Predictive Showrooming

Retailers are being urged to adopt big data and predictive analytics as a defensive weapon against showrooming - the growing phenomenon of customers looking at a product in a store and then ordering it online.

For example, TIBCO suggests "companies that are most effective at combating this type of new threat are those who have used data analysis and predictive analytics to predict what type of engagement will resonate most effectively with their existing and new customers". Meanwhile, @ericylai talks about marrying Big Data and Mobile, while @larryfreed talks about providing a unified, cross-channel experience.

However, @barneyjopson reports a new twist. Consumers can now use big data and predictive analytics themselves, by using a service from decide.com, which predicts future retail price changes (based on retailers' past behaviour) and encourages its members to use these predictions to optimize the timing of key purchases.

Update: In September 2013, decide.com was acquired by eBay and effectively closed down.
See Predictive Analytics for the Smart Consumer? (April 2014)

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Larry Freed, 5 Tips to Turn Showrooming Consumers into In-store Customers (Dec 2012)

Barney Jopson, Torn between loyalty and a bargain (Financial Times Dec 2012)

Eric Lai, How Brick-And-Mortar Retailers Can Beat 'Showrooming' And Amazon.com (ZDNet Oct 2012)

Bryson White, Did Black Friday showrooming overshadow Cyber Monday shopping online? (Adobe Digital Marketing Blog, Nov 2012)

Data Analysis Versus ‘Showrooming’ (TIBCO Spotfire Blog Nov 2012)

See also Showrooming and Multi-Sided Markets (Dec 2012)



Updated 23 April 2014