Earlier this week Nielsen released a study that found just about a third of smartphone users turn to their device for shopping-related activities. The study, conducted during the third quarter of 2011, gives a good picture of how we’re using smartphones in stores. One thing the study highlights is that while not everyone is using their phone in this way, many more would like to.

Below I’ve combined Nielsen’s results with a primer on how you can get in on the trend of being a savvy shopper with your iPhone specifically using apps that are available in Apple’s Apple Store.

38 percent are comparison pricing aka “showrooming”

Nielsen found that 38 percent of survey respondents use their smartphone for comparison shopping while in a physical store. This is encouraged by online retailers, and last holiday season Amazon gave a 5 percent discount on certain products to users who scanned retail items using the Amazon app. Big box stores like Target are annoyed by this new trend, however — so much so that they are asking manufacturers to modify their product offerings to prevent comparison shopping.

As a consumer, I love the ability to find the best price for an item so long as I am willing to wait for it to ship. As a small business owner who works with other small businesses, I see this as driving revenue away from our local communities and hurting the local tax base. I try to shop local when possible, but to me, I see a big box “brick and mortar” and an online retailer as synonymous. When the bargain is good enough, it’s hard to resist.
If you want to get in the middle of this war between physical and online retailers, some of the top apps for comparison shopping are RedLaser, ShopSavvy, Google Shopper and Amazon’s Price Check. Both Red Laser and ShopSavvy also allow you to find an item locally, but ShopSavvy and Google Shopper provide reviews — which are the next most popular shopping-related activity we do with our phones. If you search online, you might want to stay away from the in-store Wi-Fi as it can show different prices since you could be redirected to an “internal” version of the website with slightly different pricing or be blocked entirely from a competitor. Use your 3G signal to play it safe and make sure your surfing isn’t being intercepted.

32 percent are reading online reviews of products

For more in-depth research, I found the Consumer Reports App lacking, and I prefer to access their website, which requires a separate paid subscription from the magazine (a discount is given to current print subscribers). Many of us like to know what the crowd thinks of a product rather than trusting a salesperson (after all, it’s in the job title to sell us something). Mobile phones are ideal for this, and 32 percent of us use our phones for product review research. Google Shopper and Amazon’s Mobile App make it easy to find what others have to say about millions of products. Amazon carries practically everything, so it’s the place I start for online reviews.

24 percent are searching for and using online coupons

We all want to save money, so why not use your iPhone? The king of coupons is Grocery iQ, owned by Coupons.com. If you regularly shop at a grocery store or other retailer, be sure to install their app as they often offer coupons or special sales directly via their app. Don’t assume coupons are just for the big retailers. Individual stores often have their own apps featuring coupons. Even groups like AAA offer discounts.

A hidden place for coupons and direct savings is check-ins via foursquare or Facebook. In particular, American Express has a program in which you check in via FourSquare to both small businesses and national chains to receive a discount. I use this quite often and can tell you it works. I get free cupcakes at my locally owned Cupcake Construction Company as well as national retailers like Whole Foods. If available in your area and where you shop, Shopkick is a great way to earn rewards and discounts.

22 percent are purchasing products

Whether it’s because the store is out of stock or the pricing is better online, shopping on your phone is fun and easy. It gives you instant gratification. A friend suggests a book to you at the coffee shop, you buy it right then and there. Your spouse tells you that the water filter needs replacing while you are waiting for a table at the restaurant. Bam. Problem solved. But considering this usefulness, this number is still rather low — 0nly 22 percent of the people who are using phones for shopping are actually making purchases.

What’s interesting to note is how this behavior changes when we’re talking about shopping on a tablet. Tablet shoppers are three times more likely to purchase an item compared to smartphone users, and they spend more, according to a recent study by Adobe.

A caution while shopping via a mobile device: because public Wi-Fi is unprotected, I use 3G while making purchases so nothing is intercepted. I’m also careful of prying eyes when pulling out my credit card. Read my article about how to keep your credit card number hidden in plain sight in your address book so you can cut and paste, keeping your card in the wallet.

To get an additional savings boost, use sites like dealnews.com and FatWallet to find discount codes and earn cash back for your online purchases.

18 percent are using location-based services to find a retail location

“Yes, we have no bananas” is a fun song, but a lousy thing for a clerk to say when you need bananas. Instead, by using Google Shopper or one of the other purchasing apps mentioned at the beginning of the article, you might be able to find the product locally or find other retailers that have it.

9 percent are paying via smartphone — but 71 percent are interested in paying via smartphone

Talk about a missed opportunity, in particular for the brick-and-mortars losing out to online retailers. NFC (near-field communications) has been discussed for a while for the iPhone, and Ryan Kim believes Apple could take the lead on this in the U.S. Meanwhile, Kevin Tofel is already using his Google Wallet and his Galaxy Nexus.

The closest thing we have currently to NFC on the iPhone is the Square Card Case, which merchants can use for seamless transactions via an app. I tried it out this weekend in St. Louis, and it really was a blast to say “put it on my tab!” The app uses your GPS location and the location of the merchant, and when you are close enough, it notifies the merchant of your presence. The only caveat is that the merchant must use Square’s popular credit card processing system.

