• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, October 24, 2014

Holiday shoppers will be looking for deals.

As the pre-holiday shopping surveys roll in, issues around product pricing and deals continue to lead the list of consumer desires.

Before even going to the store, one in three shoppers plan to tap into their phone to check prices, based on a new survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted by Google Consumer Surveys for Thinknear.

Before the holiday shopping trip, consumers expect to use their mobile phone for a range of activities. They are:

• 32% -- Price comparisons
• 31% -- Research gift ideas
• 27% -- Research product reviews
• 25% -- Look for coupons, sales
• 22% -- Make a shopping list

These results are similar to those found in the American Express Spending and Savings Tracker study conducted by Ebiquity that I wrote about here earlier this week (Holiday Shoppers: Half Will Use Mobile, Half Won’t).

In that survey, the top activities around holiday shopping were browsing for gift ideas, comparing prices and accessing deals.

The Google survey found that when shopping in a physical store, some but not all consumers plan to use their phones during the process. Here’s what they plan to use them for:

• 30% -- Price comparisons
• 27% -- Sales, coupons
• 23% -- Product reviews
• 20% -- Gift ideas
• 16% -- Entertainment

In terms of individual spending plans, the majority (52%) plans to spend about the same as last year and 14% expect to spend more. As to mobile influence, a third of consumers say they have made a shopping decision in the past based on content they saw on their smartphone or tablet.

If this survey is any indication, marketers need to take care in how they tap into the phones of shoppers.

Even though just about every mobile shopping study we see has consumers wanting deals near or at the top of the list, this survey found fewer than a third (30%) are open to receiving coupons or discounts via mobile. And that’s the top thing they’re open to receiving.  Only 14% want gift recommendations and 10% shopping reminders.

However, to help them find or get to the store, 16% are open to receiving locations or directions.

Another issue is how far consumers will go to get the best deal, where it’s about a 60-40 split.

While 58% will drive up to 15 miles for the best deal, 42% say they’ll go 16 miles or more.

But before any of that driving, some shoppers will be checking their phones to determine just where those deals are located.
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