Showrooming seems to be the hot buzzword this shopping season. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it basically refers to the action of customers coming into your physical store, touch and feel the merchandise then jump online to make the purchase (typically elsewhere at the best price available). Seems like a bad deal for retailers, right? Well, 80% of the retailerssurveyed by Edgell Network and eBay Local said they expect their sales to be negatively impacted by an average of 5% because of showrooming. Even worse is that 49% say they are not prepared, with only 12% saying they have a strategy.
As a customer who’s done his fair share of showrooming, I have a suggestion for all the retailers out there looking to minimize the damage: provide real knowledge and service when you have the customer in your store. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stepped into a store and asked a simple question and watched the sales rep stumble in their response. On one occasion, I asked the difference between two similar products and the response I got was, “…that one is more expensive so it must be better.” Wow, thanks for the sharp analysis.
The survey above offered many suggestions for retailers to combat showrooming, from price matching and better delivery options to providing a better online experience and loyalty programs. In my survey of one, I want all retailers to know that I want to give my money to the company that has earned it. That means they’ve helped me in my decision-making process. I don’t need a sales rep to tell me they will match the price, I can get that information on my phone. I need them to explain the difference between two products I’m deliberating between. Online I get crowdsourced reviews. I need a sales rep to provide customer opinion on a product (if need be study up on your own website’s online reviews so you can engage me). I need a sales rep who understands when a technology, for example, is being eliminated so I shouldn’t waste my money getting that computer with a floppy disk drive.
This all seems very simple, but the reality is that I can get more relevant information online in five minutes from my smartphone on the showroom floor than I can all afternoon talking with the typical sales rep I come in contact with. The best they seem to do these days is locate a product on a shelf—and even within the past two weeks I had to point one sales rep in the right direction because I knew their store better than they did. I do have hope, though.
Deloitte anticipates retail store sales influenced by customers using their smartphone for research, price comparing and other activities will account for 5.1%, or $36 billion, during the holiday season this year. The number that pops out, however, is that shoppers who use smartphones as a tool during their showrooming experience are 14% more likely to make a purchase in the store than those who do not use a smartphone. This means when your sales rep catches a shopper on their phone researching, engage them to help with their purchase decision. Provide insight that’s difficult to glean from a jargony online review or description. If a shopper is looking for the best price and your shop can’t compete with some of the online deals, a sales rep who understands the merchandise may be able to navigate the customer to alternate options that are better and more affordable. Remember, sometimes the customer doesn’t even know what they want until they’re told.
This holiday season I plan to use my smartphone a lot while I’m shopping. If you see me scanning barcodes or searching for a review, surprise me with helpful service. It’s the gift that will get you my business year after year.
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