Showrooming

The standard definition of Showrooming is when a shopper visits a store to check out a product, but then goes on to buy the same item online. Here, we will take a deeper look into Showrooming and consider when the moment the need/want occurs (the moment of intention), Active vs. Passive Showrooming and the Path to Purchase.

A key question as to whether someone has Showroomed regards their intent.  If a shopper just happens to see something in a shop and then buys that same item online at a later date, is this Showrooming? Does the shopper need to have the intention of going on to buy that product online? When does the need/want occur (moment of intention)? Before going to the physical store? In the store? On the way home? Or can it be at any time up to the point of purchase? 

Does a transaction have to take place? At Evolution, we believe that for an item to have been Showroomed, the shopper simply has to purchase an item online having previously viewed it in-store, regardless of when the intention occurs. Of course, a shopper may intend to Showroom but for whatever reason, does not make the final purchase. We are not considering these shoppers here - we only take into account those that made a transaction, because if no sale was made, we cannot consider that the physical store lost out to a virtual store.              

    

Showrooming can be Active or Passive. Active Showrooming (Type 1) occurs when the shopper already has in mind an item they are interested in buying (driven by recommendations, ATL advertising etc.), and enters a physical store with the intention of using it to gain information (in its various forms) on a product but has no intention of purchasing it from the store itself. So, to fit a Type 1 methodology, the intention to buy has to occur prior to entering the store.

Passive Showrooming (Type 2) therefore is when the intention to buy occurs either whilst in the store, or after the shopper has left. The shopper has already (at this time), seen an item that they are interested in, and have gained some information on it from the store. After this, the shopper then goes on to buy the item online. Without prior intention, the shopper used the store to gain information (passively) on a product which was then subsequently bought online.

 Neither road to Showrooming necessarily involves a moment of intention right up to the point the transaction takes place. But both an active and passive approach can, in hindsight, be defined under the broader definition of Showrooming.

As we have mentioned, the intention to buy an item can occur at any point up to the point of purchase – but it not until this intention occurs that the shopper begins on their Path to Purchase.

For more information on Showrooming, see our report into the subject. Read more here.