With the holiday season fast approaching, it might seem plausible for people like you and me to walk into an electronics store, scope out which gadget you or someone else wants, and leave the store only to buy it online for cheaper. Why not, right? The economy is unforgiving, the job market is cut-throat, and people simply have less money in their pockets than they’d like. To big tech retailers these people are called “showroomers,” and Best Buy is looking to keep them from making purchases elsewhere by matching the online prices of competitors such as Amazon or even eBay.
What’s interesting is that Best Buy is trying to downplay the fact that they’re losing customers this way even though it’s a blatant attempt to keep them in the store. In fact, the Wall Street Journal wrote today that on top of matching rival prices, “The electronics chain also is preparing to offer free home delivery on merchandise that is out of stock in stores, in spite of recent remarks by new Chief Executive Hubert Joly that ‘showrooming’ by consumers has been blown out of proportion.”
Out of proportion? Best Buy spokesman Matthew Furman further told the Journal that showroomers comprise roughly 40% of shoppers and that “We have a tremendous opportunity to increase that close rate.”
Best Buy isn’t alone in this battle though, one in which the Journal pegs Amazon as the prime culprit. Wal-Mart and Toys “R” Us are facing similar crises. In an attempt to curtail the showrooming phenomenon, Wal-Mart has started testing a same-day delivery service (in select markets) in order to become, according to CEO Mike Duke, “The best showroom. Let’s be best place where customers want to go and get the experience.”
Toys “R” Us CEO Gerald Storch has implemented a 30% increase in private-label purchases since 2006 to combat showrooming, something that Joly, Furman and himself are all fervently denying. Storch seems to understand the trend better than his constituents though, noting in a statement that “The future belongs to the retailer who has what the customer wants and can sell it through every channel—store, online and mobile” and the fact that Toys “R” Us sales were up 50% last holiday season compared to an overall median of 15%.
So what does this mean for you, the consumer? Keep showrooming. This is obviously a major concern for the big chain retailers and they’re only going to keep lowering prices to keep you in their stores. As the impending holiday season inches closer day-by-day and you’re still looking for ways to afford Apple’s upcoming iPad Mini, or Microsoft’s latest Windows 8 OS, or LG’s imminent Nexus 4 smartphone, then just keep on doing what you do best: teasing the likes of Best Buy with your business and buying it on the cheap somewhere else.
