• by Stephanie Azzarone , Op-Ed Contributor, November 28, 2012

If things go as predicted, this year's holiday season will be a jolly one for retailers. The National Retail Federation (NRF) is forecasting a 4.1% gain in spending over 2011, with the average holiday shopper dropping a total of $749.51. Total holiday spending is expected to reach $586.1 billion.

Overall, consumers seem confident that the economy is improving and are therefore more willing to open up their wallets.

In order to get a better sense of how moms, in particular, are shopping this season, we recently conducted our own holiday shopping survey.

Of the nearly 300 respondents, 95.7% of them have children between the ages of 0-13. Here are some of our findings:

• The overwhelming majority (75.5%) of respondents say they plan to spend more than $200 on holiday shopping this year. 
• 12.9% plan to spend between $151-$200
• 4.7% between $101-$150
• 4.3% between $51-$100
• 2.5% of respondents plan to spend under $50 this holiday season.
  
  
• Most respondents (60.8%) say they will spend about the same this year on holiday shopping, while 18.7% plan to spend more and 20.5% say they will spend less. 
  
  
• Most respondents (74.8%) say they don't use a shopping app.
  
  
• 84.5% of respondents say they didn't plan to use a store layaway policy this year.
  
  
• Most respondents, by far (61.9%), said they do most of their holiday shopping after Thanksgiving.
• 57.6% of respondents planned to shop on "Black Friday"
• 9% start before Halloween 
• 29.1% start after Halloween
• 14% shop at the last minute
• 6.5%  do holiday shopping all year round

When asked "what's on the top of your child's holiday wish list?" respondents listed tech gadgets such as Nintendo Wii U, iPod, iPad, Nintendo DS, xBox, Kindle Fire, video games and electronics, as well as more traditional gifts such as building blocks and dolls. The Furby is also a hot gift this season, along with – no surprise -- Barbie.