It works for insurance companies and perhaps it will also work for e-tailers. The "it" is a comparison shopping function that allows consumers to see how the site they are shopping on stacks up price-wise with competitors.
According to a new study by the e-tailing group, Comparison Shopping Is A Way of Life, 36 percent of consumers spend more than half an hour comparison shopping before making a decision on purchasing a commodity product while online. Nearly two-thirds spend at least 16 minutes.
"Savvy consumers are using the Internet to find value, particularly when shopping 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 today's consumer shopping behavior," said Lauren Freedman, president of the e-tailing group, in a press release. "This survey certainly shows that consumers would like the convenience of accessing such information on any given retailer's website."
Sixty-three percent of consumers say they would like to see competitors' prices while shopping on a retailer's website. Seventy-eight percent of consumers said they would likely return to a site that shows competitors' prices. Thirty-six percent said they would be "much more loyal" to the retailer displaying the information as a result.
Discussion Questions: Will we see comparison-shopping tools begin to appear in large numbers on retailers' websites? Do you see more upside or downside in providing a comparison-shopping app on e-tail sites?