BBC iD
News
Sport
Weather
iPlayer
TV
Radio
More…
MAGAZINE Home
World
Video & Audio
UK England N. Ireland Scotland Wales Business Politics Health Magazine
Editors' Blog
In Pictures
Also in the News
Have Your Say
Education Sci/Environment Technology Entertainment & Arts Special Reports
21 April 2013 Last updated at 01:16
Top Stories Boston remembered at London Marathon
The peril of 'showrooming' By Alex Campbell BBC News
Boston pair 'planned more attacks' Rodgers to review Suarez 'bite' Chinese teams reach quake-hit region No prosecution for Twitter row girl
Features Panda questions Will Edinburgh's giant pandas breed, and other queries
Leaving home Why parents pine when children fly the nest
Grid and bear it The impenetrable world of Excel spreadsheets
Have you ever seen something you wanted in a shop, tried it, checked the price online on your smartphone, found it was cheaper, and walked out? Welcome to the world of "showrooming". "The staff at Jessops would like to thank you for shopping with Amazon" read the sign in a shop window shortly after the British camera chain went into administration. It was a dry reaction to a growing problem for "bricks and mortar"-focused retailers. Showrooming is said to have exacerbated the decline of highprofile brands like Comet. Gadget stores, bookshops and the cosmetics industry are all losing sales to showroomers, but solutions have proved hard to find. Kelly Buckle, 23, of Birmingham, sometimes spends more than £200 in a single shopping trip - but never actually gets as far as the checkout.
In today's Magazine A village in limbo A life lived in tiny flats Quiz of the week's news
Most Popular Shared The mysterious powers of Microsoft Excel The student who caught out the profs of austerity The pain when children fly the nest
Who, what, why: Why build a ship tunnel?
The peril of 'showrooming' Boston remembered at London Marathon
Read Boston pair 'planned more attacks'
"I can go in and smell a perfume and then find it online for £30 less," she says. Research by design agency Foolproof found that 24% of people showroomed while Christmas shopping - and 40% of them took their business elsewhere.
The mysterious powers of Microsoft Excel Lufthansa in 'massive' cancellations Balls thanks race sponsor Osborne The peril of 'showrooming' Boston remembered at London Marathon Double killing sparks murder probe Charge after player punched on pitch Teenagers stabbed in London fight
Generated with www.html-to-pdf.net
Page 1 / 4
No prosecution for Twitter row girl
Video/Audio Thermal images show suspect in boat Camera chain Jessops may have suffered the effects of 'showrooming' BBC newsreaders complete London Marathon
Showroomers are not doing anything immoral. But the process can still be embarrassing.
Dog-fight on Portrush beach
"I feel bad about it, especially when the staff have been helpful, but it's my money," says Buckle.
Tulisa sex tape 'career suicide'
Bricks and mortar shops have to pay rent, bills and staff salaries. Online retailers can offer cheaper prices because they don't.
Suspects 'intended to attack others'
But the online giants get a benefit from the very existence of bricks and mortar shops. It leaves physical retailers in a quandary.
Prince: 'Missing marathon not an option'
An Australian speciality food shop recently raised eyebrows by charging $5 (£3.37) just for browsing. And some shoe and clothes stores in America and Australia have also tried a "fitting fee". In all instances the fee is taken off the bill when someone buys something.
We see them in the corner with their mobile phones, scanning the barcode on a book Victoria Barnsley, chief executive of HarperCollins, recently suggested the and finding it cheaper” idea of charging a fee for browsing bookshops is "not that insane". Steve Pritchard, 61, who runs an independent book store in Crosby, Merseyside, and has worked in the trade for more than 36 years, is not convinced.
Outcry over new Dutch King's song Duchess greets scout award winners Boston mayor: 'Brothers acted alone' 30 seconds of silence for Boston
Steve Pritchard, bookshop owner
"We see them in the corner with their mobile phones, scanning the barcode on a book and finding it cheaper. I can't blame them," he says. "I can't see a way to stop it. Charging people to browse has been suggested but it's a daft idea because you still want people to come in. "You've just got to make your retail environment pleasant, have people here who know what they're talking about and try to embarrass them out of doing it."
