Showrooming, a phenomenon when customers browse a retailer’s merchandise in-store only to purchase it elsewhere, has been seen as a threat and a scapegoat for sales woes. If you firmly believe that showrooming is the very source of your sales woes, this article might change your mind.
According to the article, Bizrate surveyed 9,000 shoppers who just completed an online purchase. Just over 20% of those online purchasers actually showroomed before they made the purchase and of these purchasers the majority ended up buying from that same retailer’s online store — not from a competitor. The author uses an analogy to describe the common belief that retailers are being afflicted by showrooming — just like restless leg syndrome isn’t the cause of lost sleep, showrooming isn’t the cause of lost sales.
Since showrooming isn’t the issue, then what is the real problem? The problem is that most retailers don’t offer an exceptional-enough in-store experience to command the sale. Instead of being taken into believing that showrooming is rampant, what retailers should do is provide customer experience so great that it triggers shoppers to buy right then and there.
A Customer Experience Management (CEM) vendor can help you create exceptional customer experiences — the kinds of experiences that lead to personal, enduring relationships with customers. A good vendor has the ability to capture customer feedback from not only surveys but social media. Based on your customer feedback, retailers can target specific areas of consumer dissatisfactions and improve the customer experience and leverage differentiations as a way to compete with online and other brick-and-mortar retailers.
Are you ready to stop blaming showrooming for your lost sales? Just start by improving your customer experience instead.