Customers coming into the store to browse and test products, only to subsequently go home and actually complete their purchase online (often through a competitor.)
“Showrooming is when a shopper visits a store to check out a product but then purchases the product online… This occurs because, while many people still prefer seeing and touching the merchandise they buy, many items are available at lower prices through online vendors. As such, local stores essentially become showrooms for online shoppers.”
Like it or not, retailers today are competing with the juggernaut that is Amazon or eBay for every sale, which makes the in-store experience a traditional retailer’s biggest advantage. Yet many fail to make the experience worth a trip to the store, missing out on a key opportunity to bond with their customers.
Most customers like to go to a store to touch and feel a product before they buy it.
Will ask the store to price match a better price they found online.
These concepts are the result of changing consumer shopping habits. Now that many of us shop with a smartphone in hand, more customers are price-checking products on the spot, using online reviews to inform their opinions, and have specific preferences for what kind of products they purchase online and in-store.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST QUESTIONS FACED BY BRICK-AND-MORTAR RETAILERS TODAY IS WHETHER PRICES SHOULD BE THE SAME ONLINE AND IN STORES. GAINING CLARITY ON THIS ISSUE IS CRITICAL FOR TRADITIONAL RETAILERS TO SUCCESSFULLY COMPETE IN BOTH ENVIRONMENTS.
BRICK-AND-MORTAR RETAILERS HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH PRICING SINCE AMAZON’S INCEPTION, 23 YEARS AGO, SO WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE NOW? WELL, THE NEWS FOR RETAILERS KEEPS GETTING WORSE. IT’S CLEAR THAT AN INCREASING NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS DON’T VALUE THE EXPERIENCE OF SHOPPING IN PHYSICAL STORES.
SOLVING THESE PROBLEMS WILL TAKE TIME. BUT IN THE NEAR TERM, RETHINKING PRICING STRATEGIES CAN KEEP RETAILERS AFLOAT.
BUT IF PRICES ARE SET AT WHAT’S PROFITABLE FOR IN-STORE PURCHASES, WEB PRICES WON’T BE COMPETITIVE. A ONE-PRICE-FITS-ALL-CHANNELS MANDATE CAN RESULT IN A ADVANTAGE IN ONE MARKET.