Webrooming is a slang for the consumer practice of researching products online before buying them in a physical store.
The term is often used to contrast with another consumer practice called “showrooming,” wherein shoppers first try out the products they want in a physical store before buying them online. Webrooming is the opposite – shoppers first research the products online before buying them in a physical store. (1)
Showrooming
Showrooming is when a shopper visits a store to check out a product but then purchases the product online from home. This occurs because, while many people still prefer seeing and touching the merchandise they buy, many items are available at lower prices through online vendors. As such, local stores essentially become showrooms for online shoppers. (2)
Webrooming vs. Showrooming
A recent Accenture study found shoppers are webrooming more than showrooming across all product categories, except grocery. Additionally, 78 percent of U.S. shoppers had webroomed in the 12 months before the latest survey, while only 72 percent had showroomed. (3)
Instead of working to minimize showrooming, now marketers need a strong omnichannel strategy with all channels, e-commerce, m-commerce and brick and mortar, working together to drive sales.
References
- Webrooming, https://www.techopedia.com/definition/31036/webrooming
- Consumers Are Showrooming and Webrooming Your Business, Here’s What That Means and What You Can Do About It, https://www.shopify.com/retail/119920451-consumers-are-showrooming-and-webrooming-your-business-heres-what-that-means-and-what-you-can-do-about-it
- Webrooming: The New Showrooming?, https://www.helloworld.com/insights/blog/marketing/2014/09/19/webrooming-the-new-showrooming,
