I am delighted to release the results of a new global study on the impact of smartphones on shopper behavior in retail stores — “Showrooming and the Rise of the Mobile-Assisted Shopper." — sponsored by Columbia Business School's Center on Global Brand Leadership and loyalty firm Aimia. (Findings reported in BusinessWeek, Time, Inc., The Globe and Mail, Quartz, GigaOm, and IBM Smarter Planet, among many others.) As brick-and mortar stores continue to struggle with the rise of “showrooming” consumers – those visiting a store to see a product, but purchasing it later online – our research reveals concrete steps that retailers can take to entice consumers armed with mobile devices to make purchases inside their store walls. With my co-authors, Matthew Quint and Rick Ferguson, we were able to survey the behaviors and motivations of 3,000 leading-edge consumers in 3 countries, who represent the “omni-channel” future of retail. Our findings contradict many of the common assumptions about the threat of “showrooming”, and reveal five distinct segments of mobile-assisted shoppers. We also identify clear opportunities for retailers to engage and retain these tech-savvy customers. David Rogers -- @David_Rogers Author, “The Network Is Your Customer” Executive director, BRITE conference Faculty director, Digital Marketing Strategy, Executive Education Columbia Business School David.Rogers@columbia.edu www.davidrogers.biz