Report: 38 Million Americans Have Shopped From the Toilet

Some people read or play games when conducting business in the bathroom while others are using the quiet time to hunt down a good bargain.

CashStar, a "digital gifting and incentive" company, reports that a large number of Americans shopping online are doing so while they're conducting other business in the bathroom.

The company said that it conducted a survey within the United States from November 6-8, 2012 among 2,104 adults ages 18 and older. The results showed that more than 38 million people – men more so than women – made purchases while sitting on the toilet.

The news shouldn't be surprising given that smartphones, tablets and handheld game players have seemingly replaced the more traditional book and newspaper stack.

"Smartphones and tablets have enabled consumers to shop and gift on-the-go in more ways and places than ever before," said David Stone, co-founder and CEO of CashStar. "The retailers who have been paying attention and catering to where and how consumers want to shop by mobile-optimizing their e-commerce sites and offering mobile eGift Cards will reap the rewards this holiday season and have a jump on the competition going into 2013."

Stone said that retailers using the CashStar platform – whose eGift Card website is optimized for mobile – have seen 3,700-percent more sales from mobile devices this year than retailers whose sites are not mobile-optimized. CashStar's study also showed that 17 million shopped from their mobile device while actually standing in the retailer's physical store.

According to the survey, more than four million Americans have shopped online while driving a car despite the danger. More than nine million Americans admitted they have secretly shopped while in a business meeting, and more then seven million Americans have filled their grocery and online shopping carts at the same time by doing so from their mobile device in the grocery store.

The study also showed that more west coasters indicated that they were inclined to bring physical and retail together than people in other regions of the country.

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