• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, November 8, 2011

The latest consumer polling from American Express shows that while affluent Gen Y shoppers may be spending less on gifts this year, they’ll be splurging more on electronics.

In its overall sample of 2,000-plus consumers, the American Express Spending & Saving tracker reports that the average consumer will spend $831 on gifts this season, $121 more than last year.  But among “young professionals,” which it defines as those under 30 with a college degree and earning $50,000 per year, spending will actually decline a little, falling to $1,027, compared with an average of $1,063 last year. And they expect to spend $493 on their most expensive gift, down a bit from $504 last year.  (Among affluent shoppers, those earning $100,000 or more, average spending is expected to climb to $1,470, from $1,333 last year.)

Compared to other segments, Gen Y shoppers are also considerably more deal-focused than they were last year at this time, with more of them intending to shop not just on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but the day after Christmas as well. And 49% are determined to stick to their budget, more than the total sample, or the subset of affluent customers. And, as is consistent with other studies, Amex reports that younger consumers are far more likely to use their cell phones as part of the bargain-hunting process, with 63% planning to use it somehow to find holiday savings, compared with just 24% of the total sample, or 35% of the affluent group.

Gift cards and clothing are the favorite gift choices for younger shoppers, as they are for other segments. But for Gen Y, electronics are jumping in popularity, with 46% planning to buy someone a gadget or gizmo, compared with 41% last year.

Meanwhile, in another sign that consumers will be more bargain-focused this holiday, UPS says it expects to deliver more than 120 million packages around the world this year in just the last week before Christmas. That’s up 6% compared to the 113 million delivered during last year's "peak week," as shoppers continue to delay their online shopping to just before Christmas.

In fact, UPS says, the trend is so dramatic that it now expects there will be five different days on which its deliveries will approach or exceed 25 million, all within the last 10 days before Christmas. Last year, it says, there was only one day on which it delivered 25 million or more packages.