This Christmas is All About Multi Screen Shopping [Study]

‘Tis the season to be researching gift purchases on your iPhone and making the transaction on your tablet or desktop. So says Google! This month, the search Overlord released the study below, ‘Holiday Consumer Intentions.’ While the study is very much US centric, it’s a fair assumption that similar patterns will apply here in the UK, particularly as the UK has now overtaken the USA in terms of smartphone penetration.

Here’s the full study:

Holiday Consumer Intentions Study Key Points

Perhaps the most critical take away points from the study are the following:

• 80% of Christmas shoppers will research their purchases online first, regardless of how they then make the purchase (whether in a store or online).
• Google’s data suggests a massive 51% of shoppers will research online and buy from a shop in person
• The data highlights the fact that 17% of shoppers will do it the other way round – start in a shop, find what they’re looking for and complete the purchase online (online bargain hunters?)
• 32% of shoppers are expected to go online-offline-online, by starting their research online, visiting a store offline and then ultimately completing their transaction online
• Google states that “85% shop for a gift on one device then make the purchase on another.” 
• 80% of tablet owners will use their devices for Christmas shopping

Multi-Screen Shopping

The data highlights a pattern we’ve seen developing over the last 2 years – our multi screen buying habits. Many of us have smartphones, tablets, desktop or laptop computers and some even smart TVs. We demand access to the Internet on all of our devices and fully expect to be able to carry out our usual internet tasks (shopping included) whichever device we are using.

Never has it been more important for retailers to ensure a fluid shopping experience for consumers on all devices.