Survey reveals heavier dependence on mobile for holiday shopping this year

During the 2011 holiday shopping season, just 3% of people said they intended do all, or most, of their shopping via a smartphone or tablet. This year, that figure has risen considerably to 16%, according to MarketLive's latest "Mindset of a Multi-Channel Shopper" survey.

Furthermore, the numbers of people that will use mobile to research gifts, find store locations and compare prices are also up this year. Almost 3 in 10 people (29%) will use their mobile device for these purposes this year, compared with just 12% a year ago.

Mobile devices will be used to plan in-store shopping, too. Not only will more consumers conduct research prior to a store visit (29% - up from 12% last year), but 43% will use a mobile device to redeem a voucher at in-store point of sale.

Other findings from the survey, which questioned participants about their general online shopping intentions and habits, include:

- 33% will do 'all' or 'most' of their holiday shopping online this year, compared to 25% last year;

- Value is key to deciding where to shop - 87% said value was 'most' or 'somewhat' important with price second with 85%;

- 45% of shoppers said online peer recommendations and reviews were 'very' or 'somewhat' important this year, compared with 34% in 2011;

- Personalized gifts are more popular this year with half of shoppers saying it was a 'very' or 'somewhat' important reason for buying online, compared with 41% last year.

"Given what we now know about how people will shop this season, according to the shoppers themselves," said Ken Burke, founder and chairman of MarketLive, "retailers should be asking themselves:

- How can I better optimize my brand for m-commerce?
- How can I better garner consumer interest via social media?
- How can I improve my value proposition and execution?"

Tags: consumer survey, ecommerce, holiday 2012 trends, mcommerce, mobile marketing, mobile payments, mobile shopping, online reviews, U.S.