Footfall is no longer a guarantee of success for high street retailers, according to research from Tradedoubler, which found that 60 per cent of connected consumers in Europe use their smartphones whilst out shopping. 

Of those, vitally, 75 per cent partake in showrooming, and use their mobile to look up information on a product they see in a store. 70 per cent check for a better price elsewhere, and 60 per cent opting to buy the product online as a result.

The research also found that 92 per cent of connected consumers are making performance marketing apps and websites – including price comparison, voucher code and cashback sites – their first port of call when researching what to buy, rather than browsing on the high street.

“This is a wake-up call for marketers and high street retailers,” said Dan Cohen, Regional Director, Tradedoubler. “Retailers’ traditional metric – footfall – is now an irrelevant indicator of retail success and they need to embrace performance marketing strategies now that 51 per cent of mobile shoppers are searching for vouchers or discounts for products they have seen in-store and 44 per cent are using vouchers sent to their mobile. Retailers need defensive and offensive strategies to protect and grow their revenues and indeed, to even remain relevant in this intense multichannel world.”

The research was based on a survey of 2,500 connected users – consumers who own a smartphone and who shop online at least once a month – in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Netherland, Spain, Sweden and Poland.