A recent study reveals that the furor over showrooming may be all for naught. According to the 2nd Annual U.S. Mobile Path-to-Purchase study released today by xAd and Telmetrics and conducted by Nielsen, showrooming is not prevalent, with 77 percent of smartphone retail shoppers ultimately making their purchases in-store versus going online to try and find a cheaper price.

The survey found that only 6 percent of retail shoppers use mobile devices to shop in-store, with more than 1 out of 3 tapping their mobile device for research purposes — making mobile a de facto shopping tool.

"Showing the power of mobile, consumers are beginning to use their mobile devices exclusively for their retail shopping and research needs," said Monica Ho, vice president of marketing, xAd. "As a result, both online and brick-and-mortar retailers must understand how to integrate this fast-growing media into their overall marketing spend with the right message at the right time to the right customer."

Additionally, the survey found that select categories of shoppers slightly over-index on their in-store mobile retail research including electronics (7.1 percent), groceries (6.7 percent) and home goods (6.6 percent), while only 4.7 percent of apparel, drug and beauty goods shoppers search their devices in-store.

"Our retail findings confirm that shoppers are demanding locally relevant business information when making a retail purchase decision," said Bill Dinan, president of Telmetrics. "With more mobile shoppers using mobile exclusively and throughout their online shopping experience, marketers must ensure campaigns include local info and timely promotions to help convert the nearly 60 percent of consumers that are undecided."

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