The holiday crunch season is officially here. Make sure you’re paying plenty of attention to your mobile messaging. Target recently reported, via Think With Google, that more than 75% of all of their customer’s shopping experiences begin on a mobile device. While that number may be on the high side due to Target’s size and prominence, it’s not far from what most retailers can expect as the norm.

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It’s impossible to overstate how much mobile device use has changed the way we do our holiday shopping. Rather than concentrating all of the present procurement process into one huge shopping session, today’s customers are integrating gift shopping into small moments that occur throughout their day. They’re logging onto their smartphones to shop while they’re waiting in line, during their morning commute and so on.

Holiday shopping has started earlier – more than 60 percent of shoppers began researching before the turkey was served on Thanksgiving. Much of this research takes place on mobile devices, ranging from a simple location/hours search, through discovering products on social media, reading reviews and recommendations for specific products, to making purchases on a mobile website. Shop online pick up in store options are increasing in popularity.

You want to be absolutely sure that customers can connect with you effectively via their smartphone. It is a good best practice to check your digital presence daily throughout the holiday season, ideally on multiple devices. Any problems need to be addressed immediately so you don’t miss out on any sales. Pay particular attention during any SMS campaigns: test these text-based offers regularly to make sure they’re working the way you want them to. Understanding how important your phones are to your customers and how they use them to shop can make this your best holiday season ever.