More than 38 Million* Online Americans Shopped While on the Toilet

PORTLAND, Maine, Nov. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The holiday shopping season is nearly in full swing and survey results announced by CashStar, the world's leading digital gifting and incentives company, show that online Americans are shopping from their mobile devices in mass numbers, sometimes from unexpected places.  The survey found that more than 38 million* online adult Americans admit to having shopped online while on the toilet. It also found that convergence is happening in unexpected ways with almost 17 million* shopping via a mobile device while standing in the retailer's physical store. The survey, which was conducted online nationwide by Harris Interactive on behalf of CashStar from November 6-8, 2012 among 2,104 U.S. online adults aged 18 and older, examined the strange or odd places U.S. adults have used computers or mobile devices to shop online.

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"Smartphones and tablets have enabled consumers to shop and gift on-the-go in more ways and places than ever before," said David Stone, co-founder and CEO of CashStar. "The retailers who have been paying attention and catering to where and how consumers want to shop by mobile-optimizing their e-commerce sites and offering mobile eGift Cards will reap the rewards this holiday season and have a jump on the competition going into 2013. Retailers on the CashStar platform whose eGift Card website is optimized for mobile have seen 3,700 percent more sales from mobile devices this year than retailers whose sites are not mobile-optimized. Why? Because the experience is so much better, faster, and easier for consumers."

The CashStar Mobile Online Shopping Survey also found some other surprising shopping trends:

• The strangest places consumers have shopped?
  • Do not disturb -Men were more inclined to shop while on the toilet than women.
  • Shopping and driving – Despite the danger, more than four million* Americans have still shopped online while driving a car.
  • Just checking email at the conference table? – More than nine million* Americans admitted they have secretly shopped while in a business meeting.
• Bringing physical and online retail together -More west coasters indicated that they were inclined to do this than people in other regions of the country.
• Milk, bread, and that new flat screen –More than seven million* Americans have filled their grocery and online shopping carts at the same time; they have shopped from their mobile device while at the grocery store.

*Calculation based on U.S. Census Bureau's 2011 Census, which estimates there are 237,744,632 million adults ages 18+ residing in the United States: 237.7M  x  0.16 = 38M have shopped online while on the toilet

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of CashStar from November 6-8, 2012 among 2,104 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Pauline Louie of Schwartz MSL at [email protected].

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll® and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers proprietary solutions in the areas of market and customer insight, corporate brand and reputation strategy, and marketing, advertising, public relations and communications research. Harris possesses expertise in a wide range of industries including health care, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Additionally, Harris has a portfolio of multi-client offerings that complement our custom solutions while maximizing our client's research investment.  Serving clients in more than 196 countries and territories through our North American and European offices, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us - and our clients - stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

About CashStar, Inc.

CashStar is the world's leading preferred digital gifting and incentives partner for retailers. These retail brands leverage CashStar to easily and securely integrate digital gifting strategies to increase sales and customer loyalty. CashStar offers consumers an unmatched personalized eGift experience via email, mobile and social channels. It is the only company to successfully combine an on-demand B2C and B2B digital gifting and incentives platform with innovative multichannel marketing strategies. More than 250 brands are successfully partnering with CashStar to drive incremental sales, increase retention and boost profitability including Best Buy, Chili's Grill & Bar, CVS/pharmacy, Gap, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Pottery Barn, QVC, Sephora, Staples, Starbucks, T.G.I. Friday's, The Body Shop, The Home Depot, and Williams-Sonoma. To learn more about how CashStar is constantly innovating the way businesses deliver personalized gifting experiences to consumers and partners in the digital world, please visit www.cashstar.com or e-mail [email protected].

Contact:

Pauline Louie
Schwartz MSL
[email protected] 
(781) 684-0770

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SOURCE CashStar, Inc.