Online holiday traffic may be driven by purchases from smartphones, tablets

Holiday shoppers will be driving wireless traffic, in addition to filling parking lots this holiday season, according to new data from Prosper Mobile Insights.

In a survey performed in late October, the firm found that nearly 62% of respondents said they plan to use their smartphones or tablets for holiday shopping this year. How so?

-- 61% of these shoppers said they plan to use their devices as "mobile malls," comparing prices and making purchases.

-- 39% said they plan to use their devices to make their lists and check them twice, as well as track sales and try to stay on budget.

-- 3.1% said they're likely to use their devices to "share their shopping experiences with others."

-- On average, the mobile shoppers said they plan to make 38% of their holiday purchases using their devices.

And while at least one analyst suggested that Amazon's relatively late Nov. 15 release date for the Kindle Fire could hurt sales, the majority of those surveyed by Prosper Mobile Insights — a nearly equal split between men and women, though with a notable average age of 45 — are gearing their shopping around several days of the long Thanksgiving weekend.

While 30% said they were "Somewhat or very likely" to purchase products from their devices Thanksgiving Day, 67% said the same of Black Friday, 59% thought themselves likely shoppers on the Saturday, 49% on Sunday, and 64% on "Cyber Monday."

The most popular app for shopping cited by the respondents was Amazon (18.2%), followed by eBay (6.1%) and Google (2.2%). They're also most likely to search on their devices for three key categories — electronics, clothes and entertainment items.

When asked if they planned to then purchase these items from their devices, books, CDs and video games got the thumbs up from 58% of respondents, while clothing and accessories ranked second, at 54% and electronics followed at 50%.

Ultimately, the two items most likely to be purchased over a device, the study found, are two of the lowest-ticket items: books and DVDs.