PriceGrabber published the results of a holiday shopping survey today. The company surveyed 3,574 online shoppers in late October about their holiday shopping plans.
Of those who responded, 35% did not own a smartphone, while 26% owned smartphones but did not have shopping apps on them. The remaining 39% have smartphones with shopping apps already installed. Of all those who have smartphones, 84% responded that they would use them to help with their holiday shopping.
Of those who own smartphones, 42% responded that they were planning to download new shopping apps specifically for holiday shopping. Of that group, 70% selected comparison shopping apps as the kind they were most likely to download. Meanwhile, 65% said they would download coupon apps, 62% said they would download barcode-scanning price check apps, and 46% responded that they planned to download apps specifically geared toward Black Friday sales.
When those who planned to acquire new apps were asked why, 56% responded that they believed the apps help find the best prices on items, while 50% cited the convenience of receiving discounts and price information on their phones, 44% cited a lack of time to go shopping in the traditional sense, 38% felt the apps enhance the experience of shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, and 28% appreciated the location-based features of the apps.
Of those who intend to get new apps for shopping, 79% said they intended to use the apps for shopping on the go, while 74% said they would use them from home, and just 32% planned to use their phones to shop from work. This shopping is not limited to any specific kind of gift, either. Sixty-three percent of respondents said they would buy either big-ticket or small-ticket items from their apps, while 20% said they meant to do all their holiday shopping via smartphone app, 8% said they would only buy items that cost less than $100, and 5% said they would only buy items over $100.