Western European consumers will spend €19 billion during the 2008 holiday season, the time from early November to the end of December. Despite the current economic recession, this represents a 25% increase compared with last year's holiday shopping season. Why the increase? Shoppers report being more likely to spend less overall but will buy more online across a variety of product categories ranging from groceries to toys and apparel. The largest category by total sales is consumer electronics, at 29% of holiday sales, followed by clothing and food and drink.