Some 80 percent of mall shoppers used mobile devices to plan shopping trips and to do online research beforehand over Thanksgiving weekend, according to data culled from 2.1 million visits to mall websites that week. PlaceWise Media, which manages 750 websites and other platforms for shopping centers, compiled the data from its network. “While more than 90 percent of shopping purchases are made in-store, shoppers’ use of mobile devices to research before and [to] assist them during their shopping trips is now standard practice,” said John Dee, COO of PlaceWise Media. “Additionally, many retailers have been starting Black Friday deals earlier for a few years now. This year has been no exception.”
Smartphones were shoppers’ favorite research tool, according to PlaceWise, accounting for 76 percent of the online research reported. Tablets accounted for 7 percent. Seventeen percent of the studied consumers used a desktop or laptop computer to do either pretrip planning or to get information about stores, products and deals during the trip, while 66 percent were using an Apple device.
Total online traffic within the PlaceWise national digital network was nearly double the number of visits of a typical week and peaked at 6 p.m. MT on Thanksgiving Day with nearly triple the number of visits of a typical Thursday, according to PlaceWise.
Across total weekend traffic, 37 percent of shoppers were online on Thanksgiving Day, 31 percent on Black Friday, 22 percent on Saturday and 10 percent on Sunday.
When visiting the websites, 21 percent of the shoppers looked at basic information (home page, shopping center hours, directions); 10 percent went to the shopping center directory page; 45 percent went to retailer, deal or events pages; and 24 percent went to other pages, the firm reports. Fifty-five percent of shoppers on smartphones were online while at home, 36 percent were on the go, and 9 percent were actually at the mall shopping.
“In today’s mobile-enabled retail world, shoppers’ expectations are higher. It is therefore essential for shopping centers and their retailers to ensure that their content across all digital channels is timely, engaging, relevant and accurate — and delivered seamlessly to shoppers as they embark on their individual shopping journeys,” Dee said. “The better the experience, the more centers and retailers can build shopper audience and loyalty and provide them reasons to continue shopping on the premises.”
