Is Showrooming Rude?

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Consumerist wants to know if you think "showrooming" is rude or just part of doing business.

Smart shoppers compare prices before they buy anything; this is nothing new. But is there a difference between comparison shopping at retail stores and “showrooming,” where you check out a product at a store and then buy it from an online retailer?

If you ask me, I think the whole thing is blown out of proportion. Do people walk into a store intent on buying something, see the price tag and say "oh, hell no. I'll get that online?" I'm sure they do, but I don't think most people use brick and mortar retailers to try before they buy on everything. Just my $0.02.
 
i don't think "rude" describes it. the strongest language i would use is "tacky."

but also, who the fuck cares about [big box store's] feelings?
when i worked in a big box store i didn't give one shit if you fucked off and went to our competitor across the street.
 
Bitching about people buying elsewhere because it's cheaper?

Welcome to the world of business, chumps. Either lower your prices, make improvements elsewhere, or move on.
 
Anyone who believes that feelings come into play in economics, has not been paying attention to capitalism.

The link did not work for me, but a business deserves the 'consideration' of its customers? Give me a break.
 
Depends. The thing about a brick & mortar store is that you can get the stuff then and there and return or exchange it without FedEx/UPS/USPS/etc as the middle man. The cost of gas is normally much cheaper than shipping something.

For example, Best Buy has online and a physical presence. I know they aren't a favorite, but if I know what I'm getting and can play with it, I'm more likely to buy it. There's no wait--I can physically have it today. That's a big plus. Price is only one aspect of it. Yes, it's important, but not the only thing. If you physically have the product in hand and paid for, you don't need to worry about a cancelled order.

The other thing, is if you need something then and there, you can't always afford to wait. Yes, you're paying more, but there's that thing about time=money.
 
It's not rude to use a retailer to "feel up" a product before buying. It gets you in their door to their own benefit. What is rude is when you compare prices and find the in store item is market up significantly and management refuses to price match (after tax+s/h) or even come close; they are just wasting their time and your own.

If you find that buying and waiting for an item to ship or going somewhere else and physically picking it up is more economical than just buying said item right there in the store then that is a failure on the part of said store's ability to be competitive. If showrooming is happening to the detriment of the store then they have nobody to blame but themselves.
 
For me it depends.

I wanted a new 2012 Samsung TV. Amazon had them. I wanted to see it first. But my itchy clicking finger got the better of me. I found out that Best Buy did not get them in stock till a MONTH after Amazon had stock. Most people are not going to wait.

I did the same with my 2012 Pioneer AV set. Was going to wait to see it in Best Buy but gave up and got it on Newegg. Again took almost two months before I saw them in the store.

This is not to mention the TV was $300 cheaper on Amazon despite the shipping. The Pioneer $50, still less than the shipping. Oh wait Newegg had free ground on it.

But if I am shopping around and the store ACTUALLY HAS a display unit I will feel it up in the store and get online. Its basically always cheaper. The thing is most of the things I buy lately just flat out are not carried in the store (the last couple of LCD monitors I bought) or it does not need to be felt up (video cards and other computer hardware... which is also rarely sold in B&M stores).
 
Rude may be an awkward term, but I definitely think there's something wrong with "showrooming." These other posts remind me of the "Wal-mart Defense", which is basically I don't care about anything else other than I want it as cheap as possible.

Now many big box stores are crummy admittedly, and many have even worse workers (teenagers trying to make a buck) but they are paying to have a physical presence so you can go do your showrooming. There's no way they can match the online prices and make it; an Amazon doesn't have to buy up all that expensive retail space. If it is a product you have to go see and play around with, buy it at a store to reward them for allowing you to do so.
 
Since my local best buy has started pricematching Amazon, I often just go and pick it up. Sure, I have to pay sales tax at best buy, but it is no more than the use tax I legally owe on amazon purchases anyway.
 
