“Discounted digital cameras, books and apparel still show mom how much she is appreciated,” said Tracy Mullin, president of the National Retail Federation.

For the first time since 2006, U.S. consumers are also choosing discount stores over department stores. However, the specialty store remains their top destination, according a survey conducted by the D.C.-based trade group and BIGresearch.

“No one will forgo celebrating Mother’s Day because of the bad economy, but they will put careful thought into what they buy and how much they spend,” said Phil Rist, BIGresearch’s executive vice-president of strategic research.

But for the most part, traditionally popular gifts remain mainstay options for this year’s consumers. More than 66 percent of consumers plan to buy flowers, if not a special meal (54.8 percent) or jewelry (27.8 percent).

Total Mother’s Day spending is expected to reach $14.1 billion, as individual spending averages to $123.89 – $14.72 less than what they spent last year. Mother’s Day spending had also fallen in 2008, mainly due to rising gas prices.

Readers, what Mother’s Day gifts are you promoting this year?

According to Oneupweb, a search engine and marketing company, the week of Halloween, Oct. 27 to Nov. 2, became the biggest for sales and conversion rates of the holiday season – indicating that customers began shopping even earlier. Returns, gift cards and after-Christmas bargains then led to small rises, between Dec. 28 and Jan. 4.

The study also revealed that while year-to-year sales fell almost entirely throughout the season, traffic and conversions increased – indicating that consumers browsed the Internet more than ever for gifts.

“Think of it in terms of a brick-and-mortar store – consumers will go into a store to view the merchandise, perhaps several times before making a purchase,” the study said. “This means retailers need to have all merchandise ready and available for them to browse.”

With this, the company gave a few recommendations to keep in mind for 2009:

• Plan ahead and follow through. Though Oneupweb declared Halloween as the start to the holiday shopping season in 2007, it now recommends that retailers implement holiday campaigns and discounts on the first week of October, and plan for campaigns following Christmas as well.
• Compel shoppers to make immediate purchases. After all, imagine if that increased traffic had been converted to sales. Perhaps the best time to do this would be early in the season, as Oneupweb suggests. And to appeal to those last-minute shoppers, offer free shipping.

The company’s report, “The 2008 U.S. Online Shopping Report – What the 2008 Holiday Shopping Season Can Teach Us,” is available as a free download from their official Web site.

As of Dec. 16, while the average consumer completed 47.1 percent of their shopping – down 52.6 percent from last year – over 41 million people had not even started, according to the National Retail Federation.

Most of these consumers will be looking for apparel, while 40.8 percent will shop for books, CDs, movies and video games. They ranked discounter, department and specialty stores as their three most popular shopping destinations for the rest of their holiday shopping.

Last-minute shoppers are also turning more to the Internet than they have in years past. Last week they brought the online retail market four of its biggest-selling days of the holiday season, according to comScore. Monday, Dec. 15 became the second heaviest spending day with $859 million, while Free Shipping Day on Thursday, Dec. 18 brought in $764 million.
Researchers have long figured that, with five days less than last year, a shorter shopping season could result in lower holiday sales.

“Procrastinators are in good company this year because a shorter window between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year means that the holidays have snuck up on many of us,” said Tracy Mullin, National Retail Federation president and CEO, in a statement.

But they also wonder, with this year’s recession, if consumers are simply shopping more consciously, perhaps waiting for last-minute blowout sales. As Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl wrote in Psychology Today, “Remember, all procrastination is delay, but not all delay is procrastination.”

But so many options for consumers could bring too much competition for small business owners – that is, unless they properly prepare their Web site for the holiday season. Not only must they provide a reason to shop, but they must also promote that reason extensively.

Small business owners should first create a list a keywords that will lead customers toward their holiday specials, whether they are particular products or special sales. These can be placed anywhere on the Web site for optimization, and in a number of forms: with pictures as alt tags, embedded in the Web site coding under meta tags, or simply included in a written blurb.

