It looks like being a bleak Christmas for retailers in the West Midlands with the region's shoppers planning to spend the least overall in the UK during the festive season.
According to the Annual Christmas Retail Survey published by accountants Deloitte, there has been a serious tightening of the purse strings in the West Midlands with consumers planning to spend just £571 on gifts, food and drink, and socialising - down £63 on 2006.
The Scots will be the biggest spenders with £848.
The Scots are also the most generous when it comes to buying presents, on average spending £496 per person, compared to those in the West Midlands who will splash out the least - £307 - across the UK on gifts for their friends and family.
Despite an expected pick-up in socialising spend across the UK this Christmas, following a steep fall in 2006, party-goers in the West Midlands will be staying at home rather than painting the town red.
Nationally, money spent on going out to pubs, clubs and restaurants over the festive period will rocket from £121 in 2006 to £143 in 2007, compared to £105 in the West Midlands - the lowest in the UK.
Anna Marks, consumer business audit partner at Deloitte in Birmingham, said: "Traditionally, the West Midlands has been one of the most generous regions when it comes to buying gifts and going out socialising over the Christmas period.
"However, this year it appears that consumers will be cutting back on the frivolous spending, choosing instead to tighten the purse strings, which could be bad news for the region's retailers and hospitality and leisure industry.
"These sectors look forward to the increased business that the festive season generates, and a fall in spending will hit them where it hurts, in the tills."
But it is not just the high street retailers and bars, clubs and restaurants that should be worried.
According to the Deloitte survey the average spend on food and drink in the West Midlands is also predicted to fall, from £168 in 2006 to £159 in 2007. The average expected spend across the UK is £178.
In the East Midlands, consumers are planning to spend £193 on food and drink, up from £179 the previous year.
Ms Marks said: "Despite average spend on food and drink decreasing in the West Midlands, overall across the Midlands region it has increased by seven per cent, which is in line with the nine per cent rise seen across the UK.
"This is partly driven by consumers trading up and indulging themselves with premium, provenance and fair trade products."
Other consumer trends highlighted by the survey include the use of the internet for buying gifts and other goods, where shoppers will purchase their food and which toys and gadgets will be the most popular presents.
According to the survey, 74 per cent of consumers will use online or mail order in some way for their Christmas shopping and two thirds (66 per cent) will research or purchase goods online compared to half of the population (51 per cent) last year.
High-tech gadgets such as video games consoles and iPods are leaping up the gift lists. Forty-four per cent of those surveyed said they will buy a computer game for friends or family, up from 38 per cent in 2006, and 26 per cent expect to purchase an MP3 player.
As for where shoppers will buy their food, grocery retail will capture the bulk (77 per cent), but "going local" for food is growing in popularity. Twenty-nine per cent of consumers, up from 20 per cent in 2006, will head to independent stores and local farmers' markets.
