[dropcap]F[/dropcap]irst of all, Happy Thanksgiving!

It seems that the Christmas “season” gets earlier and earlier every year. Now, not only do we have the huge Black Friday shopping event as well as Cyber Monday, but many retail establishments are opening up today to lure in holiday shoppers.

According to Gallup, U.S. consumers predict they will spend an average of $770 on Christmas gifts this year. That roughly matches the $764 they estimated at this time a year ago amid a fairly robust holiday shopping season, thus pointing to good, though not great, sales for holiday retailers in 2012.

One interesting thing is that Gallup estimates that holiday retail sales will increase by between 3.5% and 3.7% in 2012 compared with 2011.

This projection reflects the conflicting findings that consumers’ Christmas spending forecast is essentially flat this year but is holding at a fairly high level in the context of the past five years.

A 3.5% to 3.7% increase in holiday shopping this year over 2011 would represent a less robust holiday retail season than the past two years — when spending rose by 5.5% and 5.6% — but would roughly match the 3.5% average for the past decade.

So perhaps good news for retailers and small businesses this year.

How much do you plan to spend for Christmas gifts this year? Of do you plan a dollar amount, or is it more of a number of gifts per family member type of thing?

Whatever your holiday shopping and gift giving preferences, enjoy your turkey day and the shopping that follows. Hopefully you have some time off as well — so enjoy!

You can find more about the Gallup survey here.

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