Survey found that showrooming and webrooming, becoming the norm in Asia

transcosmos inc. (Headquarters Tokyo, Japan; President and COO: Masataka Okuda) conducted its “Online Shopping Trends Survey in 10 Asian Cities 2019” following last year, in order to gauge consumers’ experiences of online shopping and their interests in cross border e-commerce across 10 major cities in Asia. 3,200 online shoppers participated in this survey, revealing unique characteristics of each city as well as common trends across Asia.

This year, transcosmos explored the antecedents of “showrooming,” browse a product in-store before purchasing it online, and “webrooming,” search a product online before purchasing it in-store.

Visit transcosmos research department’s official blog for detailed survey results (Japanese):
URL: https://blog.trans-cosmos.co.jp/research/20190315_onlineshopping-survey.html

■ Key findings

• 1. Whilst 62% online shoppers in Tokyo showroomed, more than 80% had experienced showrooming in other Asian cities. Webrooming showed a similar trend, 54% experienced webrooming in Tokyo, Beijing and Taipei were within the the range of 70% to 80%, and over 80% in other cities.
• 2. Only 32% of online shoppers in Tokyo were both showrooming and webrooming (omnichannel shoppers). Whilst the figure reached between the range of 70% to 80% (ave. 77%) in other cities, revealing a great difference in shopping behavior.
• 3. In all the cities surveyed, online shoppers experienced showrooming and webrooming especially when purchasing “fashion items (apparel, bags, accessories, etc)”, “home appliances and PCs” and “cosmetics and medicine” products.
• 4. Most respondents practice showrooming so that they could physically see the product firsthand and then purchasing it at a better price on online stores. Respondents webroomed for many reasons including to check product reviews and ratings, find and shop items more conveniently, no shipping fees, etc.

■ About “Online Shopping Trends Survey in 10 Asian Cities 2019”
Survey method: Global online research panel, multilingual questionnaire (respective local language options available)
Surveyed regions: 10 cities across 10 countries and regions, namely, Japan (Tokyo), China (Shanghai), Taiwan (Taipei), Indonesia (Jakarta), Singapore (Singapore), Thailand (Bangkok), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Vietnam (Hanoi), Philippines (Manila) and India (Mumbai)
Survey respondents: Men and women aged between 10 and 49 years old that have used online shopping (made a purchase) in the past 1 year
Number of collected samples: 320 x 10 cities = Total 3,200
Survey period: December 2018 to January 2019

Chart 1 Showrooming and webrooming frequency in Asian cities

Chart 2 Showrooming and webrooming usage rate in Tokyo and other Asian cities (cross tabulation)

“In our previous survey most respondents, excluding those in Tokyo, reported issues such as “product photographs and descriptions displayed on online stores often differ from the actual product” , “items may be lost or damaged during shipping” and “shipping delays”,” commented Masashi Hagiwara, an analyst in Global Business Headquarters at transcosmos. “In addition to these issues related to insufficient product information and concerns over delivery, we believe influencers and product reviews significantly contribute to the penetration of showrooming and webrooming in Asian cities. From this perspective Tokyo is rather unique in Asia. In order to succeed overseas, businesses must execute initiatives creating a seamless online - offline shopping experience .”

transcosmos delivers various initiatives across Asia with an eye on omnichannel shoppers in order to help clients operate e-commerce businesses overseas. transcosmos continues to deliver localized e-commerce support services that fit with business practices and consumer behaviors of each individual country.

*transcosmos is a trademark or registered trademark of transcosmos inc. in Japan and other countries.
*Other company names and product or service names used here are trademarks or registered trademarks of respective companies.