53% of European shoppers now use their smartphones to enhance their in-store experience.

That was the headline finding in our research into the digital behaviors of European shoppers, together with Jumpmind and Fern Insights.

And maybe that figure doesn’t surprise a lot of brands and retailers? Maybe you’re nodding in a knowing way because of course you’re aware that people are on their phones in your stores.

But do you really understand what that means?

Because we’ve seen countless retailers trying to connect to smartphones with store modes and apps or trying to circumvent them with in-store tech. And these approaches almost always fail to deliver because they don’t understand the level of dependence customers have on their smartphones or what they’re actually doing on them.

For most people, the smartphone is now an extension of them rather than something separate. It’s an access portal to almost everything in their lives, as well as endless tools and information that make them feel more empowered and informed than ever before. 

And when we look at the stats for younger consumers, who grew up with smartphone tech, in-store phone usage jumps up massively to 80% for European shoppers aged 18–24.

These are consumers who have been shopping digitally for as long as they can remember, moving easily between ecommerce and social commerce and omnichannel. And they’re bringing all their digital behaviours to the store via their smartphones.

So, what does this mean for retailer’s store experiences? How do they engage a smartphone glued consumer?

We’ve got the answers and we’ll share them with you – for free – on April 16 at 2pm BST (9am EST). Join us for a live webinar packed with research-backed insights from not one, not two, but three super sharp retail minds – our head of trends Jack Stratten, retail trend expert Ian Scott, and Lauren Cevallos, Director of Product Strategy and Customer Success at Jumpmind.

One hour and your retail business catches up with the connected shopper.