From personalized recommendations to loyalty points and promotions—mobile empowers shoppers.

How are retailers as well as shoppers benefiting?

Google finds that 53% of shoppers use their smartphone in-store to make price comparisons, and 90% use their phone for pre-shopping research.

What marketers need to know:

For shoppers, mobile means better customer service. Now a salesperson's tablet can be alerted when a top customer is in-store, giving the salesperson pointers on how to customize the shopping experience.

For brands, frequent mobile users actually end up buying 25%-50% more in-store. All this points to how businesses need to better embrace the smartphone shopper.

Say Foursquare pushes a promo during peak allergy season while you shop at Walgreens. Or Aveda uses Passbook to send styling videos before your next salon appointment. Or Hallmark knows it's your mom's birthday and invites you to its kiosk with a personal gift recommendation.

Next-generation shoppers are informed, and holding brand loyalty right in their hands. Are you prepared for that?

For more on mobile retail, check out this week's video.