• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, May 23, 2016

Hard as it may be for aging consumers to understand, mobile tech has some extremely practical applications.

Take couponing among Millennials: A full 43% said they “clip mobile coupons” and “browse weekly ads” on their smartphones before grocery shopping, according to new research from Retale.

And, once Millennials enter a grocery store, 58% say they use their device while shopping, the location-based mobile ad platform finds.

This behavior is actually more prevalent among older Millennials, or those ages 26 to 34. Among this group, 64% report using their mobile device while shopping, compared to 47% of younger Millennials.

Pat Dermody, president of Retale, speculates that older Millennials are more cost-conscious because they were harder hit by the Great Recession.

Across age demographics, “Mobile is … increasingly seen as a key tool to drive store savings,” according to Dermody.

Among those consumers who report using their mobile device in-store, 40% said they did so “to find coupons and compare prices.”

Respondents also used mobile in-store to “consult shopping lists” (29%), “call or text another member of their household for information or recommendations” (15%) or “to find a recipe” (11%).

When asked to identify what would most enhance their grocery shopping experience, 41% said they would like “offers, like coupons, sent to their smartphone when they enter a store.”

About one in five (18%) said they want “more self-serve checkout”; 14% want “in-store kiosks that offer product information or coupons”; 12% cited “the ability to scan an item on my mobile device to get more information about it”; and 10% said “mobile pay options at checkout.”