Survey: Nearly Half of Online Holiday Shopping Will Take Place on Tablets

44 Percent of Online Shoppers Will Turn to Tablets for Holiday Purchases this Year; Across Devices, 63 Percent Plan to use Online Catalogs and Gift Guides

BOSTON--()--Zmags, provider of commerce-enabled digital catalogs and publications, today unveiled the results of its holiday shopping survey designed to give retailers and brands a clear understanding of today’s multi-device shopper. Results proved that while desktop/laptop shopping remains the dominate channel for gift buying, tablet adoption is on the rise. As such, retailers will need to present a consistent experience across all channels to meet consumer expectations.

For its holiday shopping survey, Zmags surveyed more than 550 U.S. shoppers who are planning to shop online this holiday season and own a mobile device (a smartphone and/or a tablet), to get a better understanding of their preferences and gripes. Key findings include:

  • Online shopping from a desktop/laptop remains the most popular channel for holiday shopping, but tablet adoption is on the rise. Forty-four percent of respondents plan to shop on a tablet this year and, of that group, 19% plan to do so more than last year.
  • Forty percent of respondents still look to magazines and catalogs for gift ideas and inspiration, but interestingly 42% of them do not plan to make any purchases from these publications this year.
  • Online catalogs and gift guides are the second most popular holiday shopping destination among desktop/laptop shoppers (behind retailer websites). Across devices, 63% of the online shoppers surveyed plan to shop using online catalogs, gift guides and “look books”, coming in ahead of social media channels.
  • Detailed product reviews are one of the most important requirements for online shoppers, but lack of product information is their biggest gripe, cited among 39% of online shoppers.

“We set out to get a better understanding of how U.S. consumers plan to shop this holiday season and what their preferences are when browsing for and buying gifts,” explained Scott Bleczinski, President of Zmags. “What we found particularly interesting is that consumers still look to print magazines and catalogs for inspiration, yet few will actually use them to make their gift purchases. To succeed this holiday season, retailers will need to provide the immersive, inspiring experience that shoppers get from catalogs across all of their shoppable channels – Web, mobile and social.”

To see the complete results of this holiday shopping survey, please visit: http://bit.ly/SHx8Xx.

About Zmags

Zmags unlocks new revenue opportunities for retailers and marketers by delivering fully-branded, commerce-enabled digital catalogs and publications that are consistent across all consumer touchpoints. The Zmags platform provides an immersive digital environment that invites discovery, deepens customer engagement and allows streamlined purchasing directly from the page.

Zmags is among the fastest growing technology companies in North America, having been named to the 2012 Red Herring Top 100 North America Tech Startups and the 2012 Inc 5000, and is ranked #70 on the Deloitte 2011 Technology Fast 500. The company is headquartered in Boston, Mass. with offices in London and Copenhagen. For more information about Zmags, please visit www.zmags.com or follow us on Twitter: @zmags.

Contacts

fama PR
Keri Bertolino, 617-986-5007
zmags@famapr.com

Release Summary

Zmags unveiled the results of its holiday shopping survey designed to give retailers and brands a clear understanding of today’s multi-device shopper.

Contacts

fama PR
Keri Bertolino, 617-986-5007
zmags@famapr.com