When you are running an ecommerce site, or any business for that matter, you need to think like your customers if you hope to do well. This simply means that you need to know what they want and expect, as well as how they shop. Most customers today do what they call “comparison shopping”, and it is very likely something you do as well, since it offers so many benefits. Instead of going to the first store they see and buying the first item that looks as though it might fit their needs, they compare and contrast to find the best products and the best deals.
Your Customers Use Comparison Sites
Everyone who wants to shop smartly will compare prices. They want to know the variety of products out there, and they want to know the best prices for the products, just as you do. They will go through sites such as Shopping.com and other sites to locate those deals. As a business owner, you need to be aware of how this could affect your ecommerce business. If you are not on those comparison sites, or if your prices are higher than the competitions for the same and similar products, then you will be losing out when it comes to sales, and your competitors may well be cleaning up.
When these types of sites first came into being, they caused a bit of fear among many online retailers. Today, nearly twenty percent of shoppers use these sites before they make a purchase, so it is important to get your company onto those sites as soon as possible. The sites generally have several categories when it comes to placing online retailers, including free, pay per action, and pay per click. Google, for example, used to have a free marketplace through Google Shopping. However, that changed a short time ago when they went to a pay per click system. Retailers today are able to buy product listing ads, or PLAs through the Google Shopping site, which helps to guarantee a good listing on the search result pages.
Comparison Shopping Helps Keep the Playing Field Level
Many smaller businesses would not have been able to exist if they were in the brick and mortar world, simply because of the big brand competition. The Internet keeps things level, since it is affordable for even small businesses to compete with the larger companies, and these comparison sites make that even more obvious. If you sell electronics, for example, and you use these sites, you could have your products show up right alongside those from a retailer, such as Best Buy. If you have better prices, or even the same prices, you have a chance of getting a sale from a customer that never would have found you otherwise.
Managing Your Prices and Presence on Various Channels
Of course, one of the issues that some companies today face is that there are simply so many sites and so many channels that they have to consider. It can be difficult to keep up with all of those outlets, but there is an easier option, fortunately. Finding software that allows you to automate things such as pricing across all channels to give you the best possible prices for your customers is now a reality. Being able to manage all of these things through a single interface makes managing your online retail space faster and easier, just as it should be. Much of this all-in-one type of software also offers help when it comes to other areas of running retail stores, including help with customer service and inventory management.
Resource: http://www.streetdirectory.com/etoday/the-advantages-of-comparison-shopping-wwjuwe.html