Black Friday Sale! 50% Off All Access

Mobile Phones Are Changing Retail. Here's How. (Infographic) Consumers carry access to the Internet around in their pockets now -- and that's upending the rulebook for owners of brick and mortar stores.

By Catherine Clifford

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Shoppers have the Internet in their pockets. For store owners, that's changing the game.

Almost half of shoppers admit to having participated in "showrooming," or going into a retail store to look at a product and then buying a less expensive version online. That statistic comes from an infographic generated by MobStac, a cloud-based mobile-commerce platform that makes websites and applications for businesses.

Related: 10 Questions to Ask When Optimizing Your Website for Mobile Users

As a retail store owner, you can try to prevent consumers from using their smartphones inside your store. But that's not much more than putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg. Mobile shopping isn't going away.

Instead, retail store owners should engage with customers through mobile technology and give them what they want. Four out of five smartphone owners say they would prefer to be able to read more about products on their devices while shopping in stores, according to the MobStac infographic.

Related: Mobile Commerce Has Completely Exploded (Infographic)

Check out this infographic for more trends in mobile commerce and for ways to make your retail store smartphone-friendly.

Mobile Phones Are Changing Retail. Here's How. (Infographic)
Catherine Clifford

Senior Entrepreneurship Writer at CNBC

Catherine Clifford is senior entrepreneurship writer at CNBC. She was formerly a senior writer at Entrepreneur.com, the small business reporter at CNNMoney and an assistant in the New York bureau for CNN. Clifford attended Columbia University where she earned a bachelor's degree. She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. You can follow her on Twitter at @CatClifford.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Living

These Are the 'Wealthiest and Safest' Places to Retire in the U.S. None of Them Are in Florida — and 2 States Swept the List.

More than 338,000 U.S. residents retired to a new home in 2023 — a 44% increase year over year.

Business News

DOGE Leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy Say Mandating In-Person Work Would Make 'a Wave' of Federal Employees Quit

The two published an op-ed outlining their goals for their new department, including workforce reductions.

Starting a Business

He Started a Business That Surpassed $100 Million in Under 3 Years: 'Consistent Revenue Right Out of the Gate'

Ryan Close, founder and CEO of Bartesian, had run a few small businesses on the side — but none of them excited him as much as the idea for a home cocktail machine.

Starting a Business

This Sommelier's 'Laughable' Idea Is Disrupting the $385 Billion Wine Industry

Kristin Olszewski, founder of Nomadica, is bringing premium wine to aluminum cans, and major retailers are taking note.

Side Hustle

20 Ways to Make Money from Home in 2023

Making money from home doesn't have to be complicated. Check out these 20 smart ways to make cash from the comfort of your computer desk.

Business News

These Are the Highest Paying Jobs Available Without a College Degree, According to a New Report

The median salaries for these positions go up to $102,420 per year.