The Financial Post reports in its Monday edition that Santa is hearing Christmas wishes from children at malls adorned in holiday regalia, but among the usual holiday trappings are new factors that could shake up the busiest shopping season of the year: inflation, and high interest rates. A Canadian Press dispatch to the Post says that the combined pressures, with prices up substantially in the last few years and the policy rate at 5 per cent, threaten to weigh on shoppers' willingness to spend and thus, retailers' profits. Nick Muriella at Toys "R" Us Canada, said the toy giant's customers are increasingly thinking about value and being selective when making purchases. "We're definitely seeing much more of, 'Let me grab the deal, I'll go home, I'll think through my budget again and then maybe if something else is a great deal, I'll go back out and get it,'" he said. While Mr. Muriella said shoppers usually experience a "feast or famine" situation around the hottest toy of the year and though supply chain issues have snarled inventory in the past, "that scarcity is not there anymore." Supply of one of this year's most popular toys -- Bitzee, a digital pet made by Spin Master -- is "pretty strong," he said.