Turning ‘Showrooming’ to the Retailer's Advantage

Brick-and-mortar retailers are howling about "showrooming" — i.e., consumers browsing in-store to see, touch and experience products, only to return home to buy those some products online at a cheaper price. But what if retailers could turn showrooming into an advantage?

Retailers can do just that by displaying product samples of e-commerce brands, taking orders through an existing e-commerce brand website and getting a cut of the action. Savvy retailers can even charge a base rent, calculated on sales per square foot, a model Bloomingdale's uses for its store-within-a-store concept.