Black Friday? Yes, Virginia. There Is An App for That.

Black Friday is evolving. Like all else in marketing today, this day-after-Thanksgiving consumer tradition is morphing right before our eyes –and no one is quite sure what will finally take shape. At this point, only one thing is certain: Mobile is heating up the competition, as some online retailers are aggressively promoting mobile-only discounts designed to lure customers away from Back Friday bargains at their favorite brick-and-mortar stores.

Gilt.com, for example, will start promoting mobile exclusives at 6 am on Friday. The members-only designer label online retailer usually starts its sales at noon. But, thanks to mobile, the Gilt Groupe now expects its best Black Friday ever, Andy Page, president of the Gilt Groupe, told The New York Times.

Ditto for Amazon.com, where shoppers already can find discounts online at the Black Friday Deals Store. According to its website, the nation’s biggest e-commerce site is poised to poach even more brick-and-mortar customers with innovative mobile apps.

“In addition to offering great deals on some of the season’s hottest products, we will be watching Black Friday advertisements online and offline to ensure we’re meeting or beating the best deals out there,” Sally Fouts, senior PR manager at Amazon.com, said in a press release. “Shoppers who do decide to brave the crowds and the long lines in physical retail stores on Friday should use the Price Check by Amazon app in order to make sure they’re truly getting a good deal.”

Of course, brick-and-mortar retailers are getting into the game, too. Beginning Black Friday, Walgreens will be offering exclusive discounts to its smartphone customers. Other retailers, such as JCPenney, American Eagle, Target and Kohl’s –just to a name a few –already use apps to connect with customers on-the-go.

Who will win the Black Friday mobile wars? Ultimately, all this jockeying for position will boil down to who can deliver the best customer experience. Sure, today’s consumers are less likely to have the patience to stand in long lines at the register –and remember, many will be using their smartphones to check apps and email while they wait. But, old-school push marketing re-packaged for a mobile device simply won’t work, either.

Over time, we’ll see that the true winners will be the retailers who use technology to adapt to today’s empowered consumer. The winners will be the ones providing compelling, relevant offers, those that analyze and integrate data to create a completely unique customer experience based on location, past purchase history and behavior analytics.

I’ll also be on the lookout for retailers who take an integrated, blended approach to combine the digital and physical worlds. Maybe it’s time for an app that eases the tedium of waiting in line, or one that somehow recreates the good cheer of a mall Santa? How would you answer Virginia today –is there an app for that?

This post appeared first at The Marketing Revolution, my blog at Forbes.com.