In the old days of brick and mortar stores, people shopped many stores looking for sales and bargains.  Stores issued fliers, but drew people with loss leaders, cheaply priced items.  Other items in the store were full price, but people flocked to stores under the false impression that since the store gave great prices on a few items, the store gave great prices on all items.  In today’s Internet world, people research items, including their prices, a lot more before buying them.  Comparison shopping engines make it easy by listing items from many sellers.

How They Work

Comparison shopping engines are very simple.  People input items in a search, or browse through items on a menu.  The site lists prices and deals from many sellers, including sellers who make special deals for site users. 

The bottom line is when people want the best price on an item, comparison shopping engines deliver.

Some Comparison Shopping Engines

Pricewatch.com.  For computers and computer peripherals, pricewatch.com is the best and most popular comparison shopping engine.  It uses pre-set menus.  Users pick items from the menus – computers, hard drives, monitors, and other products – then the site lists different types (for example computers with various specs) along with the best prices for that type.

Shopzilla and Google Product Search.  Shopzilla (shopzilla.com) and Google Product Search (http://www.google.com/prdhp?hl=en&tab=wf) work similarly – they have a search bar, users type in an item or product name, the engine returns a list of products.

Comparison

Shopzilla and Google Product Search have more categories than just computer gear, so they beat Pricewatch on that front.  But both list their lowest priced system without including the tax and shipping, a user would see those only at checkout.  Pricewatch lists total delivered price, including shipping and tax.

Comparison shopping engines are excellent modern tools for price conscious shoppers.  They save time, and money.

Categories: Glossary
Tags: comparison engines, comparison shopping engine, comparison shopping engines, cse's, google, google product search, product search