Retailers are not reacting quickly enough to the threat of ‘showrooming’, according to a new US retail report.
New research by Edgell Knowledge Network (EKN) has revealed that 80 per cent of retailers expect to be impacted by ‘showrooming‘ this Christmas with the average loss of sales estimated to be 5 per cent.
Showrooming is the term given to consumers carrying out online price comparisons while in-store and then ordering the goods at a cheaper price elsewhere – usually on the Internet. Consumers are using competitor price monitoring websites to find out which retailer has the best price for the product they want to buy.
Even though one in four shoppers used their mobile device to compare prices while in-store over the holiday season last year, only ten per cent of bricks-and-mortar retailers have plans in place to combat the trend this Christmas, according to the report.
Although retail price matching and operating in an omnichannel environment are the best ways to combat showrooming, just 25 per cent of those surveyed said they had full integration between their offline and online business models; a lowly 15 per cent were publishing their inventory on a webstore.
“Retailers can put strategies in place to help counter the effects of showrooming by engaging showroomers actively, integrating their online and offline channels, and prioritising their investments to counter showrooming,” said Gaurav Pant, research director at EKN.
Retailers taking part in the research said that electronics and appliances were the categories most vulnerable to the in-store activity.
© Profitero 2012
About Profitero
Pricing intelligence company Profitero works with retailers and manufacturers to help them increase sales and maximise their profits by using competitor price, promotions and stock information at scale. For more information on Profitero price intelligence and competitor monitoring, visit www.profitero.com or email sales@profitero.com.
