While physical gift card purchases and receipts are still preferred over digital, both awareness and actual use of digital gifts is growing, with male shoppers leading the way, says research from Stored Value Solutions. The research also suggests that adoption can be accelerated by making users, both givers and receivers, comfortable with the form factor.

Consumers find it easy to use social media for brand engagement, but that doesn't mean they are using it.

Consumers expect to hear knocks on their door from delivery services well into the holiday week and for no cost at all, according to Deloitte's 30th annual holiday survey of consumer spending intentions and trends. In fact, free shipping is the top priority for shoppers when it comes to retail policies, with 72 percent of responding consumers planning to take full advantage of the perk. Nearly 9 in 10 shoppers (87 percent) prioritized free shipping over fast shipping (13 percent) when purchasing gifts shopping online.

With a quarter of holiday shoppers planning to spend more this year than last, retailers can start to celebrate. In its second year of research into holiday shopping plans, analytics company SAS polled 3,458 consumers in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand. The U.S. led spending growth with 29 percent of consumers saying they'll spend more. Canadian shoppers, on the other hand, are tightening their budgets this year. Millennial shoppers (ages 18 to 29) are most likely to up their spending this year, while older consumers are tending to stick with last year's budget.

The majority of U.S. shoppers plan to do the bulk of their holiday shopping this year online. But retailers know that not all shoppers are created equal, and new research highlights some of the differences.