By: Liz Farmer

The National Retail Federation’s most recent survey has found that more than two-thirds of consumers say the economy will affect their spending this holiday season.

The survey, conducted by BIGresearch, also estimates individual spending this season will drop 3.2 percent to about $683. The trends this year will see more consumers searching out sales and using coupons, according to the survey. About one-third of Americans also said they planned to use last year’s holiday decorations.

In essence, these trends aren’t much of a change from last year. It’s just that this season, retailers have more advance warning and have time to adjust their inventories accordingly. As NRF’s September Port Tracker report notes, traffic to the nation’s ports has scaled back to levels not seen since 2003.

“While last holiday season was filled with chaotic confusion, adjusting to uncertainty has now become routine for many Americans,” NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin said in a statement. “This holiday season will be a bit of a dance between retailers and shoppers, with each group feeling the other out to understand how things have changed and how they must adapt.”

The NRF also recently predicted a 1 percent drop in total spending this November and December to $437.6 billion.

Makes you think — last year’s post-holiday sale season was marked by extreme discounts because retailers were left with more inventory to dump than usual after Dec. 25. With more time to plan correctly, could we see less drastic measures for this year’s post-holiday sales?