Retailer beware: multi-channel comparison shoppers with pocket web browsers

Multi-channel comparison shopping is on the verge of reaching a whole new level, as consumers hit the malls with pocket web browsers to check store prices against those of online retailers, eBags Inc. co-founder and CEO Jon Nordmark says. “Shoppers will walk into stores, find a product, then see if they can get it cheaper or easier via the web,” he says. “That is the reverse of what is happening today, where many shoppers spend time on the Internet gathering information before traveling into the store to buy it. Basically, a person may be shopping in Zales, but have a jewelry store like BlueNile right in their pocket.”

EBags.com, of course, could also be on someone’s pocket web browser, and it will proactively reach shoppers wherever they happen to be, Nordmark says. “EBags will benefit from this by e-mailing delivery notifications as well as other messages straight to our customers,” he says.

Nordmark, who will address this and other trends on a CEO panel at next week’s eTail 2004 Conference in Palm Springs, CA, says it may take a while for the cost of pocket web browsers to come down before they become widespread. The Treo 600 smartphone from palmOne Inc., which offers wireless high-bandwidth web browsing as well as wireless phone and other features, for example, retails for about $449.

But as such devices become more common, and as wi-fi speeds get faster, Nordmark adds, eBags as well as other retailers will find new ways to retail products directly to consumers’ handheld devices. Retailers will have little choice but to participate, he warns. “Customer expectations around information are increasing dramatically,” he says.