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Retail's Secret Weapon: Shopping Therapy via Enhanced Mobile Commerce

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While the retail industry continues to focus on Ron Johnson's ouster at JCPenney and the murky future of Sears/Kmart, consumers are still shopping --both online and in physical stores. In part, because it makes them feel good.

How good? New research conducted online by TNS Global on behalf of online shopping website Ebates.com shows that more than half of the 1,000 (51.8%) Americans surveyed engage in retail therapy, with 63.9% of women and 39.8% of men shopping to improve their mood. Not surprisingly, getting a deal ups the feel-good quotient of as many as 80.7% of Americans, with food as the item of choice for men. Clothing tops the list of smile-inducing buys for women.

Smart retailers will be paying attention to how best to optimize the shopping experience to generate the most sales. As I’ve reported before, one way to do this is to enable mobile commerce.

But a new study published by mobile-retail marketing platform provider Swirl suggests that the bigger opportunity lies in using mobile to enhance the in-store experience rather than simply enabling consumers to click to shop via their smartphones.

The Swirl study found that while 53% of women have between one and five shopping apps on their smartphones, 76% of the 1,000 women they surveyed said they prefer shop for clothes and shoes in a retail store, with their smartphones relegated to their pockets and purses. Concerns about showrooming (or pesky crowds and limited parking) can be (somewhat) dismissed according to Swirl. Even when an item is unavailable in store, only 22% of women will use that retailer’s mobile app or site to buy the item. The study found that most retailers are simply not giving shoppers a strong enough reason to engage with them on their mobile phones.

An even more significant finding that the savvy retailer can leverage: women are willing to share personal information with retailers as long as they receive value in return. Half of the women surveyed said they would willingly share their phone’s location with a retailer in return for an in-store credit, gift, flash sale or early access to new styles. For the low price of $5, retailers can cash in on women willing to share their location.

Finally, a no-brainer: Women are almost twice as likely to value a personalized offer delivered to their smartphone while shopping in a store (58%), than be reminded of an in-store sale by a sales associate (33%) or make a purchase from an online flash sale site (31%), according to Swirl’s findings.

“The mobile commerce hype has caused retailers to take their eyes off the real prize: the in-store shopper,” said Hilmi Ozguc, Swirl’s CEO in a statement. “Retailers have a huge opportunity use mobile to create value for shoppers by delivering personalized content and offers where and when they matter most – while they are shopping in their stores.”

Are you listening Myron Ullman?