eMarketer.com recently reported that retail shoppers are checking out stores’ websites first before deciding where to spend their money, even if they plan on going to the brick-and-mortar store. Competition tightens because it is now so easy for consumers to compare prices offered by different retailers.

With so much information available now on the internet revealing prices offered by different stores, there is limited information bias, and retailers have to offer competitive prices in order to survive. This is especially relevant for retailers that sell goods that are exactly identical to those sold by other stores, such as electronics.

According to a May 2008 Nielsen Online survey, even most of those who end up buying in a brick-and-mortar store check the web first. They found that eight out of ten consumers in the survey that had recently purchased electronics in a physical store had checked the retailer’s website beforehand. Consumers don’t need to drive around town to find out price differences. It seems that even if they are planning to stop by their local store, they check the website first to see what’s available, so they don’t waste a trip. With children now growing up surfing the web, we can expect to see this trend increase, and for shoppers to be more and more informed about competitors’ prices.