If you take a specialist running chain like Run and Become or Runner's Need you can see this process in action. Staff analyse a customer's running gait, often on a treadmill and "diagnose" a pair of shoes that will avoid injury. Those £100 shoes might be markedly cheaper online, but the wouldbe showroomer has to have a very high embarrassment threshold to walk out with a straight face. This approach may seem more realistic than either charging a fee for advice or placing other obstacles in the way of showroomers. There have been suggestions that resistance from retailers has included asking suppliers to subtly change the names of products to thwart internet searches. Coaxing the customer into being willing to pay more is the way, says retail consultant Martin Philpott.
Generated with www.html-to-pdf.net
Page 2 / 4
"Shops like Jessops need to become centres of excellence with a limited number of showroom stores in high profile areas, selling high end products. "I'm a passionate cyclist and I go to a shop that is much more expensive than the internet. But they will build a cycle for you, watch you ride up and down the street or even ride out with you. "By the time you've been there for an hour, their enthusiasm is so overwhelming that you really don't want to go elsewhere." Strangely, online retailers have an interest in the survival of bricks and mortar shops. If web-based retailers lure so many showroomers, what will they do if there are no showrooms left? Philip Beeching, 53, a web consultant and self-confessed showroomer, thinks online retailers may themselves turn to bricks and mortar - but not necessarily staff and checkouts.
Will shopping malls become a place to browse, not buy?
"Online retailers do well out of showrooming and companies like Amazon may well decide that they need to open up showrooms," he says. Retailer-turned-author Bill Grimsey, former chief executive of Wickes and Iceland, agrees. He believes the future lies in purpose-built showrooms in major shopping centres. "Things are going to change a lot, the whole thing is about to explode," he says. "People won't pay to browse. It may start but it will die quickly. People will expect the service."
More from the Magazine
Grimsey believes that even out-of-town retail parks will quickly become redundant, with 20 or 30 huge shopping malls dominating retail by making use of showrooms. A growing number of retailers allow customers to order online and check or collect their goods in store - avoiding the inevitable missed delivery cards and increasing the chances of them buying something else while they are there. But for many, the most important factor is still the price. "My wife asked me to get a new celebrity cookbook which I found in Waterstones for £27. Using my smartphone I was able to search for it and I instantly found it on Amazon for £15," Beeching says.
In the 1970s, the High Street was a bustling place of traditional, albeit occasionally stodgy brands, untroubled by out-of-town retail parks, let alone the virtual shopping of Amazon and its internet competitors. A little bit of High Street nostalgia (January 2012)
"If the price had been closer maybe I'd have done the right thing. But especially in times where a lot of people are strapped for cash - what do you expect them to do?" You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook
Generated with www.html-to-pdf.net
Page 3 / 4
More on This Story In today's Magazine A village in limbo The border between El Salvador and Honduras was officially settled in 1992. But while it is now in Honduras on paper, the reality is rather different.
A life lived in tiny flats The UK has some of the smallest new homes in Europe. So how can people cope living in a small space?
Quiz of the week's news The Magazine's weekly quiz of the news, 7 days 7 questions.
Who, what, why: Why build a ship tunnel? The Norwegian government has backed a plan to create the world's first ship tunnel. But why has nobody built one before?
Magazine Regulars The Monitor Your letters, Paper Monitor, Caption Comp and more
Share this page
Services Mobile
About BBC News Connected TV
News feeds
Alerts
E-mail news
Mobile site
BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
Generated with www.html-to-pdf.net
Editors' blog BBC College of Journalism News sources Editorial Guidelines Terms of Use Privacy Cookies Parental Guidance
About the BBC BBC Help Accessibility Help Contact Us
Page 4 / 4