Showrooming

Showrooming is the practice of researching merchandise in a store and then buying it elsewhere–either online, over the phone or from another brick-and-mortar competitor. Naturally, retailers are nervous about this ever-increasing behavior.

However, ForeSee’s recent Mobile Satisfaction Study points out something important; when accessing our mobile phones inside of a retail store for comparison shopping, 60-70% of the time it’s to access the store’s own website.

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This points to two things for retail marketing and sales:

1. The obvious importance of consistency. The price online should be the price in the store. Systems need to connect.

2. But when it doesn’t… There’s an opportunity for conversion (and maybe even upsell) through immediate sales floor empowerment. If, for example, the price is lower on the online site, perhaps honor that price but then kick in an incentive that’s only available if the consumer purchases at the store, such as a 30 day guaranteed no-questions-asked return policy. (Whereas online the return isn’t nearly that easy.)

Such moves embrace showrooming and help seal the deal right there. Despite the ever-increasing showrooming trend it’s still possible to have the consumer get the win and the retailer keep the sale.