Webrooming as the new retail experience: a smart-shopping perspective

Webrooming (i.e. searching information online and making the final purchase in a physical store) has become a popular shopping practice, but remains insufficiently studied. To address this, a research framework encompassing online and offline channel attributes (i.e. online review diagnosticity, online search convenience, expected price loss, offline purchase effort and offline after-sales service convenience), consumer traits (i.e. anticipated regret) and shopping experience (i.e. smart-shopping perception) as determinants of webrooming continuance intention is proposed.

The proposed model was validated by conducting a questionnaire-based survey that yielded 354 useable responses. The data was subjected to partial least squares structural equation modelling and importance-performance map analysis.

According to the obtained results, online review diagnosticity, offline after-sales service convenience and anticipated regret are the vital antecedents of webrooming continuance intention, while smart-shopping perception acts as the mediator.

The current study adds significantly to the body of knowledge about webrooming by validating the inter-relationships between online review diagnosticity, after-sales service convenience, anticipated regret, smart-shopping perception and webrooming continuance intention.