Showrooming in Ireland
As part of its ongoing “Mood and Momentum” research study, Irish International (in conjunction with Amarach Research), has taken a snapshot of the impact of technology on shopping behaviour. It is clear from the research that technology is having a growing influence on consumers’ lives and is significantly reshaping both the retail landscape and shopper behaviour (as the accompanying infographic demonstrates). What is particularly clear is that the phenomenon of showrooming, the practice of examining merchandise in a traditional brick and mortar retail store without purchasing but then shopping online to find a lower price, is now firmly embedded as a consumer behaviour. 60% of Irish consumers have looked at products in store with the intention of buying them online afterwards. Showrooming is particularly pervasive in the categories of fashion and technology with 60% of ‘showroomers’ buying electronic products online, 58% buying clothes, 44% buying mobile phones and 41% buying footwear. The increasingly ubiquitous penetration of smartphones is a key driver of these changes in shopper behaviour. 70% of Irish consumers now own a smartphone and they are increasingly using their phones when out shopping. 49% of smartphone owners have used their phones whilst in a shop to search for a better price for an item and 33% have downloaded a money off voucher to their phones. Consumers are also becoming increasingly confident about buying products through mobile with 41% of smartphone users having bought products on their phones and 56% saying they would be happy to use their phones to pay for products or services. This finding offers encouragement for the developers of mobile wallet services such as O2 and Google.
