Tight financial belts won’t prevent Americans from holiday spending

According to a survey released on Tuesday, U.S. holiday shoppers are more willing to crack open their wallets in 2009, but still intend to hunt for discounts.

Information Resources Inc, a market research firm, polled about 1,000 U.S. households online in the last two weeks of August and found that about 77 % of respondents said they were willing to splurge on a gift for the 2009 holidays even if times are tough.

As consumers faced a financial market crisis and housing downturn in nearly for decades, the 2008 holiday season was the toughest for retailers. But as shoppers move toward this year's holidays, employment fears remain top of mind, with 78 % of respondents expressing worry over job stability, just 1 % less than a year earlier, the survey found.

Consumers are using lessons in thrift to allot holiday gift budgets. Thus, over 52 % of consumers said they would spend up to $499 on holiday gifts, about 9.2 % more people than last year. To that end, 59 % of respondents said they would seek out bargains online this year, up from 41.7 % in 2008.

IRI Consulting & Innovation President Thom Blischok said that functional gifts such as iPods, Blu-ray players for less than $99, smartphones and clothes such as sweaters and jackets will likely top gift lists. Cooking utensils and ingredients for home-made meals will also be in demand as more families eat at home to save money, he added.

In addition, a separate study by Global Hunter Securities LLC from late August showed that U.S. retailers could see sales in the 2009 holiday season decline from last year's dismal results, or show only a slight uptick even in the best scenario.