Regardless of what they are, returning and even prospective customers will always be drawn to something new, said Maria Perilli, online marketing manager for Deep Blue Interactive , a web design and Internet marketing company. Furthermore, “the more content you have on your page, the more your Web site is promoted on the search engine,” she said.

For a richer shopping experience, online retailers now have improved site searches, customer review features, and product videos. JCPenney’s Web site has all of this, while also highlighting limited-time offers. Small business owners can do this, or even create a separate page for longer-term deals.

Such microsites, like Best Buy’s Project Holiday , can also demonstrate how company products can lend to unique gift-giving. If the holiday budget permits, small business owners can even take one step further and create a pay-per-click campaign for that page, Perilli said.

As for the main web site, what should also be prominently displayed is “a call to action” – a phone number, e-mail address, or even a link to a contact form, whatever prompts more than just browsing. As for the rest of the shopping process, small business owners should first obtain, then display an updated security certificate.

“Customers are not going to buy anything on a unsecured site that’s taking credit cards,” said Matt Warnock, creative director and producer at Daisy Interactive .

Small business owners should update shipping and handling information periodically – making fees and expected delivery times extremely clear. “They need to be concerned with orders getting out in a timely fashion, especially since customers can get so panicky about getting their Christmas gifts,” Warnock said.

Finally – no matter how they may choose to update their Web sites this season – small business owners must aim to provide a shopping experience as personalized as customers may find in brick-and-mortar storefronts.

“Make sure you put your message out as much as possible … making sure the customers feel happy and positive about shopping,” Warnock said.

Including back-to-college sales, back-to-school spending makes up the second largest retail season of the year. Nielsen predicted, then confirmed through findings that this past season was “shorter but more intense.” Consumers had waited for more aggressive sales and promotions to appear as the first day of school drew near.

In anticipation of a slower season, retailers cut back-to-school inventories in anticipation of a slower season, according to The New York Times . But consumers also cut their spending, resulting in double-digit sales declines and more fall merchandise left on their shelves.

Sales of digital cameras, MP3 players, desktops and printers all went down during the back-to-school season, according to CNET News . But expected declines in notebook sales and the introduction of new product categories make the holiday season difficult to compare to the months before.

In efforts to cope, retailers have been offering more bargains to move inventory throughout the next two months – resulting in a more drawn-out holiday season than they usually have to bear.

“While low inventory levels may enable retailers to avoid ‘fire sales,’ consumers are looking for deals and value,” said Stacy Janiak, Deloitte ’s U.S. retail expert.

Considering such expectations, discounters fared well during the back-to-school season, and are predicted to be consumers’ primary destination for holiday shopping. After Deloitte found that more consumers will shop at dollar stores for their back-to-school needs, the National Retail Federation found that about 70 percent of consumers planned to shop at discount stores this holiday season.

After offering school supplies for as little as 5 cents each – then seeing growth in September and October – Wal-Mart will continue week-to week savings and Rollback sales throughout the holiday season. It hopes to save consumers an additional $200 million the holiday season, as it predicts low single-digit comparable sales growth going into 2009.

In the meantime, retailers are still advised to promote their deals and values.

“Retailers will likely not be penalized for their lean staffing levels since consumers are focused on value rather than on other factors,” Janiak said. “As we saw in the back-to-school season, price-oriented retailers have an edge in this environment.”

But over the past four holiday seasons, consumers as a whole have grown more cautious and calculative. This year, they plan to spend an average of $832.36 on holiday-related shopping – a mere 1.9 percent increase from last year, and the lowest increase anticipated since 2002.

Wholesalers in addition to discounters should do relatively well this season, said Michael Niemira, International Council of Shopping Centers chief economist and director of research.

“Not surprisingly, big-ticket purchases are likely to take a backseat to more traditional, basic and value-oriented goods and services,” he said in a statement.

Four years ago, holiday consumers dodged discount stores and items in favor of luxury goods and brands. Now about 70 percent of consumers plan to shop at discount stores, while 40 percent of them will consider sales and discounts as the most important factor in choosing where to shop. Only 13.4 percent ranked merchandise quality as most important today, according to a National Retail Federation survey.

