Comparison Shopping
Is a Way of Life
Onsite Comparative Pricing (OCP) Paves the Way
for Convenient and Confident Shopping
Webinar Presented by
the e-tailing group & WinBuyer
October 14, 2009
- Welcome Win Consumer Confidence with OCP
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Access Code: 616-115-012
Webinar ID: 320-775-889
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• Get the study. “Comparison
Shopping Is a Way of Life”
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Speakers
Lauren Freedman
President
the e-tailing group
Eyal Keren
VP Marketing
WinBuyer Inc.
LF@e-tailing.com
(773)-975-7280
eyal@winbuyer.com
(408)-849-4763
www.e-tailing.com
www.winbuyercorp.com
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About WinBuyer
• The leading provider of Onsite Comparative Pricing (OCP)
solutions that accelerate consumer purchasing behavior at the
point of sale.
• Serving the US, Canada and the UK Markets
• Currently over 200 retailers live are reaping the benefits of
Increased lift in sales, improved site stickiness, and an
incremental revenue stream.
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About the e-tailing group




15 years e-commerce consulting
Author, It’s Just Shopping
50+ years traditional retail and catalog experience
Fortune 500 client projects ranging from strategic planning,
merchandising, marketing, to technology development and
messaging for both b2c and b2b clients
 Proprietary research studies on mystery shopping and
merchandising, egeg Index, marketing and multi-channel customer
mindset, In-Store Pickup and Gift Registry
 E-commerce expert and frequent speaker at industry events,
trade associations
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Agenda
• “Comparison Shopping Is a Way of Life” Research Findings
• The Evolution of Comparison Shopping
• Q/A To Size Up Comparison Shopping Needs
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Survey Introduction
This webinar highlights results of an e-tailing group/WinBuyer study
Comparison Shopping Is a Way of Life, completed in August ’09
it examines three critical components of comparison shopping:
1) how invested consumers are in shopping around prior to
purchase, including time spent and sites visited as part of their typical
online shopping behavior
2) how valuable an Onsite Comparative Pricing tool would be and its
impact on merchant selection
3) loyalty based on making such an application part of one’s
everyday shopping behavior
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1,025 adults (51% female/49% male) who shopped online
4 or more times during the past year; spending over $400
completed this online survey per these demographics:
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Topline Findings
Consumers are invested in finding the lowest price
• Shoppers invest time to find the lowest price for commodity products
• Efficiency of price comparison and the ability to merely Google it, check Amazon’s
prices or visit a few competitors is core to current consumer shopping behavior
Time and money-savings drive consumer interest in Onsite Comparative Pricing
• The convenience of having the comparative pricing information on the product page
is powerful
• Expectations for most consumers is that all retailers of commodity products would
incorporate this kind of tool into their shopping experience
Merchant credibility and loyalty grows with Onsite Comparative Pricing usage
• Shoppers are more likely to return to a retailer that shows competitors’ prices on their
website
• Consumers find competitive prices on a retailer's site to be credible and no longer
feel compelled to comparison shop elsewhere
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Consumers are conditioned to check Google, Amazon, and top
competitors before choosing a retailer
Q6
36% of online shoppers spend more than
½ hour comparison shopping
to find the best price on commodity items
65% spend 16+ minutes
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95% of those shopping for commodities online typically
visit at least two websites before finalizing a purchase
51% check out at least 4 or more sites
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TCO and product price are the two most important influencers
for online purchase decisions
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63% rate comparing competitive prices without leaving
a retailer’s website 8+ out of 10 on the consumer value scale
1 in 3 shoppers give this capability a “10” – Very Valuable
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Convenience, confidence, and money/time-savings
are core to the consumer value proposition
for on-site competitive price comparison tools
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Shoppers positively perceive a retailer that shows competitors’
prices on their website - as convenience, complete information,
and time savings are important to their online experience
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Over ½ would be less compelled to comparison shop
elsewhere if they could access competitors’ pricing
from a retailer’s site
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Even when competitive prices shown are lower,
39% further trust and are motivated to buy from that retailer again
4 in 10 shoppers would weigh other intrinsic elements beyond price
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Factoring variables beyond price into their final decision,
84% would check out other sites
and then consider returning to the original retailer
Just 9% would abandon a site that showed lower competitive prices
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52% would find competitive pricing
on an individual site credible
41% remained neutral and only 7% doubt credibility
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78% would be more likely to return to a retailer that
shows competitors’ prices on their website
36% are much more likely to be loyal to that retailer
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58% would expect all retailers of commodity products
to incorporate this kind of competitive comparison tool
into their shopping experience
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The findings speak for themselves - consumer inclination is to compare
products and prices in hopes of finding the right item at the right price.
