July 3, 2012 smz-blog

Showrooming showdown

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– Trish Cowan, Copy writer 

Shopping around isn’t new. It’s been around way longer than the Internet and Amazon. Some purchases have always called for visiting more than one store, slamming doors, kicking tires, two-door or four, delicate cycle or heavy-duty capacity. But one of the guys you went to made the sale. And if it wasn’t his turn this time, it would be the next.

But getting a hands-on look in a store only to make the buy online—showrooming—is tough on business owners. You know, the guys who pay employees, light bills and insurance, spend money to stock and time to explain, only to lose the sale—repeatedly—to a virtual rival.

It’s a tough retail world out there. And it’s not getting any easier. Do consumers think about merchants and their futures? Or is saving money all that counts?

I guess only time will tell if brick-and-mortar stores have outlived their purpose. But really, there are lots of times when nothing beats immediacy (take it home today!) and customer service. Plus buying shoes online makes them hard to try on.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/17/opinion/greene-showrooming/index.html

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