Read More: black friday 2009 ads, black friday 2009 ads sears, black friday 2009 ads target, black friday doorbuster deals, black friday doorbuster sales, doorbuster black friday, economy, iPhone application, iPhones, Mobile shopping, online, online stores, Sears2Go, Sears2Go iPhone application, Smartphone, smartphones

Using Black Friday ads to get the best deals could be grueling. If your best sales intelligence came from printed retail circulars, it meant organizing and comparing long lists. If you used an online deals aggregator, you still didn’t have a good way of transporting that knowledge to the store without putting it on paper.

Enter the smartphone — and retailer’s rush to connect with customers through the device.

“In the past, what [retailers have] relied on is people to open up the paper and then go in and get the coupons for those doorbusters and everything else,” says Kevin Kahn, CFO of TGIBlackFriday.com. “Now people can look at it on their phone and online weeks in advance…. It’s a game-changer.”

With consumers snapping up iPhones, new Motorola Droids, and tried-and-true Blackberrys, 2009 will be the first Black Friday where the smartphone will have a strong influence, Black Friday watchers agree. Mobile shopping’s influence is sure to grow in years to come.

Sears sees the smartphone as a way to bring the company’s online presence together with its physical stores, says company spokesman Tom Aiello.

“Some retailers are really good at online, some are really good at bricks and mortar. What we’re trying to do is fuse those together in a unique way and mobile is a growing part of that,” he says.

After buying a product from Sears’ Sears2Go iPhone application, for example, customers have an iron-clad guarantee: The product will be ready in-store within five minutes or customers receive a Sears gift card. This means even loyal Sears shoppers huddled outside its brick-and-mortar entities on the morning of Black Friday can place purchases to be filled on the other side of the store wall.

“You’re actually be able to, before the doors open, get online, place the order,” Mr. Aiello says. “You can walk right to the package pickup and get your item and not even have to go to the showroom floor. It’s really exciting.”

read full article:Best deals from Black Friday 2009 ads: Use your smartphone
features.csmonitor.com

Related Posts

• Dell Inspiron Nearly Half Off on Black Friday 2009
• Zhu Zhu Pet hamster : Hottest Christmas Toy of the Year
• BlackBerry Users Willing to Swap for an iPhone
• Steve Jobs says no tethering between iPad and iPhone
• Apple’s Smartphone Battle Plan; ITC