The Web’s valued role, as a time and money-saving tool, can now be
extended even further with WinBuyer’s Onsite Comparative Pricing (OCP).
Such comparison capabilities are ripe for many retailers that are
embracing consumer demands for comprehensive information
in support of a confident buying decision.
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The Evolution of Comparison Shopping
Merchant Showcase
The following showcase will help visualize the continuum
of options for comparison shopping.
Examples range from portal-based comparison shopping
engines to both build and buy models, plus their corresponding
onsite locations as shown via product page execution.
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Customers Want to Pay the Right Price
• Customers have haggled in marketplaces since the beginning of time
• The Internet put price comparison in the hands of the consumers with
the click of a mouse
• Initially consumers embraced comparison shopping engines (CSEs)
• The barrier to entry has shifted once again as a result of Google now
offering comparison functionality through Google Products where
merchants send product feeds making it more difficult for CSE’s to compete
in today’s comparison climate and cost per clicks are higher for them as well
• Industry leaders including Amazon and Buy.com are providing this customer
convenience on their product pages
• Technology solutions companies like WinBuyer are enabling Onsite
Comparative Pricing (OCP) so that other e-commerce sites to also
experience the benefits through their own proprietary technology engine;
offering a cost-effective alternative to building one’s own solution
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Shopping.com Digital Camera Comparison and Sort Results
Shoppers utilize a comparison shopping engine (CSE) to find product offsite,
taking advantage of filtering and sort functionality
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Buy.com Viewsonic Monitor Product Page
Shoppers can immediately compare prices of any given product at a series of
competitors directly from the product page.
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GameQuestDirect Spiderman Video Product Page
Shoppers can immediately compare prices of any given product at a series of
competitors directly from the product page.
Of note, although in the example
shown the comparative pricing
was all lower than GameQuest’s
featured price, this merchant
gained customer trust and
experienced a lift in sales from
shoppers who appreciated
seeing the options yet preferred
to shop here.
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Boatersworld.com Garmin Product Page
When product is out of stock or a search returns null results, retailer suggests
merchants with availability - providing a service to shoppers and in return the
sending merchant receives an affiliate fee.
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Q/A to Size Up Comparison Shopping Needs
•
Do you compete mainly on price or do you have other values that are important to
the customer such as brand, service, and warranty that customers evaluate when
comparing your site to others?
•
Are the products you sell frequently price shopped by consumers?
•
Do you have significant competitors for the products that you sell?
•
Do your customers research your products/categories prior to making purchase
decisions?
•
Would your customers benefit from seeing competitor pricing on your website?
•
Are you looking to avoid customers leaving your site because they’re hunting around
for better prices?
•
Are your customers abandoning your site because you don’t offer Onsite
Comparative Pricing?
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WinBuyer OCP Application
Inspire Confidence, Drive Sales
• Boosts conversion rates and cart size
• Extends length of visits on your product pages
• Maximizes brand influence with price discriminating shoppers
• Monetizes unconverted traffic through referral revenues
WinBuyer OCP Application:
Increase Revenue Lift, Conversion and
Average Order Size
Merchants impact study
• A/B test
• Multiple customers & stores
• Range of categories
• Full pricing transparency
Study reveals
• Evidence for correlation between
product coverage and revenue, average
order size as well as conversion.
• Full openness of pricing generates lift
Winbuyer OCP Application
• Comprehensive product coverage
• Sophisticated yield optimization technology
• Highly accurate matching technology
• Very quick & easy integration
• Customizable to fit the merchant needs
• Revenue model with no-out-of-pocket
costs for basic implementation.
Over 200 Retailers are Reaping the Benefits
www.winbuyercorp.com
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Q&A
Lauren Freedman
President
the e-tailing group
Eyal Keren
VP Marketing
WinBuyer Inc.
LF@e-tailing.com
(773)-975-7280
eyal@winbuyer.com
(408)-849-4763
www.e-tailing.com
www.winbuyercorp.com
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