In the third of our occasional series defining new additions to the digital marketing lexicon, we speak to Eddie Johnson at Red Snapper about ‘boomerooming’
Boomerooming (verb; gerund or present participle)
First we had showrooming: checking the shops and buying online. Then came webrooming: researching online and buying in shops. Now we have boomerooming and, according to digital agency Red Snapper who commissioned research into the phenomena, 62 per cent of us are doing it.
Boomerooming involves researching a product online, visiting a store for the full touchy-feely, try-it-on experience, before going back online to make the final purchase. It represents a new detour in the customer journey and poses a challenge for online and offline retailers alike.
“Boomerooming encompasses all of the other terms – webrooming, showrooming, pre-purchase research and so on,” Eddie Johnson at Red Snapper tells us. “The point is – you just don’t know what users will be doing these days. They might loop round and come back, or flop out at some point in the process. Retailers need to be aware that the web is no longer the place that users will buy products that they’ve researched on the high street. Their journey may be far more complex than that.”
So is there anything that retailers can do to make a return on the boomerooming boom?
“Primarily they need to ensure that they don’t make assumptions such as ‘if we keep things cheap, it doesn’t matter that our product information is rubbish because people will buy from here – even if they research elsewhere,’” says Johnson. “Retailers need to ensure that they are offering as full a package as possible. This includes great product information, images, a wide choice and competitive pricing. If they don’t give the user a reason to look anywhere else, then they’re more likely to capture the sale.”
By Jon Fortgang