Tablets and smartphones will be a very big part in this year's holiday shopping experience for both consumers and retailers.
A recent Holiday Spending Survey by the National Retail Federation showed that consumers will use these devices for a variety of reasons, primarily:
- Comparing prices and researching products. 32.9 percent of smartphone owners and 44 percent of tablet owners will use their devices to help them research product attributes and prices.
- Purchasing items. 15 percent of smartphone owners and 30 percent of tablet users will purchase the products directly from their devices. For consumers between the ages of 18 and 34, these figures rise dramatically: 25 percent of smartphone owners and nearly 40 percent of tablet owners.
- Redeeming coupons. Approximately 19 percent of both smartphone and tablet owners will use their devices to redeem coupons.
Men will use their tables and smartphones more than women to aid them in their shopping. 32.3 percent of men who own a tablet will use this for shopping compared to 27.9 percent of women. Likewise, 17.5 percent of men who own a smartphone will use it to help shop versus 12.6 percent of
women.
On the other side of the shopping experience, many retailers are equipping their in-store personnel with these mobile devices to assist consumers and capture sales that could be lost.
Floor personnel at Macy's will have tablets to help answer customer questions about an item's features or availability. To help overcome out-of-stock headaches, Target had added a code to some of the best-selling toys, so consumers can simply scan the code and purchase the out-of-stock item online while in the store.
