A recent survey conducted Edgell Network and eBay revealed that 80% of retailers foresee a 5% decline in sales on average as a result of showrooming, which according to my fellow Forbes contributor Steve Cooper "refers to the action of customers coming into your physical store, touch and feel the merchandise then jump online to make the purchase (typically elsewhere at the best price available)."
Steve actually has a very good article all about showrooming and how to sway consumers from the art of doing it entitled appropriately enough How To Convert Showrooming Customers. He has some great advice for retailers and he nails it on the head when he writes "...but the reality is that I can get more relevant information online in five minutes from my smartphone on the showroom floor than I can all afternoon talking with the typical sales rep I come in contact with."
He also touches on other findings from the aforementioned including the fact that 49% of retailers surveyed say they are not prepared to deal with showrooming, with only 12% saying they have a strategy to combat it.
Those finding were enough to boggle my mind and immediately think these retailers are kidding themselves if the average loss is going to be ONLY 5% doe to showrooming.
But there are other very telling and quite frankly disturbing and delusional findings from the survey:
- Just 10% of retailers said that providing a store-branded mobile app of their own was an effective counter-measure to showrooming
- Only 25% of respondents have total integration between their websites and brick and mortar locations
- Only 34% said there was some integration between digital presence and the physical stores.
- 15% said they do not have any integration
- While another 25% still don’t offer any online sales channel
- Nearly 80% of brick-and-mortar stores indicated that sharing inventory across the physical location and their website is "somewhat" or "very important" but...
- 85% said they do not even have this technology in place, to share inventory across the web and brick and mortar store
Are you seeing a trend here, kids?
Are you seeing a massive disconnect going on here?
Saved The Best For Last
But if all this weren't enough this one final stat from the survey will put you over the proverbial edge.
Ready?
According to the survey results, 84% of the retailers claim they are “technologically prepared” for the coming holiday shopping season.
Holy completely-delusional-in-their-thinking Batman.
Are you kidding me?
What, do some who indicated they are ready for the holidays consider having electricity and running water as being "technologically prepared?"
Or maybe it's the fact that their credit card machines are working properly, that's what they deem "technologically prepared” worthy.
I don't know about you but I would LOVE to meet these retailers who consider themselves to be "technologically prepared” and see just how prepared - technologically or otherwise, they really are.
Sources: Econsultancy, MediaPost
Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review and a Top 50 Social Media Blogger by Kred, Steve Olenski is a senior content strategist at Responsys, a leading global provider of on-demand email and cross-channel marketing solutions.
