Investigating consumers' path to showrooming: a perceived value-based perspective

Abstract

PurposeGrounded on the concept of a value trade-off, the authors of this study seek to address the question of why some people visit an offline store before purchasing online. The authors offer a novel perspective by identifying and describing the perceived value drivers (benefits and sacrifices) associated with showrooming in the context of the branded apparel segment.Design/methodology/approachData collected from 318 showrooming customers were analysed in the context of the proposed perceived value framework using the structural equation modelling method.FindingsThe results showed that enhanced product evaluation, monetary savings, smart shopper feelings and perceived enjoyment (positively) and search costs and online risk (negatively) influenced consumers' showrooming value perceptions as benefits and sacrifices associated with showrooming. Only perceived consumption delay emerged as insignificant. As expected, perceived showrooming value was identified as an important driver of showrooming intentions.Research limitations/implicationsThe application of this paper's findings is limited to the branded apparel segment. The model can be tested in other sectors with a larger sample size to gain deeper insights.Practical implicationsThe findings can be utilized by brick-and-mortar retailers to retain showrooming customers.Originality/valueThe authors of the current research work contribute to a better understanding of showrooming by adopting a perceived-value-based perspective, which offers an alternative yet effective route for understanding showrooming.

Economic models of price competition between traditional and online retailing under showrooming

“…Showrooming, as defined earlier, is a special kind of service free riding in retail (Gensler et al 2017 ; Jing 2018 ; Viejo-Fernandez et al 2020 ; Chai et al 2021 ; Li et al 2021 ). Rajkumar et al ( 2021 ) define showrooming as a cross-channel free-riding behaviour that involves offline search followed by online purchase. According to Balakrishnan et al ( 2014 ), showrooming intensifies competition between a traditional and an online retailer, reducing profits for both the firms.…”

“…When customers search offline at a retail store, but buy online from a competitor’s website (competitive showrooming), this adversely impacts the store’s profitability. On the other hand, when customers search offline at a retail store, and buy online from the same store’s website (loyal showrooming), this has a positive impact on the store’s profitability (Frasquet and Miquel-Romero 2021 ; Rajkumar et al 2021 ). Zhang et al ( 2021 ) define competitive showrooming as intra-showrooming and loyal showrooming as inter-showrooming.…”

“…Surveys have shown that showrooming can vary from about 40% to 60% and can be as high as 70% if only shoppers using smartphones in-store are taken into consideration (Zimmerman 2012 ; Quint et al 2013 ; Balakrishnan et al 2014 ; Rapp et al 2015 ; Gensler et al 2017 ; Rejon-Guardia and Luna-Nevarez 2017 ; Kuksov and Liao 2018 ; Fassnacht et al 2019 ; Flavian et al 2020 ; Chai et al 2021 ; Frasquet and Miquel-Romero 2021 ; Johnson and Ramirez 2021 ; Zhang et al 2020 ; Zhang et al 2021 ). A PwC report revealed that 68% of consumers gathered product information at offline stores before purchasing online (Rajkumar et al 2021 ). Research shows that for certain product categories, such as electronics and appliances, 83% of shoppers practice showrooming (Teixeira and Gupta 2015 ).…”

“…Shoppers, who use smartphones, look for price comparison, product information and customer review on the websites and apps of traditional and online retailers before making a purchasing decision. Products such as electronics, appliances, sporting goods, clothing/apparel, shoes, books and furniture, which are ‘non-digital’ in nature (Balakrishnan et al 2014 ; Bell et al 2014 ; Mehra et al 2018 ; Li et al 2021 ; Rajkumar et al 2021 ) and for which shoppers value in-store view-touch-feel-and-fit experience, are more prone to showrooming than other types of products that are generic in nature such as groceries (Quint et al 2013 ; Rejon-Guardia and Luna-Nevarez 2017 ; Jing 2018 ).…”

“…The primary reasons for showrooming cited by shoppers, who engage in showrooming, are lower online prices [Amazon’s prices for consumer electronics were 11% and 8% lower than Walmart’s and Best Buy’s in-store prices, respectively; also, Amazon’s prices were 14% below Target’s prices (Zimmerman 2012 )], a desire to experience the product at a physical store before purchasing it online, shopping and delivery convenience of online purchase, and product unavailability at physical stores (Quint et al 2013 ; Teixeira and Watkins 2015 ; Rajkumar et al 2021 ). Showrooming has pretty badly affected large traditional US retailers.…”