Canadians are cozying up to shopping from their mobile devices this holiday season: PayPal

Mobile shoppers in Canada set to spend an average of $243 buying gifts on mobile devices this year

TORONTO, Nov. 21, 2013 /CNW/ - 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, almost half of Canadians with mobile devices (48%) agreed that shopping from their smartphone or tablet is a better option than shopping in store during the busy holiday season.

More than half of Albertans (54%) and Ontarians (51%) agreed that shopping from their smartphone or tablet is a better option than shopping from a physical store as compared to 44 per cent 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.

"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.

For more information, visit www.paypal.ca or follow PayPal Canada on Twitter: @PayPalCA.

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.

* 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.

About PayPal 
PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online, via a mobile device and in store. The service gives people simpler ways to send money without sharing financial information, and with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts, credit cards or promotional financing. With 137 million active accounts in 193 markets and 26 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global commerce, processing almost 8 million payments every day. Because PayPal helps people transact anytime, anywhere and in any way, the company is a driving force behind the growth of mobile commerce and expects to process $20 billion in mobile payments in 2013. PayPal is an eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY) company and contributed 40 per cent of eBay Inc.'s revenues in 2012. PayPal is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. and its international headquarters is located in Singapore. More information about the company can be found at www.PayPal.ca.

SOURCE: PayPal