This holiday season, more consumers ever will shop local and with the assistance of mobile technology.
According to Deloitte’s 28th annual survey of holiday spending intentions and trends, increasing smartphone ownership is taking more consumers down the digital shopping route, while many shoppers plan to frequent local small businesses when visiting stores this holiday season.
Overall, smartphone ownership has risen to 61 percent of respondents from 42 percent just two years ago. The impact? More consumers are poised to use mobile to their advantage in the retail rush of the holiday shopping season.
Among smartphone owners, nearly seven in 10 (68 percent) plan to use their devices for holiday shopping. These consumers will primarily use smartphones to search for store locations (56 percent), check and compare prices (54 percent) and obtain product information (47 percent).
Consumers that use smartphones to assist in holiday shopping will likely “help retailers’ registers jingle this year,” as these shoppers plan to spend 27 percent more on holiday gifts than non-smartphone owners.
All told, two-thirds (66 percent) of shoppers plan to shop locally at small businesses, independent retailers or boutique shops which are not part of national chains.
