Last year, Retail News Insider brought you a detailed look at the trend of showrooming (researching products in-store and then buying them online), which at the time, seemed to be a growing phenomenon with no end in sight. Fast forward to today and a new trend is emerging that has signs of being even more popular: webrooming, researching products online and then purchasing them in-store.
In terms of bottom line dollars and cents, Forrester Research is estimating that e-commerce spending in the United States will reach approximately $370 billion by 2017. They are also estimating that $1.8 trillion worth of in-store sales will be influenced by the web. So is the show over for showrooming? That’s what we recently set out to explore in our latest Retail Perceptions report.
Similar to the first report on the role of online reviews in women’s purchasing behavior that we shared with you in last month’s issue, this latest report on webrooming takes a look at the factors that influence consumers’ buying decisions. It also identifies moments during the process where retailers may be able influence whether shoppers purchase through a virtual world or the real one. You can learn more about the report—and some of the surprising results we uncovered—on page 9.
As always, the rest of the issue is also packed with information and insights to help you better understand and perform in today’s retail environment. I hope you find it informative, enjoyable and useful.
All the best,
 Kelly Short |