With odds against them in the housing and job markets, holiday consumers even plan this year to decrease spending on gifts for family members. And with such priorities in mind, Kohl’s launched Wednesday a holiday campaign implementing aggressive savings and a resonating tagline: “Gifts That Fit Your Budget Beautifully.”

“Our entire holiday program is designed to help customers stretch their budget during an especially difficult holiday season,” said Kevin Mansell, Kohl’s president and CEO, in a press release.

But even with early promises of savings, researchers predict that this holiday season will bring the weakest growth since 2002. The National Retail Federation predicts that sales will rise by 2.2 percent; the International Council of Shopping Centers, 1.7 percent. Sales have risen an average of 4.4 percent over the past ten years.

This Halloween retail season will last longer than last year’s, with Halloween on a Friday rather than a Wednesday. This could mean for retailers that “their strongest sale days are yet to come,” said Howard Beige, executive vice-president of Rubie’s Costume Company.

As for costume wholesalers, they can still sell easily what they have either deemed the “classics” or the “perennials”: witches, pirates, vampires. And more than ever, they are selling to online retailers and temporary stores, ones that stay open solely for the Halloween season. This year, costume wholesalers have been as busy as ever, to bring the new and exciting costumes to storefronts across the U.S.:

• Spotlight Costumes
  “We are small but mighty,” said owner Kim Brown. Spotlight Costumes mainly supplies full ensembles for theatrical productions and themed weddings.However, for Halloween it also ships out to 350 brick and mortar costume shops, with most concentrated in the east coast. The former National Costumers Association president also designs each costume, the most popular ones of the wholesale line being the flapper, the pimp, the Tin Man, and Marie Antoinette.
• Franco American Novelty Company
  Franco American Novelty Company has been distributing to an increasing amount of temporary stores, said Jay Dinhofer, one of the company’s account executives. He added to any number of their 4,000 total retail store fronts, they have shipped thousands of its Cleopatra women’s costumes. That being the company’s best seller is a testament to consumers’ growing appreciation of the industry.
  “Instead of going sexy and short – as the trend may be – this has more to do with the sophistication today that is available at reasonable prices,” Dinhofer said.
• Disguise
  Disguise claims itself to be the second largest costume manufacturer in the U.S. This San Diego wholesaler has sent out about a million costumes this year, said Bernice Nesbit, senior marketing manager. Disguise’s biggest sellers this year stem from their movie and television licenses. Boys will likely be seen as either Iron Man or Transformers characters, while girls will probably transform into either Hannah Montana or Disney princesses. The company also offers an easy, timely idea for adults, with their Obama and McCain masks.
• Rubie’s Costume Company
  This New York-based wholesaler has distributed over 25 million costumes to retail store fronts this year, Beige said. And if any manufacturer/distributor could prove that movies drive the Halloween costume business, it is this one. (After all, it is the largest of its kind in the world. Rubie’s has offices in Europe and Asia, in addition to those all over North America.) Key licenses Rubie’s obtained include “The Dark Knight,” Indiana Jones and “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” But of course, the boys cannot be allowed to have all the fun. Popular girls’ costumes this year include Sharpay and Gabriella from “High School Musical.”

There’s a tradition in my family that for any occasion that warrants a card, especially birthdays, the meaner the card is the better. We often try to out do the other contenders and the result is often big laughs. The more insulting the card, the more you’re loved–we have an understanding.

We’re not the only people who share this fun, albeit unusual, tradition and with Valentine’s Day upon us, it appears that businesses are beginning to cash in on this quirky trend. For example, American Greetings Corp. has an entire category of "Anti-Valentine’s Day" cards.

And they’re not the only ones capitalizing on the anti-Valentine’s Day theme. Other businesses are coming up with unique ways to promote their businesses such as a bowling alley in Cleveland hosting a "Love…Spare Me!" event and clothing and merchandise stores selling t-shirts and stickers promoting "single awareness."

So the next time a popular holiday rolls around, try a variation on the theme…you might even start a new trend!