For years, consumers have been enjoying early bird deals available on Black Friday and Cyber Monday; however, with the holidays here—Hanukkah began last week and Christmas Eve is tomorrow—shoppers are seeking ways in which to avoid high shipping fees while still completing their gift list shopping, notes eMarketer.com.

eMarketer.com also points out that mobile remains a key channel by which sales may be captured in other areas. In fact, in the next couple of days, mobile will become, not a purchasing tool, but an important shopping tool for late shoppers who seek deals and hope to save trips to stores that do not carry the items they seek.

This month, Internet shoppers have used smartphones and tablets during their holiday shopping for a variety of reasons. In fact, Market Track conducted a survey to determine the ways in which U.S. internet shoppers used their smart phones and tablet devices. The survey, dated December 10, 2014, is entitled, “Black Friday Shopper Insight Study,” according to eMarketer.com. All of the groups used their mobile device to check prices and make purchases, but in varying numbers:

  • In all, 53 percent of people 21-29 years of age—the greatest percentage—used their mobile devices to check prices; 11 percent to make purchase. This group is considered to be the most money conscious of those surveyed.
  • A total of 48 percent of people aged 30-39 used their devices to check prices; 20 percent to make a purchase—the greatest percentage to use their devices for purchasing.
  • In the 40-49 age group, a total of 23 percent used their devices to check prices while only 6 percent used their phone or tablet to make a purchase.
  • People in the 50-59 age group used devices only 12 percent of the time, and only to check prices.
  • Those 60 years of age and older only used their devices to check prices and only used their devices for this purpose 4 percent of the time.

The figures are not entirely surprising, mobile devices are considered fairly useful at all times of the year to check for pricing, although they do come in very handy during the hectic year-end holiday season.

Often, mobile was used to help holiday shoppers begin their buying before ever visiting a physical store location, noted eMarketer.com. An earlier study conducted in September 2014 indicated that the top way in which most U.S. shoppers—78 percent—used their devices was to look up store hours and locations during the holiday season. Some three-quarters of shoppers would also use their devices to search for coupons, promotions, sales, and specials; about half said they purchased on their smartphone.

Other polling conducted by Deloitte in September 2014 revealed that 68 percent of internet users in the U.S. would likely “webroom” during the holidays. Webrooming is the practice of researching a product online and then visiting the brick and mortar establishment for the purchase. It is believed webrooming will increase in popularity as the season proceeds, according to eMarketer.com, which suggests sellers ensure that potential shoppers will be able to find what they need online, driving them to the physical location to complete the purchase.

Source:

EMarketer.com; How Mobile Helps Last-Minute Holiday Shoppers: Holiday Shoppers Use Mobile to Check Prices, Look Up Store Info; Dec 22, 2014; http://www.emarketer.com/Article/How-Mobile-Helps-Last-Minute-Holiday-Shoppers/1011751