Comparison Shopping Engines Continue to Satisfy Customer Demand: HealthPricer Leading the Way

This morning I read with some joy that comparison shopping engines continue to figure out better methods to work for, and with, online consumers through better site navigation.  The article I read was about a niche comparison shopping engine called HealthPricer, which many of you may know about already.

<<<CLICK HERE>>> for that article, written by Kristina Knight at BizReport, which is excellent and short and to-the-point.

Basically, HealthPricer is improving how customers can find products using their shopping portal by creating a more robust search feature that matches "general search terms" with products as opposed to just hoping that consumers type in the product name correctly.

I indentified this as an issue in a prior blog on how comparison shopping engines will compete with general search engines as Google, MSN Search, and Yahoo! Search to show their value add to online consumers in order to gain loyal customers and differentiate themselves from just "general search engines."  I am happy that HealthPricer.com is leading the way by implementing more intuitive search methods. 

Comparison shopping engines can be valuable to the consumer, as these marketing channels focus on products rather than just listing "any information" related to a product.  But in order to continue to keep and grow market share -- and move customers to use their portals to find products rather than just looking for a product on Google, MSN or Yahoo! general search engines -- the comparison shopping engines have to be fun and easy to work with to help find the products customers want with "very few" clicks, albeit the CSEs have to think more like an online shopper.

I like what HealthPricer.com has done.  Check their site out. I typed in the word "diabetic" and loved their sub menu that came up to help me find what type of "diabetic" product I was looking for within the general category of "diabetic health needs".

I think if the comparison shopping engines ("CSEs") keep on improving how they interact with their potential customers, to make it easier and fun to find the products they are looking for, they will maintain their value-add in the marketplace to consumers and continue to be a good place for online merchants to market their products into the future. 

It is a crowded CSE landscape out their but as I have always said: "Why not list your product catalog on sites that may have customers you are unable to reach through other marketing strategies?"

I went to some other CSEs and did some similar searches as I did on HealthPricer.com, but none were as intuitive as HealthPricers' new methods.  You can bet that other CSEs will follow.

When they do, CSEs should continue to attract online consumers to their site and build marketshare, as it will always be more comprehensive and easy to navigate and find the best products you want from a site focused just on products rather than a general search on Google, or the other general search engines.

Oh, and if you sell medical related products, HealthPricer is a nice CSE to consider listing your product catalog.  Check them out at HealthPricer.com, and if you need any help, let me know!

-- Chip