Store charges $5 cover fee to browsing customers

Store charges $5 cover fee to browsing customers


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SALT LAKE CITY — "Just looking" at a store in Australia will cost you $5 before you buy anything.

The store, Celiac Supplies in Brisbane, Australia, posted a sign on their door with their new policy of charging people a $5 fee per person for "just looking."

"There has been high volume of people who use this store as a reference and then purchase goods elsewhere," the sign read. "These people are unaware our prices are almost the same as other stores plus we have products simply not available anywhere else."

A Reddit user snapped a picture of the announcement at the gluten-free specialty grocer and posted it to the site, where it has sparked a debate about the policy.

"They are asking to go out of business," wrote EternalRose.

Another Reddit commenter pointed out that people who prefer to shop solo will tell store employees they are just looking so they are left alone while they shop.


Stores made stupid decisions like this when online purchasing was first available. It's just another factor that lets the good businesses rise to the top.

–ThisisAlexBeck


Both on and outside of Reddit, however, people are pointing to the larger trend of "showrooming" — handling or testing a product out or comparing prices in person before buying it online — and the necessity of adaptation to the practice among brick-and-mortar stores.

"They have to adapt. I don't feel sorry for them. It's business," wrote Redditor ThisisAlexBeck. "Stores made stupid decisions like this when online purchasing was first available. It's just another factor that lets the good businesses rise to the top."

According to a Consumer Electronics Association survey, 7.8 percent of Best Buy customers looked at products in the store before buying them elsewhere.

Daily Finance's Matt Brownell called the fee "the most misguided strategy" for combating showrooming.

"While it's undoubtedly frustrating to have people use your store as a showroom just so they can buy the same goods online, imposing a cover charge is hardly the ideal solution," Brownell wrote. "The goal of any retailer should be to impress customers with competitive pricing and great customer service — not treat their customers with suspicion and hostility from the moment they walk in the door."

Besides customer service, stores have attempted to curb showrooming by price matching. Big box stores like Best Buy and Target have recently begun to price matching online retailers.

Other suggestions include small businesses teaming up with Amazon to offer competitive pricing online.

Stores can also offer niche products, though it appears in Celiac Supplies' case, that wasn't a strong enough strategy.

Top image: Reddit user BarretFox

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Celeste Tholen Rosenlof

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