct. 1 to 27, 2010). Other popular tablets include Toughbook 19 Tablet PC and Asus Tablet PC.

(Photo by David Porter.)