The recent Deloitte Holiday Shopping Survey had some interesting findings:

19% of shoppers intend on spending more than the previous year due to 41% of respondents being in a better financial situation
Most favored format is the Internet for shopping at 47% (up from 45% in previous year)
Omni-channel behaviors will dominate with 63% webrooming, 53% showrooming and 43% buying online and picking up at store
Free shipping is more important than fast shipping (87% vs. 13%) and fast shipping is defined as a maximum of 3-4 days for the overwhelming majority
At least 75% of shoppers are somewhat likely to follow suggestions to purchase based upon other customer product reviews