Consumer Shopping Motive Identification: Study of Webrooming vs. Showrooming

Abstract

Although several researchers have already addressed the issue of channel preferences, the issue of webrooming and showrooming is still insufficiently researched. Therefore, based on the theoretical framework of the three-dimensional structure of the perception of smart shopping, the main goal of this research was to research which shopping motives lead consumers to prefer individual shopping channels (webrooming vs. showrooming). The research was conducted on a sample of 486 Slovak consumers and focused on a homogeneous category of fashion products. In general, given the sample of respondents and the nature of the selected fashion products, the shopping preferences favoured webrooming over showrooming, indicating that consumers prefer to search for product information online and then make purchases in brick-and-mortar stores. However, the differences between purchasing channels are statistically significant, given the individual purchasing motives. Thus, the results suggest that consumers who wish to save time in the purchasing process prefer webrooming and those motivated to save money and feel that they are making the right shopping decision prefer showrooming. However, webrooming and showrooming prove that this multichannel trend is strong and is likely to continue to grow, which may also result in a change in consumer behaviour. Today, consumers lead much more time-consuming lives and therefore appreciate and expect an efficient, smooth, and customized shopping process that covers multiple channels. The presented research contributes to expanding the theoretical knowledge base in terms of the use of shopping channels. The findings of this research could be useful also for businesses, as a better integration across channels might bring about consumer confidence, increase consumer loyalty and conversion rates, and increase sales opportunities. This paper presents the discussion of findings, the limits of this research, and the proposal for future research.