The mobile marketing and technology company Vibes announced today the release of its first annual Vibes Mobile Consumer Report that provides retail brands with recommendations on how to connect with mobile consumers while enhancing the multi-channel shopping experience, according to a company announcement.

Vibes enlisted the firm Research Now to conduct the survey, in which 1,006 mobile phone owners age 18 or older responded via an online opinion panel. The key finding in the report: "showrooming" can be good for business.

Close to half of consumers reported using their mobile phones to assist them in making purchases, whether by texting or scanning for more product information. An opportunity exists here for retailers to go to action to give consumers helpful product data, according to the report findings.

With 33 percent of shoppers admitting to comparison shopping on a competitors website while in another retailers store and 6 percent of them likely to abandon an in-store purchase for a competitor, retailers should be thinking about "showrooming" consumers by providing useful and timely information.

"We are seeing a big shift happening today in retail," said Jack Philbin, co-founder, CEO and president of Vibes, in the announcement. "A decade ago, brands realized they needed to create an online presence and so everyone created an e-commerce website. Today, consumers are turning to their mobile phones to make purchasing decisions, which means that access to mobile-optimized content needs to be an effortless experience for the mobile consumer."

"Retailers who understand this and listen to their customers to engage them on their terms and provide them with relevant and timely information they can use will be successful in building a loyal customer base," Philbin advised. "The retailers who don’t deploy a mobile marketing strategy will continue to be challenged with decreasing in-store sales and risk being Amazoned."

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