By Chuck Martin
The holiday shopping surveys are now coming out fast and furiously and all signs are pointing to many shoppers being very busy on their mobile devices.
Some new stats from the Accenture 2013 Holiday Shopping Survey show that many (38%) of shoppers will be heading to stores on Thanksgiving Day, though a large number (41%) won’t be out until 6 p.m. or later.
The shoppers also will be on the move, with more than a third (38%) visiting four or more stores.
When in stores, more people this year will be showrooming this year (63%) compared to last year (56%), according to Accenture, which is a higher projection than some other surveys.
Somewhat the reverse of that also is expected to be relatively high this year, with the majority (65%) of shoppers browsing online and then heading to a store for the actual purchase.
Younger shoppers are the most likely to shop on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, with more than half (55%) of 18-to-24-year-olds likely to shop on Thanksgiving
Once in the store, a third (33%) of those shopping with smartphones expect to use their mobile device to compare prices inside the store.
On Thanksgiving, more women (42%) than men (31%) are likely to be shopping and more women (58%) than men (49%) are expected to on Black Friday as well.
Shopping on Black Friday is forecast to be at the highest level in five years, with the majority (55%) of consumers likely to shop on that day, which is slightly higher than last year (53%).
More shoppers this year (30%) are expected to do most of their Black Friday shopping online, compared to last year (25%), according to Accenture.
A growing number of consumers will buy or research gifts using smartphones (18%) and tablets (19%), both increased from last year.
And as shown in many studies, shoppers will be looking for deals with almost half (48%) expecting the best discounts to be on Thanksgiving, Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
And it looks like the shoppers will be out in droves looking to capitalize on those deals.
Chuck Martin is Editor of the mCommerce Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily MobileShopTalk column. He is the author of “Mobile Influence,” “The Third Screen,” and “The Smartphone Handbook.” He is CEO of Mobile Future Institute. Chuck Martin is a frequent Mobile Keynote Speaker and Mobile Marketing Speaker internationally. He also addresses Social Media in Mobile.
