Latest report details evolving cross-device habits and trends of the seasonal shopper
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. — RhythmOne (“1R” or “the Company”), a technology-enabled media company that connects audiences with brands through premium content across devices, announces the release of its 11th annual holiday season commerce study. The company has posted a 1R Insights brief detailing findings, based on a survey of U.S. online adults 18 or older, revealing pronounced mobile purchasing habits and trends.
The Season of Mobile Shopping Confidence
With mobile now squarely in the holiday consumer journey, the study shows that 7-in-10 (71.5%) holiday shoppers are “mobile holiday shoppers” and will use a mobile device to go online and/or use an app to shop or research holiday products and gifts. Among mobile holiday shoppers, 40.9% will use a smartphone only, 40.0% will use both a smartphone and a tablet, and 19.1% will use a tablet only to research/shop for holiday products and gifts. Of note, 3-in-5 (60.4%) mobile holiday shoppers aged 18-34 years will exclusively use a smartphone as their mobile holiday shopping device.
Conducted by RhythmOne in the first half of October 2015, this research provides insights gleaned via its study of a segment of 459 respondents who self-identified as consumers who are either currently shopping or will shop for the 2015 holiday season. While the company has studied “holiday shoppers” for 11 consecutive seasons, trending over the past couple years indicates not only the prevalence of mobile in the path to purchase but habits suggesting opportunities for marketers:
- Mobile is the digital platform of choice. For a large segment of holiday shoppers (those aged 18-54), a mobile device is preferred over desktops/laptops by a wide margin.
- Mobile use continues its ascent. Two-fifths of holiday shoppers who will use a smartphone and/or tablet to shop will use their mobile devices more this holiday season versus last.
- Retailers will see the impact of purchases made via mobile devices. More than one-third of holiday shoppers who will use a smartphone and/or tablet to shop for holiday gifts will make purchases directly on their devices.
- Mobile is an essential element of in-store shopping experience. One-half of holiday shoppers use their mobile devices while in a physical store location to assist in the shopping process; checking competitor prices is the most common in-store mobile activity.
“In our past holiday consumer studies, we documented the steady rise in the number of consumers turning to mobile devices to help with their holiday shopping,” said Dan Slivjanovski, CMO. “Today we can unequivocally say that we are beyond the tipping point and mobile shopping – whether window shopping or making a purchase – is as much a part of the holiday season as Black Friday deals. For brands and retailers, this means mobile experiences from advertising and content distribution to native apps and in-store mobile experiences have to be nurtured.”
Other Key Findings
- Prior to Thanksgiving, more than one-half of female holiday shoppers will have started shopping for the holidays. Entering the extended Thanksgiving weekend, 1-in-2 female holiday shoppers will have started their shopping — by the end of the weekend, that number will increase to 3-in-4.
- Compared to other age segments, baby boomers are expected to increase online holiday purchases the most. Online purchasing is an essential element of the holiday shopping process, and nearly one-third of baby boomers (i.e., those aged 55 or older) expect their activity to increase in 2015 compared to 2014.
- In-store push notifications are redeemed when noticed by consumers. The majority of holiday shoppers who recall receiving an in-store push notification featuring a coupon or promotion eventually redeem it.
The most popular holiday shopping activities conducted from a mobile device are comparing prices of different retailers (39.6%) and making a product purchase (38.5%). These activities are followed by searching for retailer’s promotions or coupons (30.8%), reading product reviews (28.0%), researching products before buying online (27.5%), researching products before buying offline (27.3%), finding a store location (24.8%) and visiting a retailer’s mobile site (22.4%). For expanded insights, please visit the RhythmOne blog to review the study in full: http://www.rhythmone.com/blog/2015/11/10/holiday-buying-for-the-always-on-consumer.
About RhythmOne
RhythmOne is a media technology company that connects audiences with brands through premium content across devices, at scale. We work with advertisers, publishers and content providers to offer fully integrated, cross-screen advertising solutions, spanning desktop and mobile video, rich media, display, social and native formats. RhythmOne offers advertisers a significant supply footprint through both owned and operated web properties and a network of quality partners. RhythmGuard, our proprietary filtering technology that screens and qualifies inventory pre-campaign, eliminates suspicious or fraudulent traffic before it reaches the advertiser. The sum of these capabilities ensures advertisers maximize their ROI, with transparent measurement around campaign effectiveness and attribution. RhythmOne’s long-term vision is to provide the industry’s most accountable marketplace for online advertising.
The Company is headquartered in San Francisco, California with offices worldwide. For more information please visit www.rhythmone.com.
