Village Gamer

Canadians are looking to forego mall mayhem, skip the long lines at the cash register and shop with ease from their mobile devices this holiday season. According to a new study conducted by Pollara on behalf of PayPal Canada, 48% of Canadians with mobile devices agreed that shopping from their smartphone or tablet is a better option than shopping in store during the busy holiday season. Meanwhile 54% of Albertans and 51% of Ontario respondents agreed that shopping from their smartphone or tablet is a better option than shopping from a physical store as compared to 44% of people in Atlantic Canada. The majority of Canadians felt that shopping from their mobile device this holiday season is better than shopping in store because they can avoid long lines and crowds (68%) and enjoy the flexibility to shop anytime and anywhere (55%).

While curling up on the couch or dressed in their pajamas, Canadian mobile shoppers plan to do at least some of their holiday shopping while watching TV (52%) or lying in bed (38%). Others have revealed that they’re likely to shop on a mobile device from the dinner table, the office boardroom or even the bathroom. Mobile shoppers are defined as those who shopped or made online purchases using smartphones and/or web-enabled tablets for this study. ** There’s no fee to send money with PayPal to friends and family in Canada if users link a bank account or use the money in their PayPal account.

“Convenience seems to be a key driver for why Canadians are warming up to shopping from mobile devices this holiday season,” said Kerry Reynolds, Head of Consumer Marketing, PayPal Canada. “In Canada, we have 5 million active users who can shop securely with PayPal on their web-enabled mobile devices this holiday season to buy gifts from some of their favourite online retailers in Canada and worldwide – in just a few clicks.”

Holiday shopping from mobile devices – The study revealed that Canadian mobile shoppers are likely to spend an average of $243 buying gifts from their smartphones and tablets, which is closing in on what they expect to spend shopping online ($311) from their laptop or desktop computers this holiday season. Other interesting data points include:

• Men are more likely to spend more from their mobile devices ($278) than women ($195)
• Mobile shoppers in British Columbia expect to spend the most while shopping during the holidays from their devices ($395).

Canadians shopping, searching, and sending money on-the-go – About one-third of Canadians are likely to shop for electronics and gadgets like televisions and gaming consoles while on-the-go. One in four Canadians indicated toys would be a top purchase, and one in five said they’re likely to buy women’s clothing using a smartphone or tablet this holiday season.

During the holidays, more than half of Canadians (52%) expect to use their mobile device to find the best price and research products. One in every three Canadians is likely to buy gifts (36%) from their mobile devices. Some are expected to give on-the-go to their favourite charity (12%) while others indicated they would like to send money (8%) from their mobile device. Using the PayPal mobile app, Canadians can swiftly and securely send money to their friends or family to pitch in for year-end gifts or family dinners.

Pinching and zooming – a major pain point – Those surveyed shared that having to pinch and zoom to navigate a web page was the most frustrating part of shopping (37%) from a mobile device. Re-entering billing and shipping details every time they shopped from a mobile device (28%) was another pain point. With PayPal as their digital wallet, holiday shoppers can use their smartphones and tablets to shop from Canada’s most popular online retailers without having to enter their shipping, billing or credit card details.

 

^{Study Methodology – Results are from a Pollara survey, fielded online between November 11- 14, 2013 among 1503 Canadians (including 987 smartphone/tablet users). A probability sample of this size would have a margin of error of +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20.}

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