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A Razorfish executive speaking during a Mobile Marketer Webinar yesterday said that great mobile optimized sites are table stakes for addressing how shoppers are using mobile in store to compare prices.

The speakers during the "Tackling the Growing Threat of Showrooming" webinar discussed how retailers are concerned about shoppers using their smartphones in stores to compare prices and ultimately make a purchase online. With smartphone-savvy shoppers the new reality, one of the ways for retailers to address this is by making sure they have a strong mobile site by not farming out responsibility to a third party.

?You have to stop that immediately,? said Jason Goldberg, vice president of strategy, commerce and content at Razorfish. ?That was a great way to solve a pain point if you didn?t have a mobile Web site, but today having a great mobile optimized is table stakes, because what we now know is that every consumer visits our site on multiple devices.

?They are seamlessly moving from their laptop at work to their iPad on their couch to their smartphone when they get coffee and we need to offer them a great experience across all three devices which means we need to own the experience on all of those devices,? he said.

?Third party-sites served a great purpose, but now it is time to build our own native solutions.?

In-store Wi-Fi
Offering Wi-Fi in store is another strategy retailers may want to consider when looking for ways to address showrooming.

Some retailers are putting Wi-Fi in their stores so that the first access point for consumers in their stores going online is that retailer?s site.

?I think it is a smart idea,? said Erin Houg, senior vice president and digital director, Starcom Worldwide. ?There are retailers who are doing it well like Sears who connects you to the Wi-Fi through their home page so they can kind of help control or at least start the conversation.

?There are a lot of platforms that retailers can explore how to leverage both Wi-Fi and other platforms that can help close the loop and incentivize shopping,? she said.

Wi-Fi also offers retailers analytics about how their shoppers are using Wi-Fi so they can tell what percentage of shoppers are visiting their own URL versus Amazon?s URL in the store.

However, retailers do need to be careful they do not cross the line between being helpful and creepy by tracking shoppers movements in stores.

?My advice is if that is something that you want to take advantage of that you be very transparent and overt about it,? said Gary Stein, senior vice president of strategy at iCrossing. ?You give the consumers the ability to opt out.

?The first couple of places where that technology was deployed there was a very significant backlash because they weren?t very overt,? he said.

Properly equipped sales staff
Pairing Wi-Fi with mobile loyalty is another good option for retailers.

?Using the mobile phone as the loyalty key of Wife at retailers is something that consumers are very interested in,? Mr. Stein said.

?I think that is a big part of Starbucks? success as the mobile payment element,? he said.

While ensuring that consumers have the bandwidth to go online via their smartphones is key, it is also important to arm sales associates with mobile devices and Internet access so they can offer shoppers assisted experiences.

?Typically you have this real mismatch between the expectation and access to information that the consumer has and the product expertise of the sales associate,? Razorfish?s Mr. Goldberg said.

?Nordstrom isn?t investing in mobile apps for self-service in their stores, they are not investing in kiosks, but they are putting more functionality on an iPod than they have in their cash register and putting that in the hands of their sales associate,? he said.

?That is an area where retailers are really able to improve their physical environment through using this technology.?

Avoid denial
The threat from showrooming is more in trying to avoid fact that shoppers are increasingly armed with a smartphone and doing nothing to address this trend head-on. After all, shoppers have been comparing prices for years - this practice is simply facilitated by smartphones - and will continue to do so.

On the other hand, smartphone-wielding consumers can also offer bricks-and-mortar retailers some interesting opportunities.

The focus should be on providing a compelling offer to close the sale by empowering the sales force and allowing for in-store tactics such as price matching and in-store only deals.

Sales staff should be trained to identify signs of showrooming and to be ready to talk to the benefits of purchasing now versus online.

"I suppose showrooming is more of a sleeper threat in that it is a potential problem for retailers. But really, showrooming is a great opportunity for retailers," iCrossing?s Mr. Stein said. "It is driving traffic into stores.

"The problem lies in the fact that retailers are not sure what to do about the issue, or even how to define it in economic terms," he said.

