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Consumers get ‘Smart’ about Black Friday

November 18th, 2011 Comments off

As the annual post turkey day sales event known as ‘Black Friday’ approaches, consumers are preparing themselves for the single largest shopping day of the holiday season.  In a recent survey we conducted of smartphone users, we revealed some interesting insights and methods behind the consumer madness of this epic shop til you drop event.

Prepare Yourselves for the Masses

Only 12% of consumers say they don't plan on shopping Black Friday

This years sales event will be heavily attended, with only 12% of consumers stating that the will not shop Black Friday sales.  With 63% indicating the plan to shop, another quarter of the consumer audience is still on the fence.  With the advertising onslaught only just begining, it will be interesting to watch what percentage of those undecided will step into the fray.

Men and women will take part nearly equally, with women who plan to shop edging out men by only a slight percentage.  The largest segment 80% of those venturing out have annual incomes of between 35 and 49 thousand, while those earning between 100 and 150 thousand a year represent the largest group (20%) planning to sit this one out.

Planning ahead is a wise move.

Consumer’s planning ahead are likely to have the best experience this year as crowds and lines are likely to be large and long.

Less than a quarter of those we surveyed plan to camp out, have a saved place in line or some other method of arriving at the store(s) they want to shop at.  46% say they’ll simply arrive as the store opens, while just over 30% say they’ll risk the possibility of sell outs by waiting until crowds thin out.

Many plan this year’s Black Friday to be the shopping day on which they intend to do most of the holiday shopping, with over half (56%) reporting that they’ll do 50-75% of their holiday shopping during the event.

This year, consumers are coming armed with smartphones, and the use of these devices is nearly certain to influence purchasing behaviors.  Nearly 100% of those surveyed said they would use their smartphones on Black Friday, with 30% stating that comparison shopping using the device would be their number one behavior.   Another 20% say they’ll redeem coupons with their smartphone, a trend that is increasing gradually as brands adopt the powerful method of delivery, but coming in a surprising third, 17% say they predict they’ll use their device to scan QR codes on Black Friday.

So, what will consumers be purchasing at these popular sales?   Popular gifts for kids, such as video games or consoles, tops the list for Black Friday consumers, followed in close order by clothing, computing electronics and video.


High ticket and returnable items are high on shoppers Black Friday wishlists.

 

Smartphone video content consumption on the rise

October 11th, 2011 Comments off

We recently surveyed our growing panel of smartphone consumers about their video consumption habits, and it’s clear that the smartphones are starting to keep pace with desktops and laptops as the method chosen to view video.

Polling over 400 consumers, we asked how many had watched some form of video on their smartphones in the last month. Responding by type of video watched, 97% of those surveyed watched at some kind of video content.

That isn’t too surprising.  91% of those surveyed find watching video on a smartphone enjoyable, with another 94% calling the act ‘convenient’, and 87% finding the activity ‘easy’.

But, when asked about ‘most preferred method of viewing’ specific types of video content, things got very interesting.

For instance, despite enjoying viral success  that originated on the ‘desktop/laptop internet’, 52% of consumers who watch video content on YouTube now prefer to use their smartphones to view the content.

It doesn’t stop there.  The fact is mobile consumers we surveyed called the smartphone the preferred method of viewing versus desktop & laptop for every type of video content, besides television and movies.

This sort of makes sense, don’t you think?  The fact that consumers prefer to watch movies and TV shows on the desktop or laptop might lie in the fact that the content itself requires longer to consume, and the small screens of most smartphones are very likely a big factor as well.

Helping underscore this theory is the finding that desktops and laptops aren’t the only viewing modes taking a hit from the smartphone; television is losing the news audience to smartphone viewers too.

As our study reflects, the percentage of viewers who now prefer watching news on a smartphone is in even greater proportions versus television,  than those who prefer to watch on desktop or laptops.

 

Overall, the smartphone seems to be taking on viewers any time the content doesn’t rely heavily on large screens and/or high quality for proper enjoyment.

TV still reigns supreme in the areas of TV Shows, Movies, Sports and even commercials.

As for desktops and laptops?

My prediction is that where smartphones haven’t already surpassed them as the preferred video viewing platform, increasing ownership of tablets and more new & lower cost tablets on the horizon will probably signal a near complete displacement of viewership.

iPhone users: more iPad, less desktop in 2012

September 15th, 2011 1 comment

A recent SurveyApp survey we conducted among our mobile consumer panel, revealed that nearly a third of all iPhone users plan on beginning to use an iPad in 2012.

Those same respondents believe that 2012 will also signal a marked decrease in their use of a desktop computer.

Interestingly enough, it appears that the iPhone, aside from displacing more ‘traditional’ digital device usage, is also displacing other Apple devices, such as the iTouch, which perhaps becomes a bit redundant after the purchase of either the iPhone or the iPad.

As we approach the holiday season, it will be interesting to watch how the release of iPhone 5 and overall evolution in the smartphone marketplace continue to erode at traditional computer usage.

Here’s a visual look at the data.

Of similar interest is the high percentage of those surveyed, over 30% who intend to begin using an iPad, and over 10% who intend on using some form of tablet. While this doesn’t speak directly to purchase intent, it seems logical that by means of purchase, gifts, or other means, these devices will fall into the hands of a lot of people. Conversely, laptops, desktops and netbooks ranked low on the lists for the upcoming year, and I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t also the harbinger of lower sales for this class of computing device.

With the holiday season right around the corner,  will 2012 be the year of the tablet?  The death of the desktop? Stay tuned for more on this story over the next few months!