Newsletter Nr. 03/2016

Baden-Baden, 29th July 2016

People are looking at products in local stores and ask for advice, then they leave and buy online. This customer behavior, also known as “Showrooming”, has become a real challenge for merchants. “Advice theft“ is the term many merchants use when they talk about showrooming, when consumers compare prices on their smartphones, look up product information and read other customers’ reviews.

There is no question: Stationary retail is losing sales to online dealers and this trend will certainly continue. Werner Vogt, managing director of Permaplay GmbH: „Painful as this may be, lamenting or refusing to face certain facts simply does not help. One has to face showrooming head on and actively. Recent studies show that this user behavior even entails certain opportunities for stationary retailers. For example, by using a clear POS media strategy.“

During showrooming, consumers are not necessarily looking for the best price, but primarily for confirmation to buy this specific product. Werner Vogt: „This purchase verification is carried out largely through good product information such as videos. Stationary retailers must provide the user with purchase relevant information exactly at that very moment. Moving images ensure high attention. „According to a recent study (Trend analysis Digital-Out-Of-Home), about three-quarters of the population are familiar with advertising on digital screens in public spaces and pay more attention to this kind of advertising than to static advertising. 

“The Royal Road to successful trading is currently a multi- or omnichannel strategy,“ Werner Vogt, managing director of Permaplay, is sure and adds: “Qualified POS media play a central role in these strategies: They combine visual experience with concrete information – directly at the product at the POS on a touch-sensitive screen serving as a “virtual shelf“, presenting significantly more goods than are actually available locally. And, ideally, incorporated into a mobile marketing strategy. This helps to convert showrooming positively to sales activities.“