'Tis the season to use mobile apps to save money for the holidays says PriceGrabber® survey

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile shopping continues to grow with more than 110 million smartphone users in the U.S.* and thousands of shopping apps available to consumers free of charge. As the holiday season approaches consumers are looking for ways to improve the shopping experience using mobile devices. Leading online shopping comparison site PriceGrabber^® just released results of its second winter holiday survey, revealing how consumers plan to use mobile shopping applications this holiday season. According to the survey, 31 percent of consumers already have shopping-related apps on their smartphone, and 82 percent of those consumers plan to use those apps to help save money when purchasing holidays gifts. With the ever-increasing shopping app marketplace, it's no surprise that 32 percent of respondents with smartphones said they plan to download new shopping apps in preparation for the upcoming 2012 holiday season. Conducted from Sept. 14 to Sept. 27, 2012, the survey includes responses from 2,469 U.S. online shopping consumers.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121024/LA98992-INFO)

Shoppers plan to deck their phones with apps to find coupons and deals

When consumers were asked what types of shopping apps they plan to download for holiday shopping, coupon apps were the most popular with 70 percent of the vote. This was closely followed by 66 percent of shoppers who said they will download comparison shopping apps; 63 percent plan to download price check apps with the ability to scan barcodes; and 54 percent of respondents will download apps dedicated specifically to searching Black Friday deals. Forty-three percent of consumers plan to download deal-of-the-day apps from daily deal websites such as Groupon® and Living Social®; 32 percent selected price calculator apps to determine discounts, tax and total cost of purchases; and 30 percent plan to download a gift list app to manage their shopping lists.

"Instead of clipping coupons, shoppers are scouring the internet and turning to their mobile devices to find the best deals.  Our survey data states that 82 percent of consumers who already have shopping-related apps will use them in an effort to save money when purchasing gifts this season," said Rojeh Avanesian, vice president of marketing and analytics of PriceGrabber. "With mobile shopping growing at a rapid rate, it will be interesting to see how retailers will gain the shoppers' attention in the competitive mobile market space this holiday season."

Consumers plan to purchase gifts at every price point from their mobile device

As tablets and smartphones have increased in popularity, shoppers are not only using their money-saving apps to compare prices and look for coupons, they plan to follow through with purchasing products at every price point. Forty-two percent of consumers said they plan to purchase both big- and small-ticket items with a mobile shopping app; 41 percent will purchase small-ticket items under $100; 10 percent plan to purchase all of the holiday gifts on their list using shopping apps; and 7 percent will purchase big-ticket items over $100.

Almost half of shoppers plan to reduce trips to retail stores this season

Saving money, time, or just for fun, holiday shoppers are turning to new shopping apps to complement their in-store buying this year. When PriceGrabber survey respondents were asked how many trips they plan to make to retail stores for holiday gift purchases this year, 45 percent of consumers said they plan to make the same amount of trips, 7 percent indicated more trips, and 48 percent said less trips this year. Of those respondents, 57 percent of consumers said they plan to make between one and five trips to retail stores to purchase holiday gifts. Thirty-three percent plan to make six to 10 trips; 8 percent of shoppers plan to take 11 to 20 trips; and 2 percent plan to make more than 21 trips to brick and mortar stores.

To view all of PriceGrabber's 2012 holiday shopping press releases, visit:    
http://www.pricegrabber.com/about.php?about=press

Infographics from PriceGrabber's First Winter Holiday Shopping Survey    
INFOGRAPHIC 3: http://i.pgcdn.com/images/infographics/holiday2_infographic1.jpg    
INFOGRAPHIC 2: http://i.pgcdn.com/images/infographics/Holiday1_Infographic2.jpg   
INFOGRAPHIC 1: http://i.pgcdn.com/images/infographics/Holiday1_InfoGraphic1.jpg   

For shrewd holiday shopping on any budget, visit http://www.pricegrabber.com to browse products, compare prices, read merchant reviews, find local deals, online deals, and more. Download the PriceGrabber mobile applications for smart shopping on the go.

About PriceGrabber.com^®

PriceGrabber is a leading online shopping site with more than 23 million unique shoppers monthly. At PriceGrabber, savvy shoppers can instantly find and compare over 80 million products and services across 25 categories with more than 11,000 merchants. Compare products side by side to find the right retailers at the best prices within popular categories, such as Digital Cameras, TVs, Electronics, Computers, Clothing, Books, and more. PriceGrabber provides shoppers with the right product from the right merchant at the best price anytime, anywhere. Visit us at http://www.pricegrabber.com.

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*comScore 2012

SOURCE PriceGrabber.com