Have you ever heard about “showrooming”? Maybe not but I am almost sure that the most of you have done it. Showrooming is when a customer visits a brick and mortar retail location to touch and feel a product and then goes online to buy the product at a lower price.
According to the data published by Accenture, this Christmas 56% of American consumers is going to practice showrooming. As mobile devices penetration grows and consumers get more comfortable using their devices, retailers are seeing more in-store shoppers pull out their smartphones in the aisles to compare the online price for a product. The Accenture Holiday Shopping Survey found that 27 percent showrooming shoppers will likely make an online purchase using their smartphone or tablet while they are still out shopping. This behaviour is causing a lot of losses to both small and big retailers (Best Buy is known as the Amazon’s showroom…).
But, what can they do to recover from this growing trend?
It seems that “The Giant” from Mountain View, Google, has the answer to this question. In its study, Pre-Holiday 2012 Consumer Intentions they affirm that consumers do not reject to buy offline, they just do not differentiate anymore between online and offline, it is a new concept called “nonline shopping”.
The study affirms the line between online and offline disappeared due to two main reasons: the comfort of buying from home and the growing trust from consumers on online payments methods.
There are two main differences between offline and online behaviours: the consumer goes offline to touch and experience the product but goes online to quickly compare prices and find the best deal.
So, what can do the offline stores to led the consumer to this last step and buy the product? They have one big advantage; they have the product but one disadvantage, the price, usually more expensive than online. The only thing the brick and mortar retailers can do is to make discounts, fidelity programs or some kind of promotions.
These are the key take aways from the Google’s study
So, are you going “to play showrooming” this Xmas?
Sources:
http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/56pc-of-holiday-shoppers-will-engage-in-showrooming-accenture
http://www.businessinsider.com/forrester-showrooming-is-blown-way-out-of-proportion-2012-6
http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/insights/library/studies/holiday-consumer-intentions-2012/