Showrooming has become an increasingly troubling trend. Customers come to your brick and mortar retail store to see a product, but then buy it online.
Retail Information Systems (RIS) just published some very troubling trends.
- Showrooming drives 50% of online sales.
- 20% of consumers who see a product in a store eventually buy it from an online only retailer
- 15% of consumers eventually purchase the product from a competitor as a result of their research.
- Top 5 Retailers at risk of Showrooming: Bed Bath and Beyond, Petsmart, Toys R Us, Best Buy and Sears.
What does a retailer do to combat this? RIS suggests that retailers design strategies to engage showroomers. For example, price match, provide more delivery options, sell exclusive products, publish their inventory online, and partner with price comparison apps.
Are your customer showrooming your business?
Your article got me thinking about the applications of showrooming and the retail banks that I support. If consumers are being training to showroom, what are the implications when they walk into a branch? Are they going to compare interest rates before signing up for a new CD or before signing on the dotted line for a mortgage. With the cost of a retail bank transaction 20x higher than mobile, are we training our customers to not only use mobile, but to take the next step. Given recent surveys by the American Bankers Association (Popularity of Online banking Episodes) and Pwc (Bank Innovation, When the Going Gets Tough) showrooming may become a reality for more than just retail.