So while we’re making progress in what kinds of activities we’ll do with our phones, we’re still a ways off from mainstream acceptance of the phone as a shopping tool and a payment tool. When you think about it, it’s odd that we fancy up our phones with fun cases and apps, but then we use our credit card the same way we always have since the 1950s. The Square experience comes close to modernizing this process — every merchant I know who uses Square, including myself, sees the giggles of glee and fascination when customers sign with their finger and have a receipt texted to them.

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With Apple’s more than 15 million iPads shipped during the quarter, the worldwide PC market grew 16 percent year over year. Not counting tablets, of which the iPad is easily the most successful, the PC market actually shrank by 0.4 percent worldwide when compared to the same period a year ago, according to the Canalys data.

Apple’s success both with the iPad and its Mac computers allowed it to take top honors for the quarter, knocking HP to second place overall. Canalys says the lack of a valid HP tablet competitor, now that the TouchPad is shelved, will mean that HP will continue to struggle against Apple’s success.

The iPad wasn’t the only tablet to do well during the quarter, however. Canalys says that the Amazon Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet also helped contribute to the success of tablets in the U.S. Amazon ranked as the second strongest tablet manufacturer worldwide, while Barnes & Noble took the fourth place spot.

All told, iPads accounted for 22 percent of all worldwide PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2011, as measured by Canalys. It’ll be interesting to see what effect a new iPad launch in the coming months might have on the worldwide momentum of tablets, and the larger PC industry.

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Apple has previously topped the most valuable U.S. company by market cap, Exxon, on other occasions but if the stock surge sticks, it will now be ahead of Exxon by around $3 billion to $4 billion. Apple’s quarterly profit of $13 billion is the second-highest reported figure on record from a U.S. company, surpassed only by Exxon in 2008, which boasted a $14.8 billion quarter.

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We do indeed appear to be approaching the crucial moment, as Bloomberg reported recently that production of Apple’s next-generation tablet is now underway in earnest ahead of its official consumer availability, and the device includes LTE connectivity as well as a new, high-resolution display. Macotakara’s new report merely puts a more specific timeline on something many suspect to be imminent.

It’s worth noting Macotakara also accurately called the release timeline of the iPad 2, though they were a little off on the announcement; it had cited February as the month for the unveiling event, and March as when it would make its way to consumers, and Apple actually announced the device on March 2, 2011, and began selling it March 11. The site also said in Oct. 2011 that the iPad 3 would begin wide production in January, with release planned for March.

If you’re a user pinching pennies in advance of an iPad 3 release, budgeting for March definitely seems like the best course of action at this point.

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Credit: ifoAppleStore.com

As Apple has added to its collection of retail stores around the world, it has also been upping the ante on the stores’ design and architectural flourishes, from the 5th Avenue “cube” store in New York City to the Shanghai store with the clear glass cylinder.

Apple is getting even fancier for its proposed new flagship store in Aix en Provence, France, set to open in late 2012 or early 2013: It is doing away with walls almost entirely and going for an all-glass structure (as seen in the rendering above), with the exception of a rear wall for offices and inventory. IfoAppleStore.com reports that the glass will be “enabled by new technology developed by Apple’s glass suppliers.”

The newest store is clearly an eye-popping and accurate expression of Apple as a company in one way: It shows its love of and appreciation for design. But the design analogy of almost total transparency? Not so much.

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Generally, the suppliers listed in White’s index experience an average decline of 15 percent month-over-month in December, he said in the note. That dip seems to anticipate a similar drop in sales among certain products following the holiday shopping cycle; in 2011, for instance, Mac sales went from 4.19 million in its first fiscal quarter, which includes Christmas, to 3.76 million in its second, and iPod sales dropped from 19.45 million to 9.02 million. iPhone sales saw a modest increase, but Apple introduced the Verizon iPhone 4 in February during the second quarter, which could explain the isolated uptick.

Most analysts estimate that the quarterly results to be announced by Apple on Jan. 24 will be record-breaking, based on information like that from supplier Multi-Fineline Electronix, but White’s checks indicate Apple’s sales could be on a roll that will bear impressive results next quarter and beyond, too.

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• In total, Apple conducted 229 audits, an improvement of 80 percent over its 2010 total. Over 100 of these audits were first-time audits.
• Apple expanded its audits to 28 suppliers in Malaysia and Singapore, where migrant workers are known to be in heavy use. The audits resulted in payout of $3.3 million to foreign contract workers as a result.
• Overall, Apple found a 74-percent compliance rate across eight categories when it came to labor and human rights practices in 2011, and 67-percent compliance when it came to suppliers having management systems in place to deal with the problem areas identified.
• In response to non-compliance across human rights and labor practices, Apple ended discriminatory medical screening at suppliers that had them in place, cut ties completely with at least one supplier in retaliation for repeat offenses regarding forced labor, and required compensation for underpaid wages, among other measures.
• Apple has partnered with the Fair Labor Association, an initiative spearheaded by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, to bring outside monitors into its suppliers’ factories to ensure standards are being met.
• At 14 suppliers in China, Apple conducted “specialized environmental audits,” which involved bringing in third-party environmental engineering experts. Apple intends to continue working with these facilities to correct issues uncovered during these audits, and plans to expand the program in 2012. This will no doubt continue to be an area of contention for Apple, since Chinese environmental groups continue to press the issue, and while they’ve reported being pleased is taking action, they aren’t yet satisfied enough has been done.

