Mobile shoppers spending more than a penny in the toilet

Yes, you did read that correctly.

CashStar's recent nationwide survey of 2,104 online adults, conducted by Harris Interactive, revealed that U.S. adults use their mobiles, and computers, in some strange and unexpected places.

More than 38 million admit to having conducted online shopping while, of all places, being on the toilet (hand sanitizer anyone?), giving more meaning to shopping 'on-the-go'. Men, it seems, are more likely to undertake this particular form of multi-tasking, and I can only assume they're sitting comfortably and not juggling their, er, 'devices'.

While 17 million shop in more usual places, such as when in a retailer's physical store, more than four million take their lives into their own hands and shop online while driving a vehicle, found the report.

Online shopping also appears to cure boredom with more than 9 million secretly shopping during attendance at a business meeting.

"Smartphones and tablets have enabled consumers to shop and gift on-the-go in more ways and places than ever before," says David Stone, co-founder and CEO of CashStar. "The retailers who have been paying attention and catering to where and how consumers want to shop by mobile-optimizing their e-commerce sites and offering mobile eGift Cards will reap the rewards this holiday season and have a jump on the competition going into 2013."

Earlier this year, the "Global Online Shopper Report" from WorldPay revealed that 95% of online shopping takes place in the home - 3% of which takes place in the bathroom.

Tags: ecommerce, mobile shopping, online shopper, shopping insights