Tenth Annual Holiday Season Survey Shows Mobile Devices are Effective in Engaging Shoppers and Steering Them Down the Path to Purchase

WHAT:

It's that time of year again! Black Friday is three weeks away and holiday season shoppers are raring to go—and they are using mobile devices like never before.

Conducted in the first half of October 2014, Burst Media and Rhythm NewMedia surveyed 786 US online adults aged 18 or older. The study focuses on why consumers use mobile devices while shopping within a brick-and-mortar store location as well as how and when they plan to shop this year for the "traditional" December holidays such as Christmas, Hanukah and Kwanza.

Key findings:

• Consumers use mobile devices in-store to help make purchasing decisions. Among respondents who use mobile device(s) inside physical retail locations to help with the shopping experience, one-half (53.8%) research and compare prices of different stores—and 41.5% research and compare the features of different brands.
  
• Push notifications received in physical locations drive retail purchases. Three-quarters (76.8%) of respondents who report receiving mobile push notifications in-store for promotions read the alerts when they come through—and 67.2% usually redeem what is being offered.
  
• Mobile payment systems are used by young shoppers. Nearly one-quarter (22.2%) of 18-34 year-olds who use mobile devices to shop use apps (e.g., Google Wallet, Apple Pay, etc.) to purchase items inside physical locations—including 40.0% of men aged 18-24. 
  
• Mobile continues its ascent. Two-fifths (39.5%) of respondents who use a smartphone and/or tablet to shop will use their mobile devices more this holiday season versus last.
  
• Retailers will see the impact of purchases made via mobile devices. Among respondents who will research holiday items/purchases on their mobile devices, 58.8% say they will do so to assist in making online purchases, 46.2% say they will do so to help with offline purchases and one-third (33.3%) will make purchases directly on these device(s).
  
• Consumers shop online to avoid the stress of dealing with big lines and crowds. One-quarter (24.9%) of respondents say their favorite aspect about shopping digitally is that it's "relaxed."
  
• As of mid-October, more than one-quarter (27.2%) of respondents have started shopping for the holidays. This figure nearly doubles the 2013 finding for the same period.
  
• Planned use of a desktop device for holiday shopping has dropped sharply. In 2014, one-third (32.7%) of respondents report using desktops for online holiday shopping—compared to 47.8% in 2013.
  
• Consumers use Connected TVs and Gaming Platforms to shop. Among all respondents, 10.5% use Connected TVs and 7.5% use gaming platforms (e.g., Xbox) to shop for the holidays—and men aged 18-24 lead the way at 24.0% and 28.0%, respectively.

The Lesson for Retailers:

This holiday season will very clearly be impacted by the rise of the "mobile consumer" and their use of mobile devices to research products and/or make holiday purchases.

To be successful this holiday season, marketers must embrace making consumer connections on mobile platforms. These connections can be accomplished and amplified through owned and operated platforms (i.e., mobile optimized websites and mobile apps) as well as through mobile advertising opportunities and mobile extensions to television and interactive display campaigns. When paired with mobilized sites on browsers or within installed apps, mobile rich media specifically can be a very effective branding and direct marketing vehicle—especially when location-based targeting (e.g., geo-fencing within a mile radius of a physical retail location) is applied. Additionally, mobile in-stream video can be an extremely effective tool to massively distribute a brand's message with sight, sound and motion.

WHO

Mark Kaefer, Marketing Director at Burst Media, is available for interviews about the survey.

WHERE

Boston, MA

WHEN

November 6, 2014

LINKS

Full Online Insights Research Report (PDF)

http://burstmedia.com/index.php/newsroom/2014/11/05/mobile-shopping-behaviors-and-the-holiday-season

Blog Post and Infographic

http://burstmedia.wordpress.com/2014/11/05/mobile-shopping-behaviors-and-the-holiday-season/

Companies

http://burstmedia.com/

http://rhythmnewmedia.com/