photo credit: RW PhotoBug via photopin cc
Showrooming is the practice of people going into a brick and mortar store to physically look at a product and then walking out to buy elsewhere, either at another brick and mortar location, or online.
I had to write a quick post because I saw a recent article about a store in Australia of all places charging a $5 “just looking” fee for anyone who walks in the door. I'm being serious. Take a look:
Lame idea. “Store Combats Showrooming With $5 ‘Just Looking’ Fee” via The Consumerist jgalm.com/ZSkZnL
— Jarrod Galm (@jarrodgalm) April 1, 2013
What's troubling is that the retailer seems to think that this is commonplace and is good customer service. It's like they're charging admission for the privilege of looking in their store. I really wish this were an April Fool's prank, but it doesn't seem to be.
This business needs to take a long hard look at its rationale behind the fee and understand that they're most likely going to be driving away customers. I don't know about you, but would you want to shop someplace that imposes an arbitrary fee to look at their wares?
They need to focus on the customer by providing stellar service and just an awesome experience all the way around. Maybe, as Chris Morran at The Consumerist suggests, “they could offer a price match guarantee.” If a retailer like Best Buy is willing to go toe to toe with a behemoth like Amazon by price matching, what's not to say this store couldn't do the same?
The key takeaway from all this is to provide some sort of value in what and how you're selling. Even if you have a truly unique product, providing an experience that goes way beyond expectations would virtually force people to want to do business with you versus somewhere else.
