How Retailers can cope with “Showrooming” and Turn Shoppers into Buyers

What is “Showrooming”? Showrooming is when shoppers come into a store and access the internet from their smartphone while inside the store to compare prices with competing online retailers, in an effort to find the best price. Unfortunately, for brick and mortar retailers, it is increasing as more companies sell online. While this is frustrating for all merchants who pay employees to maintain displays that give shoppers ideas of what to look for, it is especially frustrating for apparel stores when the shoppers use store facilities and employee’s time to try on clothes to find the perfect fit. The “showroomers” then end up turning around and purchase the same thing online for a little less. A Forsee study showed that up to 37% of customers access a competitor’s website while shopping in a store. Recently, a specialty food store in Brisbane made headlines after posting this sign out of frustration:

Photo Credit: 1to1Media

Turn shoppers into buyers without turning them off! We know it is difficult to not get frustrated, but there are better tactics to put into place that can help convert shoppers into buyers. The first thing is to realize that not everyone will buy in your store, but there are things that you can do to provide a better experience that is worth paying for. Create that experience with a welcome environment, perhaps offering free samples and make sure that all the employees are very welcoming, friendly, and helpful. Turn shoppers into loyal customers who will buy from you because they appreciate the experience you deliver to them when they shop there. Still, understand that not everyone will purchase and there will always still be some “showroomers”, but the increase in happy customers will help your business, especially when they tell their friends and increase your customer base with word of mouth references. Another excellent idea is to increase marketing tactics and even take some of the marketing techniques from offline to online tactics. A Marketing Sherpa case study  showed that when a brick and mortar store sent out a welcome email to customers that gave their email addresses while in store had a 7% lift in sales. What can you do to increase communication with customers and stay top of mind? Little changes can help you become competitive with online retailers.