I don't think it's rude. There are enough photos, reviews, videos (including unboxings and side by side comparisons) that I don't ever need to go in and look at the box or a demo unit in person before I order it.
 
I'll admit it, I showroom. However if prices are close enough I'll buy from the store. Most cases though the price isn't even in the same neighborhood, I'll wait. Want my business? Get rid of the pushy sales tactics that only work on morons, don't try and sell me shit I don't need, don't lie to me, make your return polices reasonable and be competitive in your pricing. Fail any of those things and I'll buy it from Amazon and newegg.
 
Depends on how you do it. If you go, check it out, decline when people ask you for help and then just leave to purchase then no it's not. But if you are the type that browse, talk to a salesperson, waste 30 minutes of their time asking the questions you already know the answer to and then just leave to purchase then yes it's rude. Everyone knows what you are doing but they can't tell you to go away. It's always been around too, when I sold 12 years ago almost every day 2-3 people would pump us for info to buy at a store down the street.
 
It's not rude to use a retailer to "feel up" a product before buying. It gets you in their door to their own benefit. What is rude is when you compare prices and find the in store item is market up significantly and management refuses to price match (after tax+s/h) or even come close; they are just wasting their time and your own.

If you find that buying and waiting for an item to ship or going somewhere else and physically picking it up is more economical than just buying said item right there in the store then that is a failure on the part of said store's ability to be competitive. If showrooming is happening to the detriment of the store then they have nobody to blame but themselves.

There's showrooming and then there's comparison shopping. It gets tacky when you go to a retailer without any intent of buying from the place you're going...and are going there purely to see and play with a product.

If I'm shopping for a Galaxy Note 2, I'm going to go to my local Sprint store to play with one. If I'm comparison shopping, and ask about pricing and leave it is one thing...If I go there purely to look at a toy only to go home and buy one off Craigslist it is kind of tacky.
 
Master [H];1039319555 said:
For example, Best Buy has online and a physical presence. I know they aren't a favorite, but if I know what I'm getting and can play with it, I'm more likely to buy it. There's no wait--I can physically have it today.

Other than waiting for the salesman to get it, then waiting in line to purchase it. If you have a problem, then another long wait on customer service. Then there's the time wasted driving there and back.

As opposed to online, while I might not get it for a couple of days, it only took me a minute of my time to order it.
 
just smart consumers. I personally do my research online before buying.I try to neverever step foot inside a electronics retailerthey employ idiots and the average person can find out more information themselves online, reading reviews by actual users, looking at comments on discussion boards and comparing products online. No9 need to deal with in store robots that are paid to try to sell you stuff you don't need or want.
 
16 replies and only one person actually tried to click the link and read before putting in their two cents...


btw steve- links broken
 
I have an idea...encourage it, then make your prices reasonable enough that people just get it there for the instant gratification instead. It's going to happen no matter what, so make lemonade.
 
I dont know why but I do feel a little rude when I do it. I try to hide my phone from salesmen so they dont see me doing it. Im such a loser.
 
I dont know why but I do feel a little rude when I do it. I try to hide my phone from salesmen so they dont see me doing it. Im such a loser.

I use my phone to find out more information than their pathetic labels will tell me.
 
when i worked in a big box store i didn't give one shit if you fucked off and went to our competitor across the street.
I gave many shits because:
1) commission
2) at place that wasn't commission, I still had sales goals and if I wanted to make $11 an hour instead of minimum wage I had to sell stuff
 
I try to buy local whenever possible, just for the convenience of returns and exchanges. Unfortunately for local stores, I refuse to pay more. Stores that are willing to match authorized online dealers will always get my business, and stores that make my life difficult will get none.

For the record, I end up doing 75% of my shopping online, because retailers love to be dicks about price matching.
 
If I go into a big box store looking for something I am going to purchase the item. Might as well since the headache is already created and wasted time going to the store/wandering around in it. Otherwise I gladly wait to have something placed on my doorstep instead.
 
