2012 Digital Holiday Shopper Survey

Digitally Enabled Holiday Shoppers Expect
More from their In-Store Shopping
Experience
© COPYRIGHT 2012 SAPIENT CORPORATION 1
Findings from SapientNitro & GfK Roper Survey | December 19, 2012

Even as retailers have expanded purchase options and
welcomed digital shoppers into stores this holiday season,
most Americans believe that retailers could do more to
enhance the in-store shopping experience.
Checking out with a Target REDCard®

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Among smartphone users, a majority would like:

“From investing in GPS-enabled store maps or
updating mobile shopping apps for smartphones and
tablets, retailers placed big bets on today’s ‘always-on’
shopper and both parties won. Their efforts made
holiday shopping easier but have raised consumer
expectations for more.”
– Chris Davey, global head of commerce at SapientNitro

Holiday Shoppers Blend Online/Offline
Behaviors in Complex Ways
While embracing digital in their lives, respondents want to
preserve their family time too. The majority of Americans
(62%) feel "it is wrong" that stores are opening earlier and
earlier on Thanksgiving Day just to get a jump on Black
Friday sales.

A majority of digital users (51%) report “showrooming,” that
is using retail stores to browse products, all the while
planning to buy a product later online.

The overall trend in online shopping continues to rise

“I just asked my daughter to give me a list of what
she wanted and she included links so I went online
and it was much easier than going to the store.”
One respondent noted:

Digital Devices Help Consumers
Navigate Deal Volume
An increasing number are using their digital devices to help
them navigate and find the best bargains, with 43% saying
that, compared to last holiday shopping season, they are
relying more on their smartphone, tablet, or computer.

“I bought a lot more gifts on my iPad than I did last
year, just because it was convenient. I could do it
wherever I was, I didn’t have to be at my desk, I
could be watching TV, or in bed or wherever…”
One respondent noted:

While there were more deals to be had, the number
of options available this holiday season made finding
the best deal more cumbersome for some.

Even among smartphone users, four in ten report
“feeling overwhelmed the past few weeks with so
many holiday shopping deals offered by email,
newspapers, in stores, etc.”

At the same time, 70% Americans like the fact that
many Cyber Monday sales are now being extended
into Cyber Week.

The biggest increases in use from the 2011 post-Thanksgiving
holiday season include smartphone users reporting digital
device use in the following ways:
• Researched and browsed for products (82%, up from 67% in 2011)
• Bought something (74%, up from 55%)
• Used an email offer from a retailer (62%, up from 45%)
• Used a consumer rating site to help them decide to buy a product
(56%, up from 40%)
• Used a mobile coupon (33%, up from 18%)

Areas to Watch
SapientNitro has identified a number of rising consumer trends to watch
over the coming holiday seasons.

According to the poll, among smartphone-wielding
holiday shoppers:
• 35% used their GPS/location feature on their phone to help with
holiday shopping (vs 31% in 2011)
• 27% used a QR code to find more information about a product (vs
19% in 2011)
• 9% used a Black Friday or Cyber Monday mobile app
• 7% have purchased something on their tablet

“With nearly six in 10 smartphone users in our
survey reporting that they’d like to see retailers offer
mobile payment options, the industry must
align quickly.”
– Chris Davey, global head of commerce at SapientNitro

Supplementary Materials
Press Release: www.sapientnitro.com
Data graphs & quotes: www.slideshare.net/sapient
Video interviews of holiday shoppers: www.youtube.com/sapientnitro
How do you shop? Join the dialogue on Twitter #howishop

December 14 - 16, 2012 by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate
Communications on behalf of SapientNitro
How The Survey Was Conducted
Note to journalists: raw survey data available upon request.
Contact: David LaBar
Email: dlabar@sapient.com

This telephone poll is based on a nationally
representative probability sample of 1,007 general
population adults age 18 or older reached on landline
telephones.
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.0 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the
entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples.

2012 Digital Holiday Shopper Survey

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