3 trends for the holiday shopping season

The holiday season is upon us. Here's what shoppers can expect:

No fighting over must-have gifts: Trend experts say there's no single item that's emerging as a must-have for the holiday season.

Sure, in the world of toys, anything "Star Wars" is faring well as well as a slew of robotic pets like robotic toy bears from Mattel's Fisher-Price and an interactive unicorn from Hasbro. But there's no runaway hit.

In fashion, jeans are making a comeback this holiday season, which should help perk up teen retailers' business, and athletic-inspired clothing like yoga pants remain popular. But overall, there's nothing that's making shoppers run to stores.

It'll be cheap to stay warm: Heavy sweaters and winter coats are piling up at department stores and specialty chains heading into the Black Friday weekend.

Unseasonably warm weather and a shift in changing shopping habits toward experiences like spas have limited shoppers' appetite for such clothing. So plenty of stores like Macy's, Nordstrom and Dick's Sporting Goods say they plan to further mark down excess goods.

That's good news for shoppers, but bad news for stores whose profit margins will be squeezed.

But many are left with no choice but to discount.

As Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren recently told analysts: "We're not selling lumber so I can't carry the lumber over to 2016 and sell it at the same price next year. We're selling fashion apparel, so we're going to mark that inventory down."

Toys will be pricey: Prices are climbing for toys as manufacturers pack lots of technology into them. Deborah Weinswig of the Fung Business Intelligence Center says in a recent report that prices of what the company considers the top 20 expected toys was nearly 36 percent higher than last year, with the average price of $64.99.

And there are plenty of toys that cost $100 or more, observed Toys R Us CEO Dave Brandon. He cited Fisher-Price's Smart Bear, which has a suggested price of $99.99, as an example.