Content Marketing

ROBO: How Today’s Shoppers Research Online and Buy Offline

While we continue to make a big deal out of the growth of online sales, it’s important to remember that 90% of consumer purchases are still made at a retail outlet. That doesn’t mean that online doesn’t have a huge influence – it does. Consumers still want the gratification of looking, touching and test-driving a product before paying for it.

ROBO isn’t new, but it is becoming the norm in consumers’ shopping journey and a big opportunity for brands and retailers to better understand exactly how their buyers shop.

What Does ROBO Stand For?

Research Online, Buy Offline

What is ROBO?

ROBO is a consumer behavior where they utilize consumer generated content like reviews, blog posts, and videos to assist in their purchase decision. Once decided, they do not purchase online – they visit a retail outlet and make the purchase.

Bazaarvoice researched consumer behavior from 20+ of the world’s leading retailers in North America, EMEA, and APAC, across 100’s of brands and categories to understand how often shoppers seek consumer-generated content (CGC) before buying online or in-store, and their infographic shares the findings, including:

  • 39% of in-store buyers read online reviews before purchase
  • 45-55% of in-store buyers read reviews of big-ticket technology items
  • 58% of in-store buyers read reviews for health, fitness & beauty items

In fact, 54% of online buyers read reviews before a purchase The infographic details the differences in B2B and B2C reviews and breaks down the influence by product category.

Research Online Buy Offline

Douglas Karr

Douglas Karr is the founder of the Martech Zone and a recognized expert on digital transformation. Douglas has helped start several successful MarTech startups, has assisted in the due diligence of over $5 bil in Martech acquisitions and investments, and continues to launch his own platforms and services. He's a co-founder of Highbridge, a digital transformation consulting firm. Douglas is also a published author of a Dummie's guide and a business leadership book.

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One Comment

  1. Outstanding post!
    Really, that info-graphic you provided was sufficient enough to understand how shoppers in these apply ROBO. This was too helpful.
    Why?
    Because I wasn’t aware at all that ROBO was turning out as a standard within consumers’ buying journey and a massive possibility with regards to brands and merchants having an objective of improving their understanding precisely in what way their purchasers carry ou the shopping.

    Thanks a lot Douglas!
    Much appreciated for such valuable info.
    Cheers! 🙂

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