Comparison Shopping Sites

Many online merchants continue to ask me if Comparison Shopping Sites can help them grow sales.  As I am biased, because I am cofounder of MerchantAdvantage, which helps online merchants use  Comparison Shopping Sites cost-effectively, I guide eTaildTail readers to the this article on the usefulness of Comparison Shopping Sites and their effectiveness to grow sales and brand awareness for online retailers from industry leading journalists at Practical Ecommerce. 

While the article was written almost two years ago the wisdom in the article STILL APPLIES TODAY because online and mobile shopping continue to grow every month and into 2009; it is also excellent reading for all online merchants looking to understand how Comparison Shopping Sites work.

The article includes valubale commentary about Comparison Shopping Sites from my fellow cofounder, Michael Lambert, CEO of MerchantAdvantage.

Practical Ecommerce
By Mitch Bettis

"With millions of ready-to-buy consumers turning to shopping comparison sites, experts advise retailers to consider participating in one of the Internet's newest sales channels.

Shopping comparison sites like Yahoo! Shopping, Shopping.com, Shopzilla, NexTag, Google Product Search, Jellyfish and others serve as a powerful tool to connect buyers and products.

Shopping sites allow merchants to “feed” them lists of products and prices, and then those products are displayed alongside the same products from other merchants when a shopper keys-in a search. For instance, if a consumer visits Yahoo! Shopping and types in “Coleman Sleeping Bag,” he'll see various styles of Coleman sleeping bags from a variety of vendors—from major retail players to smaller shops. A consumer can easily compare products, prices and shipping costs to look for the best deal. Consumers don't complete the transaction at the comparison site: They are linked back to the merchant's site to complete the transaction.

Follow the money

“Online retailers need to be in this marketplace because a good portion of sales across the Internet are coming from the shopping-comparison sites and marketplaces,” said Michael Lambert, CEO of MerchantAdvantage, a company that helps merchants provide feeds to comparison search engines and public marketplaces. “The consumers who come from these sites are buying approximately 25 percent more per sitting. So, when they come to the shopping cart from the shopping-comparison site, they typically spend 25 percent more money than they would have if they just came directly to the site.”

Lambert says there have been significant changes in the comparison-engine marketplace as more companies have entered the arena. Most sites deploy a pay-per-click (PPC) fee structure. These sites charge a merchant for every customer that clicks on their product at the comparison engine. There are also newer models in the marketplace, like Jellyfish.com, that use a cost-per-sale, commission model. Jellyfish.com will only make money if the customer it sends your way actually buys the product..."

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to continue reading.

In the next week on eTaildTail, please look for a comprehensive three-part series on the state of Comparison Shopping Sites and the landscape of ecommerce and mobile commerce going into 2009.

-- Chip Arndt