Almost Half of Holiday Shoppers Plan to Buy Via Mobile This Year, Survey Finds

Most people plan to head to a brick-and-mortar story to do their holiday shopping this year, but almost half of them also plan to shop on their mobile devices as well, according to a new survey from Citi Retail Services. However, rewards will drive many of those purchase decisions, it found.

The survey of 1,000 U.S. adults revealed that 73% planned to go to physical stores to buy holiday gifts this year, but 42% also planned to shop from their smartphones and tablets. In addition, 57% planned to use their computers to shop, and 13% said they planned on using a virtual assistant such as Alexa or Siri.

“What we’re seeing is that technology is altogether reshaping the holiday shopping season,” Citi Retail Services Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Workforce Development Leslie McNamara said. “Consumers are turning to connected devices to purchase gifts in droves and for retailers, this means rethinking their marketing strategy to encompass a robust strategy – including voice technology – to reach consumers in their evolving channel of choice and ensure a seamless shopping experience.”