87 Percent of Tablet Owners Using Tablets for Holiday Shopping, Finds Study

Tablets' convenience and browsing ease inspires 44 percent of owners to spend $300+ on holiday gifts via tablets

News Facts:

• According to a survey commissioned by Zmags, the global leader in on-demand rich media merchandising and customer analytics, 87 percent of tablet owners are holiday shopping using their tablets and will spend an average of $325.
• Nearly a third of tablet owners like to shop on their tablets because it is convenient. Twenty-four percent of tablet owners also like how the tablet experience facilitates easy browsing and helps them discover products via retailers' sites, digital catalogs and apps.
• Clothing, toys and luxury categories are quickly joining electronics for strong tablet commerce prominence this holiday season. More than half of tablet owners are browsing for clothes on their tablets, with 38 percent buying them via their device. Toys are browsed by 43 percent of tablet owners, with 38 percent purchasing them on their tablets. Jewellery is not far behind, with several tablet owners admitting to purchasing expensive diamond rings, watches and bracelets using their tablets.
• Tablet owners plan to engage in couch commerce for the long term. Next year, 49 percent of today's tablet owners plan to shop even more using their tablets, whereas only 19 percent of smartphone owners say they will shop more from their smartphones.

Other survey findings include:

• Fifty percent of tablet owners say the couch is their favoured location for shopping but they can also be found shopping in bed (20 percent), at the kitchen counter, in the mall and at coffee shops as well as on public transportation.
• More than half of tablet owners say shopping makes them feel happy and more excited, indulgent and generous than other forms of online, mobile or in-store shopping.
• Tablet shoppers see themselves as savvy spenders (52 percent), spontaneous splurgers (14 percent) and luxury buyers (9 percent).
• Men are bigger spenders on their tablets than women this holiday season. Fifty-two percent of the men estimate they will spend between $201-500 via their tablets, compared to 37 percent of female shoppers.

The survey of 1 500 online shoppers, including 238 tablet owners, was conducted by Equation Research for Zmags. A broader report studying the profiles and behaviors of tablet, smartphone and Facebook shoppers will be released in January 2012.