High street shops will eventually only be used as product showrooms due to the proliferation of online shopping, it has been predicted. Author: Joe Elvin
High street shops will eventually only be used as product showrooms due to the proliferation of online shopping, it has been predicted.
In a worldwide survey of over 16,000 online consumers by IT services group Capgemini, more than half believed that high street stores would be used primarily as showrooms by 2020.
It was indicated that cheaper prices were the main factor driving consumers to utilise online payment services instead of high street stores. According to retailtimes.co.uk, 73 per cent of the survey’s respondents expect to find better deals online.
However, it would also appear that many shoppers were using the internet to research a product before potentially buying it on the high street. 55 per cent of those questioned agreed they were likely to spend more at a high street store if they had previously researched a product online.
Reacting to the findings, Capgemini spokesman Alex Smith-Bingham claimed that the rise of mobile web devices was also a huge factor dictating this trend.
He told retailgazette.co.uk: “Mobile is driving the infrastructure of the developed market and that in turn drives behaviour. While some people may not want to be approached as soon as they enter a store, the newer generation coming through will drive mobile use up.”
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