Optimized Shopping Feeds, Product Placement and Reach
You’ve probably heard of PPC (pay per click) advertising campaigns including Google AdWords. But, what you may not realize is there are similar sites for your eCommerce products. These sites are called ‘Comparison Shopping Engines’ (also known as CSE, price engine, or price comparison service). Paid shopping feeds work similarly to PPC advertising sites, except you pay when the shopper clicks on your product and is taken to your eCommerce store. Some sites specialize in different categories but many operate in a similar fashion. Free shopping feeds, such as Google Shopping, do not charge any fees for listing your products and with Google Shopping, your products are displayed amongst the organic search results as well as at your Google store.
The idea of using paid shopping feeds is to only pay for targeted leads. The shoppers browse the Comparison Shopping sites and are taken to your eCommerce store when their needs are satisfied within the search results. Targeted leads increase conversion rates as the shopper is directly linked to the exact product they were looking for. There are a variety of ways that shopping sites make money, but the most common is CPC (cost per click).
Some Benefits of showcasing your product on Comparison Shopping Feeds include:
- Included in WSM™ – In order to optimize your success as an eCommerce merchant, WSM™ features an automated eCommerce Shopping Feed which on a nightly basis will automatically update your product listings on Google Base Shopping (formerly Froogle). Your integrated shopping feeds are also available for use on other paid or free comparison shopping engines such as Yahoo Shopping, Shopping.com, BizRate, Shop.com, PriceGrabber.com, Shopzilla, NexTag and many others.
- Improved Reach – When you post products to your eCommerce site the hard work has been done. The photos have been edited, the cost of shipping has been calculated and then it just sits there, waiting for a site visit. Comparison Shopping sites allow your product to be viewed side by side with like items utilizing their huge volume of traffic.
- Increased Sales – Matching search items to products eliminates the site browsers and will lead to higher conversion rates. Many Comparison Shopping sites allow inclusion of reviews, and coupons.
- Warm Leads - People on shopping sites are not researching or browsing, they are ready to buy and just looking for the right price to pull the trigger on a purchase. Quickly moving people through the sales process and leaving more money in your pocket.
Automated Shopping Data Feeds
Typically, shopping feeds are manually updated every time a product attribute is modified such as, price, color, description, etc. There is a more effective alternative to the cumbersome task of manual importing, that’s the good news. WSM™ has developed a eCommerce shopping feed solution that will automatically create, manage and upload nightly the most current product listings via a customized data feed to Comparison Shopping site Google Product Search. Taking advantage of automated free shopping data feeds will allow you to:
- Increase visibility in organic search results that include Shopping Results
- Capitalize on huge volumes of daily site visitors
- Maintain up-to-date product listings
- Save time and resources that would otherwise be spent on manual updating
Google Product Search (Google Shopping)
Google Product Search – Formerly known as Froogle and sometimes referred to as Google Shopping, is the shopping comparison engine powered by Google. This shopping site is funded by paid advertisements. Therefore, it is free to list products for the sellers. There is less emphasis on product information and reviews than other sites. Think the power of Google meets comparison shopping site and it happens to be one of the few free shopping feeds.
Google Product Search can be linked to Google Analytics for further analysis of product listings
Easy Product Export
WSM™ provides a universal CSV (comma separated value) product export that will allow you to populate product information into many other Comparison Shopping sites using their free data feeds. This empowers you with control over which product attributes are uploaded. Customized export files make it a cinch to optimize your product listings.
Here are some of the top comparison shopping sites you should be aware of:
MSN Shopper (now Bing.com/shopping)
Bing.com/shopping is a free to list with price comparison site offering expert product reviews and direct control over how your products are listed on the site. Bing.com has organized their site in a way that the sellers can control how much of a rebate they want to give their customers as an incentive to purchase from them on Bing.com. This program is called ‘Bing cashback’.
