Christmas in June? Though the winter holidays are still months away, it's time to prepare for the busiest shopping season of the year. Today we bring you a few of our top insights from the 2009 season to help prepare you for 2010.

1. Consumers Start Early: 44% of shoppers had already started their holiday shopping and researching as of August last year.
2. Coupons & Promos Are Here To Stay: Searches for 'promo codes' increased by as much as 55% year-over-year.
3. Black Friday Weekend On The Rise: Searches rose 20% year-over-year as consumers flock online during the traditionally offline shopping event.
4. Happy Mondays: 2 of the top 3 days for online purchases were Mondays.
5. Paid Search Boosts Awareness: In a joint test with Levi's, Google found that paid search ads, whether or not clicked, raised consumer awareness substantially.
6. Tis' The Season To Be Mobile: Half of all new internet connections will come from mobile phones.
7. Reach The Non-line Shopper: Searches for "buy online, pick up in store" were up by as much as 100% this past December.
8. Santa's Late Arrival: The week before Christmas accounted for a surprising 20% of post-Black Friday online sales.
9. Hottest Holiday Gifts: Hottest gifts of 2009 included stalwarts like Pikachu and Legos, as well as newcomers, such as the Nerf Marshmellow Shooter.
10. Post-Holiday Rebound: Conversion rates to top retail sites rebounded immediately following the holidays, reaching November levels.

For more holiday trends, tips, and insights, visit our Holiday 2009 blog series. We'll kick off our real-time, daily holiday blog series for the 2010 season later this year.

Posted by Eric Lopez, the Google Retail Team