Let it be known. Here at Dakeryn we are not opposed to “showrooming” — in fact we encourage it!
In case you haven’t heard, “showrooming” is the practice that has evidently taken off since shoppers began carrying smart phones. It’s said that shoppers take a good look at a product in a ‘real’ store, then immediately use a mobile device to find out where it can be purchased for less. Many Future Shop and Best Buy locations across Canada have blamed recent closures on showrooming. Now, one fed-up retailer in Australia has begun charging ‘browsers’ $5.00 to browse his inventory (see story here).
I wonder if this is a sign of things to come in the lumber business? Is it conceivable that the supercycle could lead to sawmills introducing a ‘cover charge’ to browse mill offering lists? What about customers calling in to ‘real’ stocking-wholesalers simply to ‘browse’ the day’s offerings?  Of course, if price were the only determining factor in the buyers’ buying decision, “showrooming’ might concern us. Meanwhile, we love it when ‘woodbe’ customers call in to browse…