Texting your way to savings...

I personally don't use my cell phone to sign up for text message services beyond a few weather/school related ones. However, it's a growing trend and one that some retailers are taking advantage of as a quick and easy way to let potential shoppers know that special sales or other deals await them.

As per this Washington Post article, that says in part:

About 29 percent of consumers said they planned to use their phones to power through their back-to-school shopping lists, according to a survey this summer by consulting firm Deloitte. About 38 percent of those shoppers said they intended to check prices, while 30 percent were looking for discounts and coupons. Alison Paul, Deloitte's U.S. retail leader, called mobile technology a "wide open area of experimentation."

"This back-to-school season will inform retailers and consumers as to who is doing that well and who is doing that consistently," she said.

Industry experts and techno-evangelists have long predicted a day when people no longer make the long trek to the mall or even tether themselves to their desks to shop. Now, as more Americans are snapping up smartphones that can access the Internet and boast large-screen displays that make it easy to browse for clothes or microwaves, the future may not be far off.