Almost half of Holiday shopping will be done online in 2014, according to National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Holiday Consumer Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.
According to the survey, 56 percent of Holiday shoppers plan to shop online, up from 51.5 percent last year and the most in the survey’s 13-year history.
Additionally, the average person plans to do 44.4 percent of their shopping online, the most since NRF first asked in 2006.
As mobile grows in use and scope, consumers this holiday season will turn to their on-the-go devices for many reasons. The survey found the majority of smartphone owners (55.7%) will use their device in some fashion, up from 53.8 percent last year. Specifically, 35.8 percent will research products/prices, the highest amount in the four years NRF has been asking. Nearly one-quarter (23.9%) will redeem coupons and 19.1 percent will actually purchase items – another survey high.
Almost two-thirds (63.2%) of tablet owners will use their device to research and purchase holiday items, which is the same as last holiday season. Nearly half (47.4%) will research products and one-third (33%) will purchase items.
For the first time, NRF asked consumers about their comfort level using a smartphone or tablet to pay for merchandise at a store check-out counter. According to the survey, 27.4 percent said they would be somewhat or very comfortable; however, two in five (41.9%) say they are not very or not at all comfortable paying for items that way.
Broken out by age, 41.1 percent of 25-34 year olds are somewhat or very comfortable using their device to pay for items at the register, compared to just 14.4 percent of those 65+. Men are much more likely to feel comfortable with the technology (32.6% vs. 22.5% of women.)
Retailers should take heed: one-quarter of shoppers say easy-to-use mobile websites is an important factor in their decision to shop with a specific retailer.
All good reasons to have strong APM and mobile APM strategies this year.
About the Survey: The NRF 2014 Holiday Consumer Spending Survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the winter holidays. The survey polled 7,547 consumers and was conducted for NRF by Prosper Insights & Analytics, October 1-7, 2014. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.
