Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

A recent survey by consulting firm Accenture found 63 percent of consumers plan to use a laptop or home computer to make purchases or research items this holiday season, up 16 percentage points from last year.

The smartphone, in particular, is gaining ground. As of August, 174 million people in the U.S. owned one — 72 percent of the mobile market, according to Reston, Va., digital tracking firm comScore. Branding Brand’s research found that mobile devices generated more than half of online retail visits that month, up from 4 percent in 2010.

The digital world generates data even better than sales, so there’s plenty of information on how Americans are using their tech tools.

Accenture’s survey found 24 percent of consumers plan to use a smartphone while shopping, up from 18 percent last year. Almost half of those surveyed are already using or at least would be willing to try services like ApplePay and PayPal that let them use their mobile phone to pay at checkout....