Showrooming occurs when customers at a brick and mortar store, after having physically touched, smelled, lifted, handled, and most importantly priced your products in person, go online through their smartphones and comparison shop - most often to Amazon.
It's one of the risks I've addressed in my manifesto.
Showrooming to brick and mortar retailers is akin to stealing.
Whether customers do it in the privacy of a deserted aisle, in front of your best employee or in the parking lot walking back to their car, showrooming is causing a lot of executives a lot of worry.
Customers walking into your store no longer are “just looking,” they’re taking your hard-earned reputation, using all the beautiful displays, premium products and employees to cancel out any suspicions they have before they buy online.
To shoppers, it's smart shopping.
To cellular companies it is the reason they can sell the more expensive smartphones.
To Amazon, it's just business.
Once your customers go to Amazon, they’re hooked. Cosmetics? Groceries? Gourmet Coffees - even wine? Amazon will let them setup an auto-order for refills.
Once your customers purchase, Amazon does a swell job of showing them related items meaning they have even less reasons to go back to your brick and mortar store.
So how does your store open the door for them to go to Amazon or other online retailers in the first place?
Why? Because Amazon does so well and many brick and mortar stores add no extra value to the shopping experience. It does all just become price.
Customers walking into your brick and mortar store still want the warm feeling they get from shopping, from feeling the products, the ambiance of your store, the warmth of your employees. That can't be had with a computer screen, mobile device or virtual anything.
Customers may be shopping less but when they decide to spend that money they are more sensitve than ever to indifference from the retailer and their employees.
Amazon and other internet sites will continue to grow as stuck brick and mortar retailers refuse to look in the mirror and change.
The chance to make a powerful impression and disarm the smartphone in your customers' pocket is yours but it will take work to mitigate these thirteen reasons why your store is open to being showroomed and your retail sales become more and more challenged.
I've added a new speech, How Not To Be A Showroom For Amazon that will share the strategies and tactics your association, chain or store needs to compete.
Are you a hungry brick-and-mortar store owner who’s ready for a fresh, people-obsessed strategy? This training is for you if you want to grow your business using a powerful customer experience formula proven to make your cash register chirp.