Tis the season to spend?

Tufts students making long, pre-finals treks between their dorms and the library were not the only individuals inconvenienced by this weekend's snowfall. Retailers and market analysts expressed fears that the wintery weather would result in a substantial sales drop, citing the decreased sales figures that resulted from an early December snowstorm in the Northeast last year.

"Shoppers in the Northeast tend to be spending more at this time of the year than in other parts of the country," chief Bernard Sands retail analyst Richard Hastings told CNN. "So any disruptions to their shopping schedules could have a material impact on overall sales."

Even before this weekend's snowstorm, however, economic experts were viewing the season with trepidation. In mid-November, Tufts alumnus and Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs International Robert Hormats told CNBC that consumer behavior throughout the holiday season would play a large part in determining whether the recent economic upswing will translate into long-term recovery.

"I think it still remains to be seen how strong the American consumer is going to be. I think the American consumer will be relatively robust," Hormats said. "But we're getting a lot of warnings from department stores, from big chain stores, that the consumer may not plunge in there."

In general, however, Tufts students' attitudes toward "plunging in" to holiday shopping defy the stores' early pessimism.

"I've been fortunate enough not to be severely affected by our lagging economy," sophomore Jessica Simoncelli said. She, like fellow sophomores Alice Chiou and Abby Estabrook, plans on spending the same amount for holiday gifts this year that she did last year.

Estabrook, who spends "at most, $20 a person," does most of her shopping at Target: "It has everything," she said.

Estabrook is not alone in her appreciation of retail stores like Target, K-Mart, and Wal-Mart: according to market research firm Harris Interactive, 80 percent of college students patronize such "general purpose retailers" and will likely do so this holiday season.

A large proportion of consumers and college students in particular are also expected to utilize online shopping options this holiday season: according to a recent ABC News survey, 31 percent of Americans will engage in e-commerce this holiday season. (24 percent did so last season.)

Online shopping provides an attractive alternative for students like Simoncelli and sophomore Telly Kousakis. "I hate being in malls," Kousakis said; "I abhor malls and their thronging masses," Simoncelli agreed.

"I love online shopping, especially for things like DVDs and CDs," Kousakis said. "It just makes things easier when you don't have to go out and get it. Delivery is usually really prompt, and sometimes they have online deals, so who can complain?"

"Only recently have I begun shopping online. It's only of late that I've started visiting Amazon and Ebay," Simoncelli said. "It's actually fairly painless, and certainly efficient -- my orders usually consist of DVDs, CDs, maybe books."

Simoncelli and Kousakis's preference for purchasing online is consistent with a national sales trend. Online stores saw an over 25 percent jump in sales compared to last year, according to Bizrate.com. The company tracks sales of over 2,000 e-commerce sites.

Some students remain wary of Internet shopping, however: "I don't usually shop online," Chiou said. "I don't really like it because when purchasing clothes it is difficult to know what size to get."

Chiou prefers a more traditional method of holiday shopping: "Most of the time, I go to malls to go shopping because there are a variety of stores that I can pick from," she said.

Along with conventional methods of shopping, some students continue to utilize traditional methods of paying for purchases. "I like to use cash to buy presents, so that way I can keep track of how much I am spending," Kousakis said. "If it's on debit, I end up spending more money than I would like to."

Other students, including Fairchild and Simoncelli, pay for their holiday purchases with their debit cards.

"In a store I'll usually end up using my debit card because using cash can become disheartening -- you physically watch it dwindle," Simoncelli said. "Plus, [using a debit card] makes receipts easier."

If Tufts students have anything to do with it, retailers will see a sales spike after the last day of finals, Dec. 18: "The end of semester is usually so hectic that I can't find the time to get off campus and go shopping," Kousakis said.

"With schoolwork, classes, sports practices, and friends, it is tough to find enough time to make a serious Christmas shopping trip seem worth the hassle of carrying bags on the T," Fairchild said, adding that most of her holiday shopping is done in the days after she returns home from break.

"I try to [shop before break], but it is difficult because of finals," Chiou said. "Also, usually I am sick around this time."

"I definitely do not do any sizeable amount of my shopping before winter break," Simoncelli agreed. "If something strikes me as a gift [someone] would love during the fall, I'll nab it then, but I'll get most gifts in the few days - or hours! -- before Christmas."