Almost Half of Canadians Plan to Shop via their Mobile Devices or Online this Holiday Season

Technology Helps Canadians Act on their Inspiration and Reduce Stress

TORONTO, Nov. 15, 2012 /CNW/ - Line-ups at the checkout.  Parking lot congestion.  Never-ending holiday traffic.  It's no surprise that Canadians are looking for alternatives to traditional holiday shopping. In fact, this year, almost half of Canadians (45 per cent¹) will shop via mobile or online² for part or all of their holiday gift-buying. The reason? Convenience (40 per cent), to avoid in-store hassles (34 per cent), to save time (19 per cent) and to save money (seven per cent).

"Canadians, like shoppers around the world, are increasingly looking to their mobile devices to solve their holiday dilemmas," said eBay Canada Country Manager Andrea Stairs. "In the past two years, we've seen the value of eBay mobile transactions increase from $2 billion to $10 billion globally. Nothing can compare to having the world's largest marketplace at your fingertips! No matter where you are, or what you're doing, you can turn inspiration into delight in seconds on the eBay Mobile app."

Inspired on-the-go shopping
While a third (31 per cent) of Canadians surveyed said they tended to shop when inspiration struck, a similar number (27 per cent) said they struggled to remember perfect gift ideas. 

"We've all had the experience of coming up with a great gift idea only to have forgotten it by the time we've arrived at the mall. Now, with eBay Mobile, you can act on your flash of inspiration at any time and from virtually anywhere. Buy your husband a cashmere sweater while watching your son play hockey or nab that hard-to-find toy while in line for coffee - the possibilities are endless," said Stairs.

While 30 per cent of Canadians have already browsed or made purchases via their mobile devices, eBay Canada wants to expose even more Canadian consumers to the ease of mobile shopping. On November 15, eBay Canada will open a three-day pop-up Holiday Market in downtown Toronto that will allow consumers to browse a curated collection of this season's most inspired gift ideas and shop right from their phones or tablets. For a full look at the top gift ideas from eBay, check out eBay.ca/HolidayMarket.

Making their lists and checking them twice
On average, Canadians surveyed said they plan to buy gifts for nine people this holiday season, spend $586 on those gifts and spend 11 hours shopping for them. And the hardest person to shop for? Forty-two per cent of respondents said it was their significant other, followed by mom and dad (25 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively) with children coming in at 20 per cent.

"With more than 350 million live listings, eBay has something for everyone," said Stairs. "In fact, there are more than 1.3 million clothing items and more than 1.5 million consumer electronics listed on eBay.ca right now - and the vast majority of them are brand new.  Last year alone, 70 per cent of purchases made by Canadians on eBay were for new products, and more than 60 per cent were bought at fixed price."

For on-the-go shopping, Canadians can download eBay Mobile apps for their iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry or Windows Phone 7 device.  For more information, visit www.ebay.ca.

Did you know…?³

• A doll is purchased every 2.7 minutes
• An action figure is purchased every 1.5 minutes
• A women's handbag is purchased every 3.2 minutes
• A pair of women's shoes is purchased every 2 minutes
• A men's sweater is purchased every 7.3 minutes
• A GPS is purchased every 50 seconds

About the survey

The data featured in this release was conducted by the integrated Consumer, Retail & Shopper Insights Team of Vision Critical. Results are based on a national online study conducted among 1,005 Canadian adults aged 18 or over across Canada on November 9, 2012. The margin of error, which measures sampling variability, is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada.

About eBay Canada

Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is a global commerce platform and payments leader connecting millions of buyers and sellers. We do so through eBay, the world's largest online marketplace, which allows users to buy and sell in nearly every country on earth; through PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive digital payments; and through GSI, which facilitates ecommerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world's largest ticket marketplace, and eBay classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. In Canada, eBay was visited by more than 8.8 million Canadians in October 2012 (comScore Media Metrix).

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¹ Based on those Canadians who said they would shop for holiday gifts
² Mobile devices refers to mobile phones and tablets.  Online refers to laptops and desktop computers
³ Purchased by Canadians on eBay in November and December 2011

SOURCE: eBay Canada

For further information:

Megan Vickell
eBay Canada
[email protected]
416.934.2028

Camille Kowalewski
Edelman (on behalf of eBay Canada)
[email protected]
416.849.1901 or 416.985.0991