Apparel perennially ranks among the most popular categories for holiday shopping, and this year, nothing has changed. While apparel shopping has dipped since the onset of the recession, recent studies suggest a continued recovery. As usual, searches for women’s apparel and accessories are among the most popular. Perhaps surprisingly, the high-end market appears to be increasingly improving; across the board, however, consumers are looking for the best deals possible.

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Consumer electronics are big this year, as indicated by our second installment of the Active Shopper Report. According to a number of sources, including Pricegrabber.com, consumer electronics dominate product searches on price comparison websites and are among the most popular gifts this holiday season. The following visual illustrates the popularity of consumer electronics, as well as the individual items shoppers are looking to buy (and receive) this year. The overall trend suggests that reduced prices is the common denominator. For shoppers looking to save, this is as good of a time as ever to buy.

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Today announced the launch of its “Active Shopper Report” (http://activeshopperreport.com) revealing key retail trends for the 2009 holiday shopping season. Today’s report is the first in a four-part series and features the top 20 products trending this holiday season from leading shopping comparison sites PriceGrabber.com^® and Like.com.

2009 Holiday Shopping Trends Vol. 1

Though most consumers plan to cut back on holiday spending in 2009, many are opting to do their shopping online this year. Search interest in Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions have spiked after Thanksgiving, as shoppers all across the country look online for a more convenient solution to avoid holiday crowds. The 20 most popular categories are heavily weighted towards consumer electronics, which look to be strong sellers this year.