Americans expected to spend $34.2b on tech this holiday season

The hoverboard is expected to be on many wish lists this year. Photo / Getty

When it comes to holiday shopping, tech products are once again at the top of wishlists across America.

According to the Consumer Technology Association, the trade group behind the annual CES tech trade show, there were 56.9 million people who planned to buy tech products ahead of what the firm calls "2015 Black Friday Week." That spans from the Monday before Thanksgiving to "Cyber Monday."

The group's survey of more than 1,000 respondents found that there were some new types of products - namely wearable devices and set-top boxes - on shopper's lists this year. "For the first time, emerging tech products such as fitness activity trackers and digital streaming devices broke into the top 10 most-purchased tech products over the holiday shopping week," said Shawn DuBravac, the group's chief economist in a statement. They were, however, still behind perennial favorites such as smartphones, televisions and tablets. Videogame consoles were also a popular item.

The CTA survey estimates that total spending on technology this holiday season will reach $34.2 billion, an increase of 2.3 percent from last year and record. A reported 151 million people shopped over Black Friday weekend altogether, spending an average of $299.60 each.

Tech played into the way people shopped as well, in what was a big weekend for retailers. According to an IBM study, this was the first year that shopping done through tablets logged more money than shopping through desktops. The average order made through a tablet, the company said, was $136.42, just edging out the $134.06 on desktops.

When it came to shopping via gadget, the largest number of people shopped through smartphones at just over 20 percent. However, while there were lots of smartphone shoppers, they tended to spend a little less per order - $121.06, according to the study.

IBM also identified a few products that were trending, according to data analysis done by its Watson super computer. These included a few tech products, including Beats by Dre headphones (now an Apple product), MeccaNoid's robot-building kits, and Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. game for Wii U.