• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, May 18, 2015

When it comes to getting the best price, in-store shoppers may not be turning to their phones as much as they used to.

Countless studies continue to show that mobile devices are used throughout the entire shopping journey.

This was again well-documented in the annual mobile influence tracking study by Deloitte Digital, as I wrote about here last week (Mobile Influence on In-Store Sales: $1 Trillion).

But a tidbit inside that report noted that consumers in stores are 30% less likely to perform price comparisons via their devices than just a year ago.

As yet another potential indicator of that is that two of my go-to apps for in-store, price checking, ShopSavvy and ScanLife, both now feature sales, deals and rewards.

The quick price checking by scanning a barcode in both apps still works beautifully, but it no longer is front and center in either app.

The Deloitte report suggests one of the reasons is that consumers are using digital devices more for inspiration and idea generation in the shopping process and not simply as a means to price comparison.

As an aside, the study also found that in-store shoppers using digital devices convert at a 20% higher rate than those who don’t.

Another potential reason for mobile shoppers not leaning on their devices more while is stores is that it’s not yet a friction-free experience.

For example, there could be Wi-Fi or cell connection issues and some retailers use their own product barcodes, making it very difficult to compare prices to other stores.

Fewer than half (45%) of consumers say using their personal technology in a store makes shopping easier, based on the Deloitte findings.

Interestingly, we know from many research studies that mobile shoppers are attracted to deals and discounts.

The great irony is that a quick product scan can easily provide the deal or discount to the shopper. And all the retailer has to do is match the price a consumer finds on their phone and the sale is done.

This is yet another indicator that no matter how difficult it is to create great mobile capabilities like price checking apps, changing consumer behavior can be even harder.