Showrooming was a concern when shoppers used to come to the physical stores, check out the products and then purchase it online because of a better price. Just when this was becoming a cause of concern the exact opposite happened for several categories - reverse showrooming. Here shoppers would do extensive research online and then come to a physical store to experience the product and make the purchase. Needless to say smart Retailers have developed strategies to counter showrooming and to encourage reverse showrooming.
The next step would be to combine the power of technology and the shopper’s need to experience the product, without even having to come into the store. This trend is going to only increase especially in lifestyle and high involvement categories.
The IKEA initiative for their catalogue is an apt example for how Retailers can leverage technology to encourage reverse showrooming; more importantly, deliver shopper value which is not limited to price alone.
As you can see in this video IKEA has used an augmented reality app to enable shoppers to not only experience their products before hand but also create wonderful memories.
Now to address the question I am invariably asked - is this possible in India and will it be worth it?
Yes, it is very much possible in India and it is definitely worth it because the Retailer will create value for the shopper which is not limited to price. Also, such experiences will have an emotional impact on the customer as also trigger word-of-mouth publicity which is fantastic.
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1 comments:
Using technology to provide products information from the local stores will give advantage to the customers to find and select before going to stores. Are there any apps in this market segment?
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