image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregtimm

Yes, consumers are still shopping in physical stores. And what do they typically have with them when they’re shopping? Their phones. In January, we talked about How Businesses and Marketers Can Use Mobile for Better Results in 2010. And we only touched on the growth in adoption of mobile shopping applications.

Here are four ways that marketers could be enhancing that shopping experience.

1.  Price comparison. Applications such as Shop Savvy, Snap Tell and Amazon’s ‘Amazon Mobile’ app allow shoppers to compare prices at a given location against nearby competitors and online eComm properties. Through image recognition and barcode scanning, these apps make it very easy for users to know if an item can be had for less elsewhere. These apps are prime territory for marketers looking to inject a brand into a target audience’s psyche at a critical juncture in their decision making process.

2.  Mobile Coupons. Many of the drawbacks of printed coupons are mitigated by delivery and redemption on mobile platforms. Users don’t have to cut them out and don’t have trouble remembering them and perhaps most significantly, don’t have the same negative associations with point-of-sale (POS) redemption. Zavers, mobiQpons, and Cellfire are actively signing-up small businesses and it’s only a matter of time before big box stores get on board. Add increased consumer adoption, POS redemption infrastructure and a social dynamic and the appeal to marketers will be greater than ever.

3.  Real-Time Feedback. Another trend that will increasingly impact purchase decisions this year is real-time feedback. Mostly from dressing rooms, but not exclusively. People will look to their social graph and vertical-interest communities for advice on what to buy.

4.  Loyalty Programs. Mobile CRM has been a strategic objective of CPG brands for several years, but lacked the consumer comfort and behavior to support it. The three points above will provide inroads for more effective CRM. Consumers checking their phone just before they buy something will create opportunity to deliver more effective personalized messaging derived from prior purchase decisions.

Have you used your phone when shopping? How would you like to see stores you frequent using mobile?

Dan Neumann
@dneumann