I don't think it's rude at all. Getting you in the door is most of the battle. Even if they don't sell you what you were looking at there's a good chance you'll buy something else that's not worth buying online while you're there.
 
I buy online as often as I can... B&M retailers just screw you over at every opportunity you can. Went online to officedepot to see if they had the label tape I needed, went to the store and it was 30% more expensive (wasn't even on sale on the website). They pricematched it, but there's no reason why I should have to check and make sure they're not screwing me on everything I buy. Target's even worse...

But hey, everyone could adopt Apple's policy and have the pricing be the same absolutely everywhere...
 
I'll go in and browse. If I see something I like, I'll shop around for the best price (usually it's online). But, if it's $5-10, I'll buy it in store. Otherwise, I leave. But, I don't go in there with the intention of just checking it out and leaving to buy it somewhere else. I go in there to shop (and usually buy SOMETHING). I am a consumer, though, and a decently smart one. I don't impulse buy, I do research and shop around. If they aren't competitive, they fail. Online isn't the best for everything. For a lot of things they are, and it's not just price. Amazon & NewEgg have really earned a great reputation for customer service before, during and after a sale. Best Buy really hasn't. Before, they are good (if you get a good salesperson). During... Depends on the product (do you want a protection plan? You sure? It's only $14.99. Ok. You sure?). After - rarely. There have been a couple times when a product has been defective and they wouldn't do anything. Had to go through manufacturer (which worked out better in the end, anyway). But, within a week of buying something and something goes wrong - retailer shouldn't tell you to piss off.

If your initial intent and reason to visit a store is to show room, yes it's rude. But, I don't think that's what people's intent is for the most part. They are just being consumers and shop around.
 
"oh, hell no. I'll get that online"
Have said this exact line and many variations. I've more than paid my dues for the money I paid into Best Buy and the like during my teenage years, just in overpriced CD's and DVD's alone.
 
My purchases from Best Buy have pretty much stopped due to the return policy they now have. The insist on a photo ID for entry into their database which I was told is shared with other retailers to keep returns in check. I'm not a serial returner, but I don't like having my DL # or other ID in a database because I returned something that was misrepresented by the salesperson, the manufacturer or is just crappy design.

I showroom there now (I did indeed buy my ipad3 from there as they were at MSRP and I had a bunch of reward zone bucks that were going to expire), that being said I've also bought tons of stuff over the last 20 years or more from them too.
 
I will go to Best Buy and order the TV set off my phone from Amazon while the salesman tries to convince me to buy some dumbass warranty and why I should pay $200 more in store, by the way, you need a Monster HDMI cable too.
 
I think it is, on a sidenote I have seen some members here on [H] self admittedly switcharoo products at B&M stores with defective ones which were bought elsewhere online so they don't have to wait.
 
If you go strictly to check it out without zero intention of buying it, then yeah it's rude. If you go to see if they have it for a comparable price that makes it worth your wild to buy there then no it's not rude.

It's a new fucking world with many people having the internet at their finger tips and can actually compare prices unlike the old days where you wrote down prices of various items on a piece of paper then went you NEED to be competitive.
-You're not really offering much in the way of service, suited up monkeys who really don't know much more than you do on the items.
-Accessories, only thing they offer is the "monster" type of pricing costs of shit like cables
-Service plans, oh hey if you pay 15% of the cost more we'll give you a 3 year warranty!
 
No, the stores that don't pricematch the online stores are the ones being rude. I went to ATT to check out phones, and then found one I liked, went online in the store to see prices, and asked if they would match Amazon, instead of matching it they beat the price!
 
How bad did Best Buy feel when they destroyed mom and pop TV stores back in the day?
 
16 replies and only one person actually tried to click the link and read before putting in their two cents...


btw steve- links broken


instead of being another person crying about the link being broken, I just went over to consumerist and found the article myself :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
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