$5 Fee For Browsing? One Store Fights Back Against Showrooming

“Showrooming” has become a major problem for retailers as customers use brick and mortar locations to examine products before heading to Amazon and buying them for less money. In an attempt to stop the practice, a retail store in Australia has begun charging patrons $5 for “just looking.”

The Brisbane Times spoke with Celiac Supplies Owner Georgina, who explains, “If you’re going to be asking bucketloads of questions, you’ve got to pay for the information.”

Georgina didn’t want to give her last name as her store’s policy went viral after what she says was an innocent attempt to offset showrooming costs.

A sign posted on the store owners window readers:

As of the first of February, this store will be charging people a $5 fee per person for “just looking.”
The $5 fee will be deducted when goods are purchased.
Why has this come about?
There has been high volume of people who use this store as a reference and then purchase goods elsewhere. These people are unaware our prices are almost the same as the other stores plus we have products simply not available anywhere else.
This policy is line with many other clothing, shoe and electronic stores who are also facing the same issue.

So far, four people have paid $5 for “just looking,” which means her policy probably hasn’t offset showrooming costs.

Here is a full interview Georgina gave to the Brisbane Times:

[iframe src=”http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2gtot” width=”420″ height=”236″ scrolling=”no”]

Showrooming has became a big problem as companies such as Best Buy have begun matching Amazon prices in a never ending struggle to keep customers coming back and actually purchasing items. Many brick and mortar locations have even begun to put more emphasis on their own online portals.

Time for some brutal honestly: Do you use brick and mortar locations for showrooming purposes before purchasing items for less money online?