Study: Shoppers hitting stores earlier, doing more research

According to the study most holiday shoppers (80%) will research a product online before buying over the 2012 holidays and they'll do so on different devices. About half will research online and buy offline and about one-third will research online, go to a store to 'see' a product and then buy it online.

The Google/Ipsos study found:

• 85% shop via one device but research with a separate device
• 45% will abandon carts this holiday season
• 45% will email links for purchases

Of those who are researching purchases online 13% say they'll watch online video to make decisions and nearly half will look up product reviews through mobile devices pre-purchase.

While shoppers are researching online, they're likely looking for Black Friday sale deals - and many of those flyers have already leaked online. In the US, Black Friday marks the official start ot the holiday shopping season; while that date is still a month away, deal flyers like this one from ACE Hardware have already hit leak sites.

"For retailers, there is no better time to shine than the holiday season, and it's evident that online retailers are already planning to go the extra mile for their customers this year," said Shop.org Executive Director Vicki Cantrell. "Consumers can expect even more of an integrated shopping experience this holiday season with companies also looking to enhance their mobile marketing efforts to capture the attention of the millions of holiday shoppers who are already thinking about their shopping lists."

According to the National Retail Federation just over half of shoppers will begin shopping online for the 2012 holidays.

Tags: 2012 holiday trends, ecommerce, ecommerce trends, Google, Ipsos OTX, mobile commerce, mobile shopping, NRF, Shop.org