In addition to the highlights listed above, Apple also posted a list of its suppliers, containing 156 companies and representing 97 percent of “Apple’s procurement expenditures for materials, manufacturing, and assembly of Apple’s products worldwide.” Apple has been criticized in the past for not divulging specific supplier relationships, so this is a major step towards greater transparency, and one that will likely be welcomed by environmental advocacy organizations.

Update: Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly sent out a company-wide communication about Apple’s supplier report. In it, he highlights some of the progress made by Apple in curbing underage labor practices, improving living conditions for supplier employees, and building an extensive training and education program. Cook also highlights Apple’s partnership with the FLA:

The FLA is a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving conditions for workers around the world, and we are the first technology company they’ve approved for membership. The FLA’s auditing team will have direct access to our supply chain and they will report their findings independently on their website.

For the full text of Cook’s letter, check it out at its original posting location at Macgeneration.

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Apple’s special displays were announced alongside a program of deploying small boutiques within Target’s larger stores called the “Shops at Target,” the retailer revealed. These pop-up-type shops seem to be temporary locations that will sell Target-specific goods. The arrangement with Apple is separate from the “Shops at Target” initiative, but full details are not yet known about what exactly it includes.

Target spokeswoman Dustee Jenkins told MarketWatch that Target will “have 25 stores with unique display and assortment [of inventory]” for Apple goods, but it isn’t clear where or when the stores will appear first. We have requested more information from Target and Apple and will update this story if we find out more about what is being offered and what the timeline is for the arrival of these stores.

An in-store partnership with Target should help Apple reach more markets in areas where dedicated Apple retail locations don’t make financial sense. If they do end up resembling Best Buy mini-stores, they will be staffed with knowledgeable, Apple-specific personnel and offer Mac computers and more in addition to the iOS devices currently available at Target.

Photo: Some rights reserved by Chris Coyier

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Despite that Apple doesn’t officially exhibit at CES, its presence is felt everywhere. Accessory makers use the show to launch docks, devices, chargers, peripherals and more designed to plug into, power up or otherwise complement Apple hardware. And Apple’s competition in the computer and mobile hardware game seem to be almost equally paying homage to the absent Mac-maker; Intel’s vaunted Ultrabooks aspire to be the next MacBook Air, while smartphones and tablets are measured against Apple’s iPhone and iPad.

It makes sense then, that Apple’s own iOS product marketing chief Greg Joswiak, as spotted by PaidContent’s Tom Krazit, would be on hand to take a look at what the competition thought would represent legitimate competition to Apple’s hardware and software. And if someone as high-ranking as Joswiak is on hand, then another 250-odd lower-level employees is hardly a surprising figure. CES, after all, is a terrific opportunity to see not only shipping products from a broad cross-section of the competition, but also to get a look at how your third-party peripheral partners are representing your own products by association, as well as other in-development tech trotted out to wow the media.

Apple doesn’t need a presence at CES, but it will benefit from the opportunity it represents to take a look at the competition with its guard down. In stark contrast to Apple’s typical behavior, many companies are previewing devices that could be almost a year out from actual production; getting a hands-on look at the iPad 3′s and next MacBook Air’s potential competitors with the benefit of insider knowledge is definitely worth the price of a few hundred registrations.

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1. Take a picture of your products and serial numbers

Whether you want to inventory your items or need a handy reference when there’s a problem, taking a picture of the product as well as its serial number means you won’t be in the awkward position of trying to talk on the phone while on the floor with a flashlight trying to read those teeny tiny numbers.

Plus, if you should have a theft or disaster, having a visual record of your items makes it easier for your insurance company to settle your claim.

2. Schedule your items with insurance

Speaking of insurance, I suggest contacting your homeowners, renters, or business insurance provider to see about separate insurance for your most expensive technology items. While insurance providers and policies vary, typically scheduling an item provides it extra protection and covers it separate from your regular deductible. If your computer is scheduled, many times it will even cover data recovery should your computer be dropped or damaged.

3. Track key information in your Address Book and iCal

If only you’d contacted tech support before the warranty expired, the broken gadget would have been repaired at no charge! There’s an easy way to make sure you have all your info on hand when you need it.

As you take pictures of your items in step 1, put the serial number and warranty expiration date in your Address Book along with tech support’s phone number (create custom fields for Serial Number and Tech Support if you wish). Attach the picture of the item to the address book entry.

Then put the warranty expiration in your iCal Now you’ve got all the info you need in one place and won’t miss that warranty expiration date.

A bonus outcome of this tip is that if you are at the electronics store and you have questions about compatibility or which model you own, the information will be handy so long as you sync your address book info manually or through iCloud.

While these tips won’t prevent problems from occurring, they’ll help protect you from further cost and inconvenience when they do.

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