Introduction
All retailers need a good competitor price monitoring solution that gathers intelligence accurately and efficiently. However, the traditional method of having merchandisers gather data by going store-to-store is expensive, time-consuming, inconsistent, and incomplete.
Online product pricing intelligence provides beneficial information to all retailers, whether online or store-based. Store-based retailers have three main competitors: other store-based retailers, online retailers, and online marketplaces. Online pricing intelligence reflects accurate data for all three of these competitors.
Online Competitor Price Monitoring for Store-Based Retailers
The Myth: Store-based Retailers Need Store-Based Intelligence
A popular falsehood surrounding pricing is that the best competitor pricing intelligence for store-based retailers is gathered by going directly to similar retailers and gathering data manually. The sentiment is that other store-based retailers are their main competitors and that the only true competitive pricing can be found by going directly to a competitor’s store. Many retailers are also concerned that their competitors might have different online pricing than in-store pricing.
There are several problems with gathering competitor pricing information from store sources including:
Incomplete Merchandisers only have a limited time to collect information and they can never collect complete data over the total assortment range. By not having pricing information on all products, updated regularly, it is impossible to develop trends, see the complete assortment, and to know when items are discounted and how deeply.
Inconsistent merchandisers cannot collect complete pricing information consistently over time.
Expensive Having an army of merchandisers going store to store collecting pricing information manually one item at a time is a costly investment and an ineffective use of their time.
Time Consuming Collecting pricing information manually is very time consuming. Not only does the merchandiser need to collect the information, but it then needs to be manually added to a database before any good data for reports can be produced.
The Reality: All Retailers Need Complete, Accurate Competitor Pricing Intelligence
The truth is that all retailers, whether they are store-based or online, need complete, accurate competitor price monitoring and that the most accurate and efficient way to gather this data is to go online and monitor items sold in-store.
Online Pricing Reflects Store-Based Pricing
All large store-based retailers have a website store. The online store may not be their main selling venue and may contain many items not identical to those sold within the store. Conversely, not all items sold in the stores may be sold online. However, with very few exceptions, the online competitor pricing of identical offline products reflects the store-based pricing. In practical terms, this means that gathering the prices of your store-based competitors from looking through their online pricing of identical and similar products is reflective of in-store pricing.
Online Competitors
The reality of store-based retail is that the competition is no longer the store down the mall, but the entire retail universe. Increasingly, stores are being used as a showroom where shoppers go and look at items or try them on, then purchase them online at a lower price. The frequency of this has increased dramatically with the use of mobile devices used while shopping.
Traditional store-based retailers need to know the pricing of their online competitors.
The Benefits of Gathering Online Competitor Pricing Intelligence
Large Quantities of Data
By gathering competitive pricing information online, retailers can generate vast quantities of data. Instead of a merchandiser gathering some competitor pricing data on a few products, retailers can regularly and instantly gather pricing information on all targeted competitive products. With online competitor pricing intelligence a retailer can learn the original product price, the promotional price, and the price with or without shipping.
Additional Information: Assortment Monitoring
Online competitive intelligence provides more than price monitoring, retailers can also compare the assortments of their competitors to their own. This data helps retailers easily compare various product lines and ensure that their assortments are where they want to be in the marketplace. Online assortment information can tell a retailer which items their competitors are selling online that they are not and also help them find competitive assortment opportunities.
Easy Reporting
Online product gathering provides electronic data that is easy to use in reports. Receive reports as part of the solution, export to use in Excel, or tie the data in with your current reporting system.
Summary
Online price monitoring provides store-based retailers with comprehensive data covering all of their targeted competitors, online or offline. The data gathered provides store-based retailers with a more complete and up-to-date understanding of their competitive environment, while freeing up merchandisers to do what they do best.
PriceTrac Accurate Competitor Price Monitoring Solution
Why Choose PriceTrac?
Guaranteed Accuracy Only PriceTrac guarantees you accurate pricing, promotion, and assortment data for the competitors you specify, at a frequency that is completely defined by you.. PriceTrac provides reliable competitor monitoring by using proprietary data collection technologies backed up by highly trained analysts.
Like to Similar Mapping Available The PriceTrac solution offers like and similar product (Private Label) mapping so that you can monitor items comparable to your products as well as those that are identical.
Fast Set Up and Turnaround You will start receiving data in weeks, not months. PriceTrac can also input hundreds or thousands of new products at once and have them mapped and ready for use within days.
Customizable We understand that every retailer has different needs, PriceTrac is built on a platform that allows us to configure the presentation, reporting, and business rule layers quickly and efficiently.
Complete Pricing Information PriceTrac provides total pricing data, including original price, MSRP, promotion price, and final price with or without shipping costs.
Integration PriceTrac can be fully integrated into enterprise BI or Price Optimization platforms, homegrown or off the shelf.
Large Volumes Available Monitor hundreds or thousands or millions of products from as many retailers as you want.
Increase Updates during Critical Selling Seasons Increase the frequency of your updates during critical selling periods. For example, you can change from weekly to daily updates during the holiday season.
Updates at the Touch of a Button You can choose important products to update pricing on demand. Simply identify which products to update pricing on, then press the update button.
Complete Reporting Complete product data and employee usage reports available and exportable
Intuitive PriceTrac’s easy-to-use interface is simple to learn.