Smartphones, Recession Changed How Consumers Shop - East Idaho News
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Smartphones, Recession Changed How Consumers Shop

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GETTY H 022212 ShoppingSale?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1379331370393iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The five-year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which sparked a financial panic and worsened the recession, is being marked by a speech Monday from President Obama.

As the economy continues to reel from the impact, consumers have adapted and changed their shopping habits.

“What happened in 2008 is not only did we get the recession, we also got smartphones and we got social media,” says consumer behavior expert Eric Holtzclaw of Laddering Works, a market strategy and marketing firm.

Holtzclaw notes that shoppers have not only become more cautious, many of them are also much better informed on price comparisons.

“We can have conversations with other people and find out whether or not a product or service works,” he says.

But, Holtzclaw points out, many retailers have been slow to catch up with this seismic shift in shopping habits, ignoring consumers’ use of mobile devices when they are in stores.

“They should have social media campaigns that really interact with their consumers,” he advises.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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