Brick-and-mortar retailers don’t like it when shoppers engage in “showrooming” behavior (visiting their stores but buying online). But Amazon doesn’t always mind the opposite phenomenon, called “webrooming” – shopping online but buying in-store.
That’s because Amazon can monetize the visits made by shoppers researching products regardless of where they ultimately purchase the items. It can show ads to people who turn to Amazon listings and product reviews to make product decisions, and it used that reasoning as a pitch to brands in a post on Wednesday.
Amazon presented the results of a study it conducted with comScore and concluded: “Amazon is a key part of the shopping journey regardless of where the final purchases take place. This is especially true for high-consideration items like TVs.”
On Amazon’s behalf, research firm comScore asked a panel of 609 US shoppers who purchased a television over the prior six months how they had conducted their research, what factors were important to them in the process, and what research channels were most useful.
“Many” of the shoppers made their final purchases in store, Amazon said, though it didn’t reveal the exact percentage. It did say that while they were at the store, nearly two-thirds of TV purchasers used a smartphone to look up features, compare prices, and read customer reviews, and revealed the following results:
– 64% of TV purchasers who own a smartphone used their device in store during their shopping journey, with 31% reading reviews.
– In-store purchasers who used Amazon used the site and/or app an average of 5.3 times to look up TV information prior to completing a purchase.
Amazon told brands:
“Amazon is a key part of the shopping journey regardless of where the final purchases take place. This is especially true for high-consideration items like TVs. Shoppers take their time, and rely on Amazon for brand and product details and customer reviews, both online when they are starting the process and in store prior to completing a purchase. Brand marketers have the opportunity to repeatedly engage shoppers during each of these stages, and Amazon Advertising has several ways to help them do this.”
