Aiding Purchase Decisions: PC 74%, Phone 40%, TV 36%

by Chuck Martin, Yesterday, 12:05 PM 

Consumers continue to bounce around digital access devices as they shop this holiday season.
In yet another indication that consumers are researching many ways before making decisions about what to buy comes a study showing that shoppers are turning to multiple devices while they shop.
Consumers use multiple media types to gain information as they shop, according to an online survey of 2,000 U.S. adults, more than half of whom were smartphone owners, conducted by Harris Poll for IAB and Verizon
For making purchase decision, most (74%) turn to their computer, 40% to smartphone and 36% to their television.

Understandably, most (74%) have seen holiday ads on TV with fewer than a third (29%) seeing them on their phone.

Of those who do not purchase via smartphone, 46% do so by computer and 33% in stores, keeping in mind that this was an online-only survey.

Consumers plan to use their phones to shop for or purchase a variety of items, which is consistent with other studies. Here’s what they plan to buy:

• 36% -- Clothing
• 31% -- Dining out
• 29% -- Music, videos and/or books
• 29% -- Toys and games    
• 29% -- Consumer electronics
• 29% -- Groceries
• 21% -- Tickets

The survey found that more than half (58%) of smartphone owners surveyed also own a tablet.
At this time next year, we are likely to see even more shopper interaction with multiple devices.
The Harris survey found that one in five smartphone owners plan to spend the week between Christmas and New Year’s learning about the new devices they received as gifts.
Many of those new devices likely will be used for more mobile commerce.