Editor’s Note:  This post was originally published a few days before “Black Friday” on the Survey Swipe blog.

This “Black Friday” is shaping up to be the most contentious yet.  Some 152 million shoppers say they will hit stores on November 25, the day after U.S. Thanksgiving, up 10.1 percent from 138 million people last year, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.

Online retailers have traditionally had the advantage when it comes to tracking consumer behavior and using new media to build customer loyalty.  But this year traditional retailers have a few new tricks up their sleeves.

Several large American retailers already embed market research software into their smartphone apps, and other have formed research panels that gather consumer data at the point of purchase.

Survey Swipe works with retailers to create a white-label market research solution that allows retailers to have their own research app or build research functionalities right into the retailer’s existing app.

According to recent Nielsen report smartphone usage is projected to hit a critical inflection point by the end of 2011.  Forward-thinking retailers see app-based solutions as an important part of their customer strategy.

“It is simply a fact that an app-based solution can gather data more efficiently, accurately, economically than any other technology”, said Survey Swipe founder Chandika Bhandari.  According to a recent study from comScore app usage by consumers outpaced browser usage for the first time in June of this year.

“With volume like this hitting stores, retailers who have a mobile customer feedback program in place will gain insights that will pay dividends for the upcoming holiday season and beyond.  Point of sales insights are a game changer.”  said John Nelson, Business Development Director for SurveySwipe.  “The ability of brick and mortar retailers to gain deep consumer insights will be a wake-up call to online retailers.”

Stay tuned, the stage is set for the most competitive Black Friday to date…