Recently, TrendSource conducted their third annual Pre-Holiday Consumer Buying Intentions Study and results revealed retailers Walmart, Target & Kohl’s as top shopping destinations this holiday season. The market research company sent researchers out during peak Black Friday hours to assess the customer experience at the three retailers during one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Every year, retailers compete for shoppers’ attention during Black Friday with promises of “unbeatable” deals and extended hours, some opening as early as Thanksgiving evening.

This holiday season, retailers continued to advertise door busters and convenient store hours, but some took convenience to the next level with mobile apps that enhance the in-store consumer experience. Retail giant Target launched a new interactive mobile app, allowing customers to browse Black Friday deals and find the exact deal while shopping in-store with location-specific store maps. Kohl’s mobile app users were able to browse deals with ease and add items to a mobile shopping list, but the app lacked the interactive function of Target. Shoppers were unable to locate the same deals in store, reducing the value of their app when coupled with an in-store experience.

Walmart fell short in comparison to the in-store shopping simplicity of Target and Kohl’s, with lines three times the size of similar retailers, but held strong in app convenience. With a friendly user interface that allows for searching, filtering and sorting results quickly, users are able find products they want more easily than in other retailer apps.

Read more about the consumer experience during this popular holiday shopping season here.