Defining showrooming
The first step in addressing showrooming head-on is understanding how it works.

Typically, consumers will go into the physical location of a store to investigate a product in person.

While in the store, shoppers may decide to use their mobile phone to take a look at product reviews and see if the in-store price is competitive.

Ultimately, some shoppers will decide to purchase the product on their mobile device or go home to make purchase the item on their desktop.

The name showrooming comes from the fact that retailers feel that, because of growing smartphone adoption, they are being pressed into the role of providing a showroom for online merchants who make the final sale.

The consumer mindset
Retailers also need to understand the mindset behind showrooming if they are going to take a proactive approach to the phenomenon.

Showrooming points to the fact that consumers are increasingly savvy shoppers who are looking for the best deals in terms of price, quality and the ability to purchase on their terms.

Price is certainly an important factor in comparison shopping - and one whose influence has grown during these difficult economic times - but it is not the only factor.

The convenience of having a large item shipped directly home is another factor.

It is also important to understand that showrooming points to the consumers' growing reliance on and competency with smartphones, a fact that can also open up opportunities for retailers.

"Showrooming says that consumers are not fully satisfied with the ecommerce experience and miss wandering the aisles," iCrossing?s Mr. Stein said. "Ecommerce sites should not be too happy about showrooming, though.

"Interested customers are leaving their site to go interact with another merchant who could cut them a deal and let them walk away with the product," he said.

Addressing showrooming
There are several ways that retailers can address the opportunity that smartphone-wielding shoppers, such as offering rich experiences on their own mobile apps and mobile-optimized sites that will dissuade shoppers from using third-party apps while they are in the aisle.

Ultimately, the idea is to view every shopper walking into a store as a potential sale with potential challenges.

Marketers can leverage geo-location technology to serve offers to potential consumers in the area.

Retailers such as Walgreens and Starbucks have build rewards programs into mobile applications that take advantage of the fact that consumers are shopping with their phones in hand.

Others such as Target and Best Buy are taking advantage of the gamification of shopping by building partnerships with applications such as shopkick and foursquare.

Getting it right
Some retailers have been quick to realize that they need to unlock opportunities in mobile versus feeling threatened by showrooming.

For example, Target and Kohl's have increased their available inventory online and will point shoppers to their mobile sites when inventory is not available in a store.

Kohl's has also placed online kiosks in its stores to capture sales that it could potentially lose due to out-of-stock items.

Best Buy tested a price match policy over the holidays that has since been extended to help combat showrooming. Target also have a price-matching guarantee.

Walmart offers an in-store mode on its mobile app that enables shoppers to search a store's local inventory.

Some other retailers are using apps to provide shoppers with utilities they cannot get from third-party apps, including Meijer Find-It, Macy's Indoor Maps and Ikea's augmented reality apps.

"As retailers navigate the new shopping mindset, they will need to determine how to compete and where they can best differentiate themselves - price, service, shipping - among their online competition," Starcom?s Ms. Houg said.

There are also some new models emerging that address showrooming. For example, men's clothing brand Bonobos sells only online, but has opened up a series of guide shops enabling shoppers to browse before they buy online.

"Rather than fear mobile, it is important to recognize that mobile is uniquely positioned to incent action and close the loop at point of purchase," Ms. Houg said.

Driving customer loyalty
Ultimately, the key to addressing showrooming is about engendering customer loyalty with the smartphone-savvy shopper.

Retailers need to determine what their value proposition is for consumers. This means doing research to understand why the core customer is showrooming and indentifying creative solutions and a value proposition for today's mobile consumers.

This might mean having a mobile pp and a strong ecommerce site to that consumers have the option to purchase online at their convenience. Or, it could mean offering a level of service that is superior to online competitors.

"Retailers should also consider price matching,? iCrossing?s Mr. Stein said.

?Showrooming is just a byproduct of customers having better pricing transparency than they have ever had before," he said.

"Retailers can no longer rely upon price obfuscation as a pricing strategy. They have to make sure they have a compelling value proposition in a world in which the customer will always know the best price.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York