Maybe It’s Time To Embrace Showrooming

By Debbie Hauss, Editor-in-Chief

The term “showrooming” carries with it a very negative context. Often the context of the discussion around showrooming is how to “combat” it. I say, maybe it’s time to embrace it. This could be one of the best times to spout the cliché: “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

So far, I don’t believe slashing prices and discontinuing items have proven to be winning strategies in the war against showrooming. A few of the retail leaders have gotten creative in their efforts to keep the store relevant. Target, for example, has taken to selling items that are exclusive to the stores. Walmart and others are using the buy anywhere/ship anywhere strategy to woo shoppers into brick-and-mortar locations.

Also, for those who believe stores will be extinct sometime in the future, I beg to differ, for a number of reasons. As shoppers, we still want to touch and feel products, try them on and try them out. And we will be happy to finalize our purchases in-store if we are motivated to do so. Price certainly is a consideration. But customer experience is more important in the long run.

Recent research from the e-tailing group and Oracle Retail points to several reasons why shoppers still want to spend time in stores, noting that convenience is key.

This week on the Retail TouchPoints site and in the newsletter, Brian Kinsella from Manhattan Associates shares his views in the article titled: Showrooming: Scourge or Inspiration. He adeptly points out that: “What showrooming has brought to light is the harsh reality that the retail store experience is changing faster than it has in decades, thanks largely to advances in technology. For brick-and-mortar retailers to survive they must change the way they currently operate.” Other retail executives will be sharing their insights on the topic of showrooming in future articles on the Retail TouchPoints site.

Here are two other resources for information on showrooming and the impact of mobile technology on the entire shopping experience:

• October 9, 2012 webinar titled: The True Experience Of One: Personalizing The Mobile Shopping Experience
• Article covering Deloitte Research titled: The Dawn Of Mobile Influence

Finally, to help retailers in their efforts to make the most out of today’s cross-channel shopping environment, Retail TouchPoints currently is conducting a survey titled: Completing The Cross-Channel Challenge.  Click here to take the survey now.

We will be watching the trends and innovations related to showrooming, as we move through the 2012 holiday season and into 2013. My guess is that our retail leaders will come up with some extremely innovative and creative ways to avoid making “showrooming” a four-letter word.

Follow Debbie on Twitter: @DHauss