It’s no secret that phones have changed the way we shop. What might not be obvious though, is how pervasive phone use has become while shopping at a physical store. A 2019 study by PYMNTS revealed that almost half (48%) of shoppers actively use their phones while shopping in stores.

This offers retailers some new opportunities to engage with their customers. Retailers are already taking advantage of this trend with smart shelves that can push offers to shoppers’ phones. Mobile apps are also getting upgrades to include recipe ideas, store maps and “scan as you shop” features.
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Shopping carts have a big role to play in this digital transformation of physical retail. Have you tried to push a shopping cart and have your phone out at the same time?

It’s not easy.

Some carts have a coupon tray that you can rest your phone in…but it was built for paper coupons, not phones. We can’t have our phone rattle around in a small metal bin and use it at the same time. It's the same reason our car consoles have been upgraded from dials and small LCD displays to larger touchscreens that we can use for navigation.

​Bemis shopping carts are already equipped for this latest trend: Every cart has a “phone prop” molded in. The prop fits common phone or tablet sizes and props the device at a reading and item-scanning level. Because the prop is molded into the cart’s structure, it is very difficult to damage or steal.

Making your shoppers' phones easily usable with your carts should be a priority if you want to take advantage of mobile use in your stores.

We take them for granted...but most vehicle manufacturers now start their interior design with the cup holders. The cup holder has literally become the anchor for designing our car interiors. This was not always the case: Cup holders didn't appear in cars until the 1950s...when things like drive-in's and eating food on the go started to become mainstream. The first attempts at cup holders were....not so functional. Some early patent filings are shown to the right. Don't they look similar to the cup holders on many shopping carts today?

If you are a conscientious car owner, you know that in addition to regular oil changes and tire rotation, it's important to get your car's alignment checked. The reason for this is simple - if your car is out of alignment, it means your tires aren't contacting the road the way they were designed to. Driving a misaligned vehicle will wear out your tires extremely quickly. If your car is badly out of alignment, you can actually hear it - the tires make a lot of noise, and that's a bad sign.

How about your shopping carts? Do the casters on your carts make a lot of noise? Do they wobble back and forth when they roll? And worst of all, do you go through a lot of wheel replacements every year due to tread wear? The cause is the same as in your car - poor alignment.