It looks like shoppers were turning to their smartphones this holiday shopping season, as PayPal said mobile shopping grew 310% on Black Friday.
PayPal, which has multiple mobile apps for all the major smartphone platforms, also said it saw a 27% increase in total payment volumes on Black Friday. PayPal has said that it expects to close the year with $500 million in mobile payments and this busy shopping weekend should help it reach that figure.
“The tough economy has made shoppers more price-conscious, and this year’s Black Friday results show that they’re going online to find the best deals,” said Amanda Pires, senior director at PayPal, in a prepared statement. “With the convenience of shopping from a laptop or mobile phone, more people are choosing to avoid the long lines, parking chaos and early morning rush in exchange for great online deals available from the comfort of their homes.”
I was able to avoid the Black Friday shopping madness this year but you can be darn sure that I would have been using my smartphone if I were shopping. Not only does it enable me to find the best deals but companies are increasingly using apps to make it easier to shop.
PayPal’s parent company, eBay, is one of those companies trying to make your phone a better shopping device. The company just updated its Apple iPhone app to include the RedLaser barcode scanner. With this app, you could go to a brick and mortar store, scan the product you want to buy and you can see if it can be had for cheaper on the online auction site.
My go-to shopping app is still the Amazon one and this company also updated its app for Black Friday to include price comparisons. I love this app because I’m an Amazon Prime member, so my purchases will arrive within a few days.
[Via PayPal