Mom, You Are Showroomed

My mom used to complain about the dropped sales in her fashion store. Her customers tried the clothes in her store, then purchased from Taobao by Alibaba, China's biggest e-commerce platform. For the very first time in her career, she felt threatened. Well, with the rapid development of the internet, physical stores are inevitably slapped by the online stores due to their competitive prices. With the convenience that the multiple screens provide, many people participate in showrooming: they touch and try things in store to help make a purchase decision online.

There is no doubt that showrooming does hurt the feeling of people like my mom. One year and a half ago, I was working for a business real estate agency. My job was to contact the heads of brand development and asked if we could help them to find locations to open new stores. Some of them even joked: "Actually, I'm thinking about the opposite."

Despite how my mom feels, I will never define showrooming a definitely good or bad thing. Since it's an inevitable outcome of the digital revolution and it's not just a fade that will disappear tomorrow, I'd rather say, it's a challenge that we need to take.

Showrooming helps to reshape the relationship between physical stores and their customers. Since brick-and-mortar stores cannot compete with online stores in terms of prices, they are trying to add unique values to the buying experience, which is irreplaceable by the online experience.

Showrooming also helps to cut down costs and increase sales. Many people visit Macy's or Best Buy to try different items. They may not buy because they are not sure which one to choose. Later when they think of that and can make a decision, they can still make a purchase on the official websites without worrying about how it will look or function. Customers' making a purchase online helps cut down the cost of the brands, while the salespeople in store can focus more on the visiting customers.