Last week, Merchant Warehouse, a payment solutions company, released a study that highlighted the growing trend of “webrooming” among American shoppers.  Webrooming describes the act of researching products online and then visiting a store to make a purchase, opposed to “showrooming” which describes consumers who price shop online after visiting physical stores.  The study found that 69 percent of people with smartphones between the ages of 18-36 have engaged in webrooming, while only 50 percent have actively showroomed.  In addition, among 37-48 year olds, 71 percent have webroomed versus 53 percent who have showroomed.

Merchant Warehouse explained that although many brick and mortar stores feel that they have been disadvantaged by showrooming, the growing trend of webrooming is actually shifting the opportunity back to the brick and mortar stores.  Merchant Warehouse found that nearly 80percent of local searches on mobile devices turn into purchases, and 73 percent of those purchases are done in a physical store.  These trends just highlight the importance of integrating technology into any retail business, whether big or small.

Learn more about the Merchant Warehouse study and the benefits of webrooming.