Target Dislikes “Showrooming”
Wall Street Journal reports that Target doesn’t like shoppers visiting its stores, checking out the products in person and their price, and then leaving the store to order it from somewhere with a cheaper price, like, say, Amazon. Target wants suppliers to create special products that are only sold in stores and become more aggressive about price matching.
All I can say is, is there anybody who doesn’t price-compare online vs. retail when out retail shopping? I do it all the time, increasingly so since getting an iPhone several years ago. I would say if you are shopping retail and not checking the prices online, you’re being ripped off and wasting money.
Yeah, I know there’s a bit of an argument for supporting your local shopping economy, but in tough financial times Amazon with no sales tax and cheap shipping (even more so if you subscribe to Amazon Prime) wins out almost every time. Then subtract the time savings driving to a store, the gas, the saved frustration looking for parking and waiting in line and it makes less and less sense to shop physical retail.
There’s a handful of retail that requires a physical presence, like groceries, clothing, and furniture, but everything else is increasingly likely to be swallowed up by online. Retailers adjust accordingly — Target’s recent move into groceries makes sense. But fighting against shoppers just being smart — does not.