There is an interesting school of thought emerging in the industry when looking at the gap between online and offline retail – one that says ‘webrooming’ is more of an issue than ‘showrooming’.
Retailers have long feared the idea of ‘showrooming’ - the journey of a customer heading into a store to see a physical product and try it out but making the final purchase online - because it creates a disjointed and un-attributable customer journey. However, there is an argument that the opposite is in fact happening. Enter the new concept of ‘webrooming’ - where shoppers research items online and then purchase in store - which is currently witnessing a rise in popularity.
According to Merchant Warehouse, 69 per cent of the UK population who own smartphones in the 18-36 age group have webroomed, compared to 50 per cent who have showroomed. Among the 37-48 age category, the results are 71 per cent and 53 per cent respectively.
This shows how technology and lifestyles changes have seen consumers become more empowered and less likely to conform to typical shopping habits. Customers are interacting with brands via a variety of channels – online, social, in-store, etc - at various points in the purchasing journey and jumping between channels at will.
So why are consumers researching items online, but still heading into stores to make purchases?
A number of reasons can be cited here:
1. Customers relish immediacy
Why wait for days (or weeks) for something to arrive when you can go and buy it now? Of course there are issues concerning price and offers but if, after research, a customer feels there is little difference between the online and the offline, an in-store purchase is an attractive prospect.
2. No shipping/postal fees
What’s not to like? As long as any price difference doesn’t exceed the money saved on delivery it may work out cheaper to buy in store – especially big and bulky items.
3. Being able to see what you’re buying in the flesh
Ok so this is a contributory factor to the showrooming effect – however, being able to see it as you buy it does provide some satisfaction.
4. Personal relationship with staff
When buying an item in-store, a customer can ask any last minute questions and get assurances from a member of staff. For many people this personal relationship is more satisfactory than anything an online store can provide.
5. Knowing what the process is for returning
Similar to the above, buying something from a store means a customer knows how and where to return an item should they change their mind. They know where the store is and can clarify with a staff member any warrantees or time periods that apply.
Bridging the online vs offline gap
It’s not a case of showrooming versus webrooming (neither is it showrooming or webrooming) rather, these two phenomenon are two sides of the same coin and the same solutions apply to both. The main issue is the gap in the customer journey and retailers must work to remove friction across touch points so that the customer experience is seamless.
Retailers have to learn how to recognise what specific people are interested in and translate that understanding to other channels. The overall aim has to be that customer checking out with them. Good analytics and an understanding of your customers will help inform how they interact with your brand across the journey rather than a siloed, channel-specific view of each individual.
Catering for webrooming
Retailers need to run programmes that expand consumers’ access to information online, while retaining some control over the customer journey by emphasising offline stores as the customer’s potential final destination – based on the benefits of offline shopping outlined earlier.
However, obstacles shouldn’t be put in the way to stop or make it difficult for web visitors to make a purchase online. The power lies with the customer and making it easier for them. Silo processes and departments are anathema to creating seamless customer experiences and need to be removed. Operations, marketing, sales and service should be considered one team in order to work towards a single goal – a joined up seamless customer experience.
In line with this, every channel and touch point needs to be measured and optimised with insights being fed back into the overall planning and strategy. Retailers need to leverage every ounce of customer data to understand behaviour and improve customer experiences, both offline and online.
By Andrew Saville, Head of Sales for the Retail Sector at Experian Marketing Services.
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