Showrooming is the practice of examining merchandise in a traditional brick-and-mortar retail store or other offline setting, and then buying it online, sometimes at a lower price. Online stores often offer lower prices than their brick-and-mortar counterparts because they do not have the same overhead cost.[1] Staff writers at the Wharton School have observed that showrooming and buying elsewhere is not new in itself, but its impact has become more significant with the greater availability of online purchasing.[2]
The reverse phenomenon of showrooming is "research online, purchase offline", also known as webrooming. This is where customers research a product online before buying it at a physical store.
- ^ "Is 'showrooming' behind Target move to drop Kindle?". Content.usatoday.com. 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
- ^ Wharton School, Turning the Retail ‘Showrooming Effect’ into a Value-add, Knowledge@Wharton, published 26 September 2012, accessed 25 August 2023