Two area grocers are bidding for a cut of consumers' holiday spending dollars, and not just those spent on turkey and cookie dough.

In the last week, both Shop 'n Save and Giant Eagle began doubling incentives on gas discounts earned through the purchase of certain gift cards even as both expanded the collection of retailers that customers can reach while pumping up their perks.

About 40 of the region's independent Shop 'n Save stores officially launched their plan Thursday, promising 20 cents off a gallon of gas at participating Sunoco stations for every $50 gift card sold. At the same time, the grocers started selling gift cards for stores such as Home Depot, Macy's and Best Buy.

Giant Eagle, which has been carrying gift cards for other retailers for a couple of years, quickly responded Friday by doubling gas discounts earned for purchasing third-party gift cards. There, too, shoppers get 20 cents for every $50 card purchased. The deal is for stores in the Pittsburgh area and in West Virginia, although it will be extended to other markets soon.

No word on how long either grocer's double deal will last.

Then, yesterday, the O'Hara grocer expanded the battle to a new front by releasing details on an online option for earning gas discounts while shopping at more than 600 retailers through a special Web portal.

Giant Eagle, which began promoting the service to its customers a couple of weeks ago, sees the addition as a way to set its fuel discount program apart from those of competitors in several markets. Among the stores that can be shopped from the online site are Apple, Blue Nile, GameStop, Saks and Target.

Customers have to register their Advantage Card number at the Web site, www.fuelperksmall.com, to earn gas discounts while shopping online. For the moment, they'll just earn 10 cents off per $50 and, no, the grocer doesn't allow double dipping by buying a gift card and then spending it online.

A recent online survey of about 1,000 consumers predicted the nation's economic slowdown might curb overall spending on gift cards by as much as 5 percent this holiday season.

Yet sales of gift cards through outside locations, such as grocery stores, drugstores and kiosks, are projected to grow 30 percent over last year, according to the survey by Archstone Consulting, of Stamford, Conn.

Meanwhile, gasoline prices continue to drop even without plugging in discounts from grocery stores. Yesterday, the average price of a regular gallon in the region was $3.23, down from $3.62 a month ago, according to the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. Of course, a year ago at this time, the average was $2.82.

A Giant Eagle spokesman said the average redemption per customer rose over the past couple of summers as gas prices rose, which may have been a case of people waiting as long as possible to fill up or bringing along an extra fuel container to make the most of those cents-off offers.