Rise of 'Showrooming' Concerns Retailers
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CREDIT: Window Shopping Image via Shutterstock
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"Showrooming" is on the rise. According to a new survey, nearly half of all online shoppers admitted to showrooming, or researching products in a store only to complete a purchase elsewhere. The rising popularity of smartphones has been the main factor in the popularity of the practice.
According to research compiled in an eMarketer report, nearly 70 percent of respondents used their mobile phones to access the website of the store they were shopping in, while more than 40 percent of respondents used a smartphone to check the website of a competitor. That means retailers must be concerned with keeping their own prices consistent across multiple mediums, while also watching the prices of their competition, according to eMarketer. Other ways people used smartphones while shopping included:
- Accessing a shopping comparison website (26 percent)
- Accessing the store's mobile shopping application (21 percent)
- Accessing a competitor's mobile shopping application (14 percent)
[You Need to Look at Your Business Through a Wide Lens]
One way brick-and-mortar retailers are able to ensure shoppers make purchases in stores is by capitalizing on the immediacy of the in-store shopping experience. The eMarketer report highlights the retailer Nordstrom, which started offering free shipping to anywhere on in-store purchases, and Target, which began offering more items that were made exclusively for stores, to combat customers' showrooming.
Reach BusinessNewsDaily staff writer David Mielach at Dmielach@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @D_M89.