• by Sarah Mahoney , April 7, 2016

A new report from the National Retail Federation finds that retailers have dramatically upped their digital game in recent months, trying hard to integrate online advantages in every physical shopping trip.

Done in partnership with FitForCommerce, an e-commerce consultancy, the study finds that 77% of retailers have optimized email for mobile, for example -- up from 55% when it conducted the first study back in October. And 86% now offer a shared shopping cart from mobile to desktop, up from 84%. In stores, 33% now offer WiFi -- up from 26%, while 69% of associates are now able to locate items online or in other stores, compared with 39% in the earlier study. Stores offering in-store pickup rose to 28%, from 20%.

The research used a mystery shopper approach and looked at 120 retailers.

“This report shows that retailers are taking major steps to integrate their in-store and digital operations and narrow the difference between the two,” says Vicki Cantrell, SVP of the NRF and executive director of its Shop.org division.

“The growing omnichannel approach to retail gives consumers familiar consistency whether they are shopping on their phone, on a tablet or laptop, or in the actual store.”

Another study shows retailers will have to move even faster to keep Millennials engaged, with Gen Y men looking for convenience. Euclid Analytics says 68% of Millennial males say they wish they could use their smartphone for faster checkout or VIP lanes, and 61% would use their smartphones for an exclusive in-store service, such as tech support.

Millennial women, on the other hand, are looking for more personalization, with 74% saying they would either be very likely or somewhat likely to get instant access to a gift, daily deal or same-day discount geared to their preferences.

And overall, 84% of smartphone-owning Millennials in the survey, which included some 2,100 and was conducted by Harris Polls, say they’d like to receive messages from a retailer while in the store.