Showrooming is becoming the latest concern for retailers in the UK, considered the top strategic battleground in the war for the consumer in the US.
A recent comment piece from Retail Week states that showrooming – when a consumer looks at a product on the high street then goes online to find the same product but at a cheaper price – will be the next battleground for UK retailers as competition for the consumer increases.
Retail Week suggests that as more and more bricks and mortar stores are closing down, and m commerce sales continue to increase – according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, sales via a mobile device reached £7.5bn in 2012 – m commerce is only likely to multiple the impact of showrooming for the retailer.
Amazon is one of the biggest beneficiaries of this latest phenomenon in the US with the launch of its ‘price check’ app. Indeed such is the impact of showrooming in the US that retailers Target and Best Buy have now made their seasonal practice of price matching against online retailers permanent.
Research just published by Placed.com, a location analytics company, looks at how Amazon is altering the retail landscape and reveals what traditional retailers need to know in order to protect their market share. The study, “Aisle to Amazon: How Amazon is Impacting Brick and Mortar Retailers”, reveals:
- Bed Bath & Beyond, PetSmart and Toys ‘R’ Us were the retailers that Amazon showroomers visited the most
- Showroomers that purchase on Amazon are 20% more likely to visit Best Buy and 15% more likely to visit Target on average
Commenting on these findings, Volodymyr Pigrukh, CEO and co-founder of Profitero, said “This latest study proves that showrooming is becoming an increasingly real problem for bricks and mortar retailers. Many large retailers have failed to keep up with the pace of e-commerce, and coupled with the arrival of mobile apps that allow consumers to automatically check prices, showrooming is here to stay. As consumers become increasingly price savvy, it’s more important than ever for traditional retailers to be competitive on price. Our market leading solution provides retailers with relevant, timely and accurate data which enables them to optimise their prices and remain competitive in today’s dynamic and multichannel marketplace.”
Profitero’s online daily pricing data allows retailers to benchmark its products’ prices against those of its competitors every day, with its market leading technology monitoring over 40 million products across 3,500 websites. This intelligence enables retailers to identify where their prices are too high – thereby losing out on sales – or too low, therefore losing out on profit margins.
To find out how Profitero can help your business with its pricing strategy and give it the competitive edge, email sales@profitero.com today.
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About Profitero
Pricing intelligence company Profitero provides retailers with actionable price intelligence data, monitoring over 50 million products across 4,000 eCommerce retailers every day, observing pricing, promotions and stock availability. We work with the world’s leading retailers, enabling them to acquire new customers and grow profit margins by monitoring and responding to changes in competitor pricing and promotional activity as they happen. For more information on Profitero price intelligence and competitor monitoring, visit www.profitero.com or email sales@profitero.com