"Showrooming" gains ground in US

NEW YORK: More than 40% of US shoppers now use their mobile phone to engage in "showrooming", or the practice of researching products in stores before comparing prices online, a study has revealed.

GroupM Next, the insights provider, partnered with Survey Sampling International, the polling firm, to interview 1,000 adults, some 43.7% of which had utilised their mobile when shopping in stores.

A 45% share of the individuals questioned would leave a bricks and mortar outlet if the item they were looking at was 2.5% cheaper on the web, reaching 60% when the price gap hit 5%.

If an item was 20% cheaper online then 87% of customers were willing to abandon any plans to acquire it in a physical shop.

Elsewhere, the analysis determined how large such a variation might need to be in cash terms, and found that a difference of greater than $5 would generally prompt potential clients to reject high-street retailers.

"Consumers have shifted their path to purchase to include the store as a step, but not necessarily the final step; and this will likely continue to increase over time," Chris Copeland, CEO of GroupM Next, said.

"Brands need to think about how showrooming can be used to their advantage to navigate would-be buyers to a checkout location, be it in-store or online."

Overall, the study stated that if bricks and mortar chains could stay within 5% of the price available via the web, then almost half of "potential showroomers" should finalise transactions in stores.

Interacting with a member of staff in stores can also make a difference, as consumers who spoke to an associate were 12.5% more likely to purchase from a bricks and mortar outlet.

As around 10% of the respondents would buy in-store regardless of the digital discount, the report argued that the main challenge for stores is to target the next 10% of customers, or "marginal showroomers".

This latter group was defined as 90% male, an average of 52 years old, and with a median annual income of $60,000. Some 98% were college educated and 55% also bought goods on the net at least once a month.

"Showrooming is a label for a massive consumer behavior shift brought about by the ease of access to information on a mobile device," said Copeland. "Brands that sit on either side, be it as the physical store or the online merchant, have multiple opportunities with this consumer change."

Data sourced from GroupM Next; additional content by Warc staff, 23 August 2012

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