Crack the Code

September 13, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on September 2012

The QR code€”that crazy gizmo on the cover of our magazine€”is becoming as ubiquitous as the smartphone. Most folks have an iPhone or some sort of Droid device that can pretty much do just about anything anyone would want it to do and then some, including quickly and easily comparison shop in your furniture store.

The QR code, which can be generated for free from a number of online sources (Google QR code generator), could very well be the easiest tool in combating the showrooming trend.

What? Not familiar with showrooming? I€™m sure you€™re familiar with the practice, maybe just maybe not the term. Showrooming is when a consumer walks into your stores, shops for the sofa or the dining table or the bedroom suite she€™s interested in and then buys from an online source. Hence, she€™s used your store€”and sales team€”as her personal showroom€”and design team€”in which she can peruse and research products she€™s too scared to buy without touching and feeling.
It€™s a much savvier, quicker comparison shopping strategy than simply shopping among three or four furniture stores as we once did. Now, a plethora of e-commerce Web sites selling furniture abound, and the playing field is now nearly without boundaries
So, just how big of a phenomenon is this showrooming? According to a February report from ClickIQ, 45.9 percent of online consumers in the U.S. said they had showroomed and then decided to purchase online specifically because of better prices. Half of those engaged in the showrooming trend were aged 25-34 years old.
Discount giant Target, earlier this year, took aim at Amazon.com and the showrooming trend and decided to stop selling Amazon€™s Kindle. The move followed Amazon€™s encouraging consumers to scan items in stores for discounts online.
Over the past few months, big-box retailers have launched new initiatives to combat the practice. Retailers like Walmart, Macy€™s, Sears, the Container Store and others are upping their customer support game with pickup locations, payment booths, drive-through customer service centers and other premium services that blend online with the offline in an effort to keep customers happy. And, she€™s getting harder to please.
According to a Capgemini report, the digital shopper isn€™t strictly digital. Instead, she expects to be served across all channels€”physical and digital. Here are a few tidbits from that study:
€¢ Nearly 60 percent of shoppers expect the retail experience to extend across physical and digital channels by 2014.
€¢ 56 percent of shoppers said they are likely to spend more money at a physical store if they used digital channels to research ahead of time.
€¢ 44 percent of shoppers prefer to use a mobile app to support in-store shopping.
€¢ 55 percent of female shoppers are more engaged when using digital channels compared with 44 percent of men.

So what can retailers do to compete against showroomers? Well, back to the QR code. The ability and desire to access online information isn€™t going to go away. Get creative in how you tag your merchandise. Generate print-ready QR codes that link back to information about products, your stores, design tips, how-to ideas, your personnel. Maybe get creative by showing product comparisons or exclusive in-store deals.

Anything that will get the consumer excited about doing business with you€”either online or in the store; as long as you hold onto them as your customer.
By the way, our QR code on the cover is functional. Scan it and see where it takes you.
Happy coding!