New research from marketing business Tradedoubler suggests that footfall is no longer a useful measure of retail success. It’s found that consumers are often seeing products in-store and then using their mobile phones to check for cheaper pricing elsewhere.

The new Tradedoubler Performance Marketing study involved ‘connected consumers’ in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Netherland, Spain, Sweden and Poland who owned a smartphone and shopped online at least monthly.

92% of connected consumers checked for price reductions via websites and apps - including price comparison sites, loyalty schemes, voucher codes and cashback sites - when researching what to buy, rather than browsing on the high street.

60% used their smartphones when out shopping, with three-quarters of these people using their phone to find information about in-store products. Over two-thirds were checking for a better price elsewhere, with 60% going home to purchase the product online.

Dan Cohen, Regional Director for Tradedoubler, said “This is a wake-up call for marketers and high street retailers. Retailers’ traditional metric - footfall - is now an irrelevant indicator of retail success and they need to embrace performance marketing strategies now that 51% of mobile shoppers are searching for vouchers or discounts for products they have seen in-store and 44% are using vouchers sent to their mobile. Retailers need defensive and offensive strategies to protect and grow their revenues and indeed, to even remain relevant in this intense multichannel world.”

The research from Tradedoubler, which is best known for its affiliate marketing programmes, also suggests that Performance Marketing channels generate their own customer loyalty. Over a quarter of customers make additional purchases every month after receiving emails from Performance Marketing sites.