19/10/2018

How to use the price comparison for an online shop?

Still don´t know the big advantages of using a price comparer for your business site?

About shopping, in the early days it was all about books and home electronics, but during the last 10 years we have seen a strong growth of all kind of different products.

Almost everything you can buy in shops you can get online and in a wide range of prices

Also, the buyer behaviour has changed today, more and more buy online and also sale

As a result, we can easily buy cross border and get the goods delivered in a couple of days. 

Due to the ravenous competition for the clients this has led to many e-Commerces to choose to integrate in a price comparison website to increase their online sales.

But do you really know what we are talking about?

What is a price comparison site?

It is a website that through a complex analytical process on performance, technical and feature level, analyses the same product in different internet sites according to its price.

That way is of great help for the consumer that is trying to buy a specific product at the right balance of price and quality.

Usually those sites do not sell the goods but offer links to the e-shops that will close the deal.

Commonly they have an agreement with the e-Commerces that close the business. Therefore the e-shops make easy for the price comparison sites to gain knowledge of their products so they can review them thoroughly and offer complete information to the customer.

How does a price comparison site work on internet?

These platforms are based in different factors as the following:

Transparent offer (easy to buy)

Selling products through a web shop make us face new challenges.

These change very much depending on the kind of product for sale.

One factor to consider is that your price is transparent for the buyer, transparent in a sense that comparing sites can compare your offer with alternatives to be found online or even in physical shops. 

When you sell established brands the buyer decision will be based on trust/reputation of the shop, delivery time and price.

When you sell online own brands or unique products the buyer will still look widely and compare a number of suppliers and products before taking their final decision.

Price as a deciding factor

Having the right balanced price has become a key factor to get the customer’s order in e-commerce.

And that remains unchanged whether you offer the same kind of product and brand or if you have your own brand. The buyer will compare the features on specification level and connect the performance to the price.

Of course, if we have identical products, price will be decisive.

Offering own products sets the difference

Merchants who have their own brands or unique type of products will have a stronger position in the marketplace, increased chance to be compared on performance in combination with price, followed normally by higher sales figures and margins.

Merchants who sell same or similar products that their competitors will face stronger competition, therefore lower margins.

The strengths are that famous brands drive consumer traffic to your shop.

Large marketplaces like Google and Amazon will strengthen their dominant position and by that the competition between the e-shops will increase. A long term and successful solution a combination of the above, having famous brands together with unique products and/or own brands.   

The key to success could be in the Intelligent Pricing

Intelligent Pricing

Having a balanced optimized price towards your competitors is key to triumph within price comparison.

The battle online demands tools that help you optimise pricing.

It´s all about having the right data at the right time, set the routines, be active within your pricing and you will get the customers.

With a balanced price on your products you increase the chance for the customers to find your shop in the battle at the online marketplaces and finally get their order.  

But, how to achieve that?

Find and select your most important competitors, follow their products and prices on products from your feed.

In case you haven´t done it already, this can easily be done by searching for the same or similar products as yours on the marketplaces. Make a note on their sites for to be used in a later stage.

Now, how do I know the right price for getting the customer´s order?

There are some key factors to consider.

If you sell well known brands:

  • Your shop´s reputation will influence the decision. If you are able to rank your own e-shop you´ll find it easier to set your market position according to your competitors.That brand value adds on top of your consumer price.
  • Accessories to the core product make easier for the buyer to purchase all from one supplier.
  • Short delivery time.
  • Secure your market position maintaining a price that positions your site within top four in a search result on the marketplace.

If you are selling own or unique brands:

  • You make it more difficult for the buyer to compare your articles with a competitor´s alternative, by that you will strengthen your market position. 

Considering the above increases your chance to get the order.

The optimum solution is to follow your competitors on a daily basis even if your routine is not to adjust your price frequently.

It’s important to understand your competitor behaviour on the day and over time.

Organise your daily work, be active within pricing and you will be successful. 

Embrace the Auto-pricing

An additional feature to add if the daily active price routine becomes very time demanding.

Circumstances that are connected to the number of products in your portfolio and the number of competitors with similar products to follow.  

Evaluate your today´s market position, select your competitors, position yourself towards them and set the price rules online. The system sets your product prices automatically. 

It is in its infancy but becoming more mainstream during the coming years.

Introducing the “Price Portal”, the PrestaShop module that enhances your pricing strategy

PrestaShop module that enhances your pricing strategy

There is a module available today that monitors your price positioning in the market and help you within intelligent pricing.  

This module will compare your products and prices against your competitors daily.

By following your competitors products and prices you will get the data input that you need for having the correct pricing strategy.  

It doesn’t matter whether you are a market leader today or it is in your long term plan to get there. With updated daily data and an active pricing strategy you will sit in the driver’s seat and take a leading position in the marketplace.

Keep your prices competitive and get the customer's order.

Use the module to help you develop the best pricing strategy and your payback will be significant.

It's important to be active

The module does the technical work for you, but your daily use will set the difference.

Among other things is able to:

  • Set your own daily, weekly or other periodic of routines,
  •  Always be aware of competitors pricing.
  •  Take the action needed and you will get an optimized result. 
  • Get notifications when a competitor has changed their price.

fresh pricing data every day

The solution gives you fresh pricing data every day. If someone changes their prices, you will know about it.

Immediately see exactly what was changed, how much and what your new position in the market is. You could react according to the full visibility provided.

You will also get detailed reports with historical data and graphs that show the overall strategies and trends of your competitors. This will help you lead the market and optimise your margins and increase sales.

The Price Portal Module refers specifically to those of you who have from 1- 1000 products, but in our functionality there are no limits in the number of products or selection of competitor sites.

Its 100% flexible, you can add only your most important products or all of them. It´s up to you and your needs. 

All different kinds of products

The functionality handles all product portfolios. It does not matter what kind, it´s all up to your own selection. 

Auto-pricing

A feature that we have for our enterprise users today (shops with 500 products or more).              

This function will be added to the Price Portal soon.

Technical description of the process:

  1. Add your own products to the module.
  2. Select any competitor sites, select similar products of yours to track. Drag and drop or copy – paste.
  3. Click on “Match”. The software will do the rest for you.

You only do this process once. The following day you will receive your first report with all your   competitor data matched against your own. Reports then follow daily. From the day you start using the software, there is a 30 days free trial!

Priceindx has been serving customers within online retail since 2006 all across Europe. We know and understand the daily issues that you face.

This knowledge has enabled them to create a wide range of tools and solutions for any scenario. 

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