Lots More People Shop Offline, Buy Online
from the maybe-I'm-not-so-crazy dept
Last year, people ripped me to shreds for mentioning there were times that I would window shop in a store, but eventually buy online. Well, if that's as evil as people made it out to be, it appears I'm in some good company. A new study says that nearly 70% of people now admit to doing some offline browsing, before purchasing online. The thing is, to me, it's no different than comparison shopping offline. If I'm looking to buy something, I may visit a few stores offline before finding a reasonable deal. Sometimes, a store will immediately offer a good enough deal, or a level of convenience or additional value that it's worth buying right away -- and sometimes not. Sites online are just one more place to comparison shop. At the same time, the reverse is true as well in some cases. There are plenty of times I've researched products online before buying locally at a store. Either way, it's clear that most people now have no qualms looking for the deal that makes the most sense for them, whether it's on or offline -- and both sides need to learn to deal with that.
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