Festive food and drink spending to remain unchanged, claims survey

Retail director at the organisation Helen Roberts said it is unclear at present whether this means consumers intend to spend the same but get less for their cash.

She said: "It's going to be fascinating for Retailers to keep watch on how these indicative first findings develop as we get closer December."

And Roberts added that people are beginning to think more about the prevailing credit crunch because it gets so much coverage in the media.

Retailers will therefore be watching the situation in detail, she suggested, to see what actions consumers take in the coming months.

According to the firm, an amount of "belt-tightening" is already taking place because of the economic slowdown.

It stated that in July and August a third of shoppers switched to use supermarket own-brands rather than more expensive alternatives.

The findings from GfK NOP come after the Interactive Media in Retail Group said that more people will use the internet to buy goods at Christmas 2008.