Half of smartphone owners are now using their devices to ‘showroom’
Smartphone owners are also increasingly using their mobiles to read customer or product reviews when in store (47%) as well as price checking other retailers' websites (39%).
Smartphone owners are also increasingly using their mobiles to read customer or product reviews when in store (47%) as well as price checking other retailers' websites (39%).
Almost half (47%) of smartphone owners are now using their mobile devices to ‘showroom’ and browse for an item whilst out shopping, according to new research.
Smartphone owners are also increasingly using their mobiles to read customer or product reviews when in-store (47%) as well as price checking other retailers’ websites (39%). Around 29% of smartphone owners have also used their mobile to purchase or order a product if an item was out of stock in store.
The latest eCustomerServiceIndex (eCSI) results from IMRG and eDigitalResearch highlights the growing relationship between store and mobile channels with an increasing number of consumers using their mobile device to help enhance their in-store experience.
Derek Eccleston, Commercial Director at eDigitalResearch, said: “These results highlight just how important mobile is now to the entire customer journey. Just 18 months ago, retailers were debating the risks involved with a growing ‘showrooming’ trend amongst consumers, worried that the introduction of price comparison in-store would affect bottom lines. The latest eCSI results highlight that this is a trend that is here to stay – consumers increasingly want to, and expect to be able to, use their mobile when out shopping, and not just to purchase from competitors.
“ Therefore retailers now need to ensure that their in-store experience is also mobile optimised with simple steps such as offering free WiFi, making sure their entire customer experience is as good as it possibly can be”.
Re: “Almost half (47%) of smartphone owners are now using their mobile devices to ‘showroom’ and browse for an item whilst out shopping, according to new research.”
No they aren’t. Here’s a simple experiment for UK readers. Go to your nearest Waitrose (an upmarket retailer, so most of their customers will own smartphones) and look around. Are 47% of the customers showrooming? Obviously not.
If your experience matches mine then 0% of the customers that you can see will be showrooming.