Gift cards are the most-requested holiday items on gift lists and about $23 billion will be sold this year.

But what if the gift-giver can buy something on a deep discount and spend less on the gift?

That's what may be driving shopping patterns this year, according to a report today from the National Retail Federation. Fewer cards will be sold and the average dollar amount will be less, it said.

And at least 9.1 percent of buyers in a survey said they'll stretch their budget by buying sale items instead. (That's compared to 22 percent who say the cards are too impersonal.)

Gift card-buyers also may find more incentives for themselves this year: “Though gift cards never go on sale, many retailers are offering incentives on these popular items to help bargain-hunters stretch their budgets even farther," said Tracy Mullin, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, in a statement.

The average person will spend $139.91 on gift cards this year, compared to $147.33 in 2008.

The amount of the average gift card is dropping, too: to $39.80 from $40.54 last year.

Read more from the NRF survey here.