Online shoppers are increasingly willing to shop exclusively on their mobile phones this holiday season, according to new findings from PriceGrabber.

PriceGrabber’s “Winter Holiday” survey found that mobile users are shopping with their devices more this year than other years. About a quarter of survey takers indicated they plan to shop via mobile, an increase of 44 percent from 2012.

“It’s natural that we see more and more consumers find this [mobile] platform of shopping, and we see it growing,” said James Brown, vice president of sales at PriceGrabber, Los Angeles. “The lines are becoming more gray with their experience on their devices. The experience on their phones and tablets is getting better and better.

“What our survey found is that 82 percent of shoppers are browsing and shopping from their homes,” he said. “Really what it is is they’re doing the research.

“They are watching and consuming television while sitting on their couch with [their] tablets and phones. That [same behavior] used to be in play with laptops.”

Mobile savings
The PriceGrabber survey polled a national sample of 3,782 online shopping consumers between Oct. 17 and 31.

The report found that consumers are more sophisticated and savvy than ever before when it comes to shopping with their smartphones. They are more comfortable making those purchases in part because retailers have created a more streamlined mobile shopping experience.

Forty-one percent of mobile shoppers said they are only comfortable purchasing items less than $100, while 33 percent of mobile shoppers said they would purchase both big- and small-ticket items.

Consumers use their smartphones to look for deals on items less than $100 and to purchase those items through mobile. Yet they use their computers to research more expensive items, such as appliances.

Shopping online
Other key findings from the report include that 72 percent of smartphone owners use one to four shopping-related apps.

Mobile app downloads are expected to rise during the holidays. Twenty-three percent of survey takers plan to download new apps to assist in shopping for gifts.

Sixty-one percent of survey takers said they would download coupon apps; 55 percent said comparison shopping apps; 54 percent will download apps from their favorite retailers; 50 percent will download Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday apps to search for the best deals; and 44 percent will download apps with the ability to scan bar codes.

Consumers use an average of one to four apps to shop, Mr. Brown said. These include an app that compares items and scans bar codes, and a deal aggregator or coupon app that offers discounts and price reductions.

Lastly, consumers may use one or more apps from their favorite bricks-and-mortars stores, which offer push notifications and specials.

“Instead of running around Thanksgiving days they’re able to be more efficient with their time and see if they need to go out to their stores or just buy online,” Mr. Brown said.

Final Take
Kari Jensen is staff writer at Mobile Marketer, New York