Holiday Retail Survey Shows Mobile Phones Will be Workhorses of the Shopping Season

BOSTON, Nov. 30, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The holiday shopping season has officially begun, and a new survey has revealed that shoppers are going mobile to find the perfect gifts for their friends and loved ones. Modapt, Inc., a Boston-based technology company that optimizes websites for the mobile web and Morrissey & Company, a communications firm, collaborated on the survey, which gathered data on mobile users' holiday shopping habits last season and their projected plans for this season.

More than half of respondents report they are making purchases using their mobile devices, and nearly a quarter have used mobile devices in the past to purchase holiday gifts. The results also show that during the holiday season:

• 56 percent of respondents had made a purchase from their mobile phone;
• 58 percent of respondents will use their mobile phone to compare prices while shopping;
• 48 percent will use their mobile phone to find store locations that carry the products they seek;
• 90 percent of those who had made a mobile purchase said that convenience was a major factor, and 47 percent said ease of use was a primary reason they had made a purchase.

In addition, 66 percent of the mobile users said they will be enticed to use their phones to make purchases if retailers offer mobile incentives, and 46 percent said better price offers would convince them to make a mobile purchase. Clearly, mobile phones will be a major tool in shoppers' arsenals this holiday season.

"Consumers are more likely to do their shopping via mobile when it is convenient and when there are good incentives," said Mark Lederhos, co-founder and CEO of Modapt, Inc. "Responsive retailers will respond in turn by making their mobile sites more enticing, easy to use and accessible, and by offering unique content and deals."

"This time of year it is important for retailers to know how shoppers are interacting with their products via every outlet, including mobile," said Jim Barbagallo, managing director at Morrissey & Company. "Mobile is fast becoming one of the most important platforms for accessing the web, so it stands to reason that it will be a premier tool for holiday shoppers as well. These survey results show that shoppers are using their phones to not only purchase gifts, but also as important aids to make smart buying decisions."

Lauren DiGeronimo
P: 617-399-6018
lauren@morrisseyco.com

Doug Flora
P: 617-399-6023
doug@morrisseyco.com

About Modapt, Inc.

Modapt™ provides a hosted platform technology that enables publishers to easily adapt their website so that it can be viewed in a user-friendly way on any mobile phone that supports web browsing. The service maintains live real-time integration between the web property and the mobile version. Any changes made to the main website are adapted to the mobile version synchronously, on the fly. The company is privately held with offices in Boston and Melbourne, Australia and is backed by a private equity group out of Australia. For more information, visit www.modapt.com.

About Morrissey & Company

Morrissey & Company is an award-winning reputation communications firm dedicated to managing, advancing and protecting the reputation of its clients through public relations, integrated and digital communications services.  With strong global experience, and longstanding relationships with many of the world's largest independent networks, we offer our clients access to the best professionals and resources in key global markets. For more information, visit www.morrisseyco.com.

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