1 in 4 Mobile Owners Say Device Integral to Holiday Shopping

December 9, 2011

prosper-holiday-shopping-with-tablet-smartphone-usefulness-dec11.gif23.5% of smartphone and tablet owners say their device has been an integral part of their holiday shopping experience so far and they could not shop without it, according to [download page] a Prosper Mobile Insights survey released in December 2011. Data from the report indicates that a further 35.2% say their device has made shopping more convenient, although they could holiday shop without it if needed. Just 1 in 5 say they either do not holiday shop or do not plan to use their device for holiday shopping, while only 8.1% say they prefer to shop without their device.

Of the roughly two-thirds of device owners who have already used their device for holiday shopping, 35.1% say it has been integral to their shopping experience, almost triple the proportion (12.2%) who say they have not seen much benefit and prefer to shop without it.

1 in 2 Will Use Device for Research

Half of the “mobile holiday shoppers” surveyed say they will use their device this holiday season to search for gifts, stores, or deals, while 42.8% say they will purchase products using their device. According to a December Harris Poll, a growing number of consumers will use their mobile phones this holiday season while in-store: for example, 1 in 5 say they will use their mobile phone web browser or an app to look at price comparisons when shopping for home electronics or entertainment.

The Prosper survey results indicate that the most popular planned activities among device owners this holiday season are taking pictures (81.6%), communicating with loved ones respondents will not get to see for the holidays (67.8%), and making plans to get together with family and friends (56.6%). Almost half say they will share their holiday experiences through social media.

Shopping Apps Popular for Savings

Meanwhile, 84% of consumers who have shopping-related applications on their smartphones indicate that they plan to use their apps to help save money when purchasing holiday gifts, according to a PriceGrabber survey released in December 2011. Data from the survey indicates that overall, 39% of respondents have a shopping-related app on a smartphone, 26% do not, and 35% do not own a smartphone.

When consumers who own a smartphone were asked whether they plan to download new shopping apps on their phones for holiday shopping purposes, 42% indicated that they would do so. When asked to select all of the types they plan to download, comparison-shopping apps came out as the most popular, with 70% of these specific consumers intending to download them. This was closely followed by the proportion of shoppers who said they will download coupon apps (65%) and who will download price check apps with the ability to scan barcodes (62%).

Mobile Shopping Seen Widespread in September

Mobile shopping is clearly gaining traction among consumers, and December figures from comScore closely align with results from the Prosper survey showing the popularity of mobile devices for shopping: data from the survey indicates that two-thirds of of all smartphone owners performed shopping activities on their devices in September, including comparing products and prices, searching for coupons, taking product pictures, or locating a retail store.

Digital content purchases, such as music, eBooks, TV episodes and movies, were the most popular mobile purchases in September with 47% of mobile shoppers buying these items. 37% purchased clothing or accessories directly from a retailer, while 35% bought event tickets. About one-third also bought daily deals and gift certificates on their device.

Majority Purchase At Home

comScore’s September figures indicate that the most popular purchase location for mobile shoppers was at home (56%), although 42% made purchases while out at other places, or at work. 37% also used their smartphone to make a purchase while commuting, followed closely by the proportion (36%) who used their device while in-store.

According to the PriceGrabber survey, 79% of consumers who will download new apps for holiday shopping this year said they will use the apps on the go, while 74% will use the apps from home, and only 32% will use the apps at work.

About the Data: The Prosper Mobile Insights Mobile Survey was conducted 11/29 – 12/2/11 among 332 smartphone and tablet users on their device. The PriceGrabber survey was conducted 10/18 – 10/26/11 and included responses from 3,574 US online shopping consumers.

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