• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, January 27, 2012

Sapient's Dan Israel says retailers are grappling with living in the era of radical price transparency because of the ease of making price comparisons via mobile. "Retailers no longer have the home field advantage in their own stores," he said. That means they have to try to engage customers on an ongoing basis, before during and after they leave the store. In that vein, Ashley Harmeling of retailer Rue La La says the company tries to keep customers engaged with its app whlle in the store waiting online, or any where else they might need to kill time. But israel added retailers have to go beyond just offering discounts to try to engage customers and look for more creative mobile offerings to hold attention and drive business.