Shoppers and small businesses plan to spend less on gifts this holiday season

By Tali Arbel, The Associated Press

TIGHT-FISTED?: A third of U.S. adults said they would spend less this year than they did in 2008 on gifts, while 49 per cent would spend about the same amount, according to a Consumer Reports poll on holiday shopping.

Meanwhile, almost two-thirds of respondents said they were planning to "cut back" on total holiday expenses, which include travel plans, presents and holiday decorations.

More Americans are also "regifting," or passing on a gift they got to someone else - 36 per cent of adults this year say they've done so, compared with 31 per cent last year and 24 per cent in 2007.

The survey polled 1,000 U.S. adults from Oct. 15 to 18.

It is worth noting, though, that Americans who plan to spend less don't always do so. The survey found that of those Americans who made a budget for last year's holiday gift buying, 44 per cent spent more than they had intended.

The poll also said six per cent of adults still carry holiday debt from last year, unchanged from last year. If extrapolated to the broader population of the country, that implies 13.5 million consumers are still carrying debt from last year's holidays.

Clothing and electronics remained the top gifts to give, the survey said.

The survey, conducted randomly by telephone, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

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NO BONUS: More small-business employees can expect no end-of-year bonuses or gifts for 2009.

A recent survey of small business owners or managers in the U.S. showed fewer of them planning gifts or cash for their workers.

"Business owners are still feeling pinched cash wise," said American Express business adviser Alice Bredin. AmEx's small business division conducted the survey.

Last year, 44 per cent of those surveyed said employees would get an end-of-year bonus. This year, only 31 per cent did. Even fewer are planning raises: 16 per cent, compared with 30 per cent last year.

Meanwhile, in 2008, 46 per cent of owners or managers said employees would get holiday gifts. This year, it's 35 per cent.

The business owners or managers surveyed oversaw companies with fewer than 100 employees.

According to the U.S. government's Small Business Administration, companies with under 500 workers employed about half of all private sector employees as of 2006.

The survey also found that, of those still giving a present, 42 per cent said they'll give fewer or cheaper gifts to customers and employees.

The businesses are cutting back on employee compensation and presents before client gifts, Bredin said, because customer presents can be important marketing tools.

"If there are no customers, there is no discussion about employees."

In the survey, nearly half the companies surveyed planned to give presents to customers, about the same as last year. Those surveyed said they would spend $455, on average, on the holiday presents. In 2008, small business owners planned to spend $457 - and in fall 2007, it was an average of $1,483.

In one bit of good news, the survey did show the number of workers who would be getting time off over the holidays remained the same as last year, at 47 per cent.

The random survey of 500 small business owners or managers was conducted over the phone from Oct. 6 to 14. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.