The brilliant thing about shopping online is that you can really find the best price and deals on shipping. What online shopping isn't good for is making sure you'll like what you bought; without an opportunity to hold the item and try it on, your new, on-sale dress just may very well be three sizes too big with a cutout back you didn't even know was there. Thankfully, a new way of shopping, dubbed "showrooming," is set to save you a lot of money (and heartbreak!), but could really put brick-and-mortar stores in a pinch.
Think tank L2 discovered that 82% of shoppers are guilty of "showrooming" — visiting actual shops to find products...to only find better deals online with smartphones and buying them right there and then. The problem, of course, is that smaller boutiques, stores without e-commerce and brands that don't have an online presence get royally effed. With what seems like more and more users relying on their smartphones to shop, this showrooming trend will only continue to grow more powerful. Stores, like H&M, that don't have e-commerce, but also don't stock their goods in any other shop, have been able to maintain high in-store shopping rates, but indie brands will fare a much tougher time weathering this paradigm shift. (Daily Mail)