"Showrooming" grows in US

Warc, 4 February 2013

NEW YORK: More than half of US mobile phone users have asked for purchase advice or engaged in "showrooming" via these devices when in stores, a report has revealed.

Pew Internet, the research group, polled 1,003 mobile phone owners, and discovered 58% utilised these devices while visiting a bricks and mortar retailer for "assistance or guidance" on a purchase.

Fully 78% of respondents from the 18–29 year old demographic participated in such activities over the 30 days to 3–6 January, when the survey was undertaken, as did 72% of smartphone users.

More specifically, some 46% of the panel as a whole called a friend or family member for advice about a possible acquisition during the assessment period, up from 38% last year.

These totals hit 28% and 24% respectively for finding product reviews via the same route. Another 27% of interviewees compared prices in this way, a lift from 25% in 2011.

Elsewhere, the study asked the 27% of shoppers who engaged in online price matching on a phone about their final purchase choice, and found 46% bought the product in the store where they carried out this task, an increase from 35% in 2012.

An additional 12% acquired the item concerned online and 6% did so from a competing physical retailer, while 30% opted against buying it altogether.

The other major points of difference identified by the research were that 53% of female customers had phoned a friend or family member about an in-store purchase, falling to 38% of men.

Affluent consumers – defined as those earning at least $50k per year – also demonstrated a higher uptake of such pastimes. Having at least some college education played a similar role.

While urban consumers were more likely than their suburban or rural counterparts to compare prices or look up reviews on a phone, they proved less keen to call a trusted contact and ask for their opinion.

IDC, the insights group, predicted 20% of US adults – or 48m people – would engage in "showrooming", or using a smartphone in a store, in the 2012 holiday season, potentially rising to 69m in 2014.

At minimum, the organisation argued, this trend was set to influence $700m in retail purchases in 2012, a figure possibly hitting $1.7bn under a more bullish scenario.

Data sourced from Pew Internet; additional content by Warc staff