People are looking at product images online and buying in the store. Proving a concept called "reverse showrooming," a survey reported that 41% of social media users look online and buy in person, while only 26% practice "showrooming," which is browsing in the store but ordering online. Twenty-one percent of Pinterest users reported purchasing a product in-store after pinning, repinning, or liking an item.

This survey is significant because it could alleviate concerns that people increasingly browse in brick-and-mortar stores but order online, a claim used to explain declining store sales, such as Best Buy's.

In a nifty interactive, a Harvard Business Review article described five typical paths that Pinterest users follow to consume products: 

• The Deal Seeker
• The Nonseeker
• The Category Seeker
• The Inspiration Seeker
• The Social-Proof Seeker

 Discussion Starters:

• What is your own experience with online and in-store shopping? How do you explain differences or similarities between your behavior and that reported in this survey?
• What implications of this survey do you see for Pinterest? Amazon? Best Buy?