Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

The retail industry is hiding behind the showrooming threat, but the real problems may run deeper.shopping at a store, isn't really the huge threat to traditional retail that it is made out to be. 

The ravages of showrooming may in fact be more reflective of traditional retailers failing to provide a good service or experience.

In a new BI Intelligence study on "reverse showrooming" — online research that leads to in-store purchases — we discovered plenty of data suggesting that shoppers often prefer to shop in-store, if the right barriers are removed.  Here's what the evidence suggests about what really drives people away from shopping in-store....

Recent research from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) predicts that one in five retail stores on the high street will close in the next five years – in addition to the ongoing shop vacancy rate of 14.1%. But there's signs that the future doesn't need to be all about reducing store or staff numbers to boost finances.

Many retailers are adapting their model to shoppers’ changing habits and desires - taking advantage of technology to improve the instore experience and improve profitability. In doing so, they may be inadvertently reshaping the role of bricks and mortar shops....

A recent survey by consulting firm Accenture found 63 percent of consumers plan to use a laptop or home computer to make purchases or research items this holiday season, up 16 percentage points from last year.

The smartphone, in particular, is gaining ground. As of August, 174 million people in the U.S. owned one — 72 percent of the mobile market, according to Reston, Va., digital tracking firm comScore. Branding Brand’s research found that mobile devices generated more than half of online retail visits that month, up from 4 percent in 2010.

The digital world generates data even better than sales, so there’s plenty of information on how Americans are using their tech tools.

Accenture’s survey found 24 percent of consumers plan to use a smartphone while shopping, up from 18 percent last year. Almost half of those surveyed are already using or at least would be willing to try services like ApplePay and PayPal that let them use their mobile phone to pay at checkout....