Best Buy To Combat “Showrooming” With Online Price Matching

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Although the details are still being worked out, Best Buy has vowed to stay competitive this holiday season by price matching online offering from top rates sites like Amazon.com.

There’s a new phenomena in retail that’s stemmed directly from online sales, dubbed “showrooming”. Showrooming is when customers walk into their neighborhood electronics big box store to touch and feel products they will ultimately purchase online because of pricing. Until now, Best Buy would not match prices found online at sites like Amazon.

Amazon, while a huge operation in itself, still doesn’t have nearly the overhead that a brick and mortar retail chain like Best Buy or HH Gregg have.

Not only that, but while Best Buy will go into the black during the holiday season, the cost of business increases drastically. Best Buy more than doubles their in-store work force, and has to contend with an onslaught of returns after Christmas.

Best Buy has gone through some major executive changes at their home office in Minnesota including the ousting of career man and former CEO Brian Dunn. Scott Durchslag is the companies new head of e-commerce, who’s been preaching price competitiveness since his arrival.

The goal with offering price matching with amazon.com is to convert those showrooming customers into actual sales.

“Once they’re in the store, they’re yours to lose,” Durchslag Business Insider.“A lot of people talk and write about the ‘showrooming’ phenomenon. It’s a symptom, not a cause. There are things that you’re not doing for the consumer that makes them not want to purchase.”

It’s unclear if the price match move will be temporary through the holidays or continue on as policy.

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Source: Business Insider

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66% Of Smartphone Users Test Drive Products In Store,Then Purchase Online

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There’s no doubt that brick and mortar stores are consistently losing sales to online websites.  This trend has caused many retailers to rethink their web strategies to minimize losses.

The study, by retrevo.com, took a look into the trends of smartphones users, and retailers with apps available. 43% of the participants said they have downloaded a brick and mortar retailers app. However, only 14% of those that said they had downloaded a retailers app said they found the stores app useful.

While the amount of smartphone owners who have used a stores app is small, more than half the survey participants said they have used their smartphones to assist in their purchasing decisions while in the store.

Of those who have used their smartphones in store to make a purchasing decision have used then to research a competitors price, find a coupon, or read reviews.

What’s apparent in this study is that traditional retailers need to embrace the smartphone user and find ways to capitalize on this informed segment of shopper.  As we gearup for the holiday shopping season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the paradigm shift from online specials to in store specials. After all these retailers want to keep the lights on.

Source: retrevo