Lowe’s Cos. Inc., Best Buy Co. Inc. and Toys “R” Us are among retailers making big changes to prepare for a wave of holiday shoppers who will use smartphones to research products, check rivals’ prices and make purchases, Reuters reported.

“Retailers can either hop on the bus or get left behind. We are choosing the first option,” said Gihad Jawhar, vice president of Lowes.com, the home-improvement company’s website.

Lowe’s is issuing more than 42,000 Apple iPhones to employees in more than 1,700 stores.

When shoppers are in Lowe’s stores scanning bar codes with their phones, reading product reviews and checking prices, employees can use iPhones to track down similar information.

Staff can also check to see whether products are in stock, available on the Lowe’s website or at another store nearby, and can often match or beat a price a consumer finds elsewhere via a smartphone.

Best Buy has 63 so-called connected stores in which employees have been given mobile devices and are encouraged to use their own smartphones to help shoppers research products and check inventory.

More than 40 percent of retailers this year have a policy of at least competing with lower online prices found through mobile comparisons.