The discussion regarding  shopping this holiday season has included mixed predictions, with most anticipating a modest improvement over last year’s total spend. The standout, of course is online  retail – which both Comscore and Forrester predict will see a marked improvement compared to last year, as well as the rest of 2009. The following is a snapshot of this holiday season, by the numbers. It offers valuable insight to the ways in which various demographics are spending, the trends in spending behavior, and where and how consumers are looking to spend:

(click image to enlarge)