This holiday, shoppers are expected to buy a lot of CD and DVD players, computer games and charm bracelets, but probably not as much of each as they did last year.

        According to the 2000 Holiday Mood Survey by Deloitte & Touche and the National Retail Federation, shoppers are each expected to spend slightly less this year than last year — $836 versus $849, but more than they spent in any other year before.

        Still, retailers expect overall sales to grow, probably because they anticipate more people to be shopping than there were last year. Retailers interviewed for the survey said they expect total holiday sales to advance 4.5 percent from last year.

        The surveys were conducted in October, which means the economic uncertainty caused by an undecided presidential election was not factored in. Cynthia Cohen, a retail strategist and president of Strategic Mind Share in Miami, said all the political news usually keeps shoppers out of stores.

        “Everything that goes on with the election puts more and more of a damper on it,” she said.

        So maybe the holiday numbers will need to be recounted. Until then, the following are highlights from the Holiday Mood Survey:

        • Men are expected to spend $836 on gifts; women, $835.

        • 35 percent of the those surveyed said they will buy 20 to 39 gifts.

        • The largest increase in expected spending occurs in the Northeast — plus 12 percent. In the Midwest, consumers are expected to spend 2 percent more. In the west, they'll spend 21 percent less, according to the survey.

        • 17 percent of all respondents of the Mood Survey expect to but a gift online.

        • 38 percent of shoppers expect to spend some time looking at catalogs for gift ideas.

        The consumer survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
       

It's crunch time for merchants, shoppers
Holiday shoppers expected to spend slightly less
The specialty shop
The catalog store
The Internet company