Pronto
Pronto promotes itself as ‘the largest social shopping site on the web’. The Pronto Merchant Solutions program is a CPC program and your account is deducted once a user clicks on your product and is taken to your site. The account is funded by the seller and is automatically debited when the click occurs.
Ask Shopping
A Pronto.com Affiliate site that allows users to compare Pronto product listings from Ask.com including, brands, pricing and reviews. Submit through Pronto.com affiliate, CPC based pricing, FTP uploads.
Lycos Shopping
A Pronto.com Affiliate website which allows users to compare Pronto product listings from Lycos shopping for brands, pricing and reviews. Submit through Pronto.com affiliate, CPC based pricing, FTP uploads.
Excite Shopping
Another Pronto.com Affiliate site that allows users to compare Pronto listings from Excite shopping for products, brands, pricing and reviews. Submit through Pronto.com affiliate, CPC based pricing, FTP uploads.
Thefind.com
Thefind.com (free to list with) allows merchants to register their site for free using the “UpFront” program. UpFront then generates a button to be imbedded in the product listings so that detailed information about the merchant can be displayed in the same window. Their theory is that this additional on page information (being UpFront with their users) will simplify the shopping process and lead to more conversions.
Yahoo! Shopping
Yahoo! Merchant Solutions allows merchants to bid the amount they are willing to pay for clicks. You can bid different amounts in different categories, and pay when a lead is delivered to your site.
BizRate.com
BizRate is a price comparison service (for just about anything) which is part of Shopzilla, Inc. “One of the largest and most comprehensive online shopping networks on the web.” They are a cost-per-click program designed for eCommerce sites. BizRate also operates a consumer feedback network collecting consumer reviews of stores and products.
NexTag– nextag.com
NexTag also packs a powerful punch in the world of Comparison Shopping. This site allows merchants to list for free. However, “the more you pay the higher your potential for incremental volume and leads.” Comparisons include products, financial services, travel, automobiles, and education.
Calibex
A NextTag Affiliate price comparison shopping portal powered by NexTag allows users to find, compare and buy items of interest through an easy-to-use search function. CPC based pricing model, accepts bulk data feed uploads. Submit through NexTag affiliate.
Shopzilla.com
Shopzilla is in the same network of sites as BizRate and when you update one site you update both. Shopzilla.com customers are given the chance to leave comments about their experience which is a benefit to those with great customer service.
PriceGrabber.com
Another CPC Comparison Shopping site that boasts merchants both small and big that include: Best Buy, Office Deport and Wal-Mart.
About.com Shopping
A PriceGrabber.com Affiliate that covers a wide range of categories including Auto Parts, Jewelry & Watches, Clothing, and more. Comparison shopping features powered by PriceGrabber. Submit through PriceGrabber affiliate, CPC, revenue share based pricing and allows bulk data feed uploads.
CNET Shopper
A PriceGrabber.com Affiliate site that provides access to the CNET and PriceGrabber Networks to find and compare products from a variety of merchants and Online stores. Merchants can become an authorized store and begin listing their items for distribution in the network, including mySimon and other PriceGrabber affiliates. Submit through PriceGrabber affiliate. Allows bulk product uploads via an FTP data feed file.
mySimon
A PriceGrabber.com Affiliate and part of the CNET Shopper Network as well. mySimon allows users to find, compare and buy products available for purchase through Online stores and merchants. Merchants can list items available through their Online catalogs and it will be searchable across the Networks. Powered by PriceGrabber, submit through PriceGrabber affiliate. Allows bulk product uploads via data feed file.
AOL Shopping
Another PriceGrabber.com Affiliate shopping portal that connects buyers with merchants who offer the products they desire. Merchants get additional exposure for catalogs by getting listed within AOL's portal and related services. Accepts bulk feed submissions and FTP uploads. CPC based pricing model. Submit through PriceGrabber affiliate.
Pinpoint Shopping
An AOL Affiliate site which allows customers to visit 1000s of stores with millions of products all from a single search. Submit through AOL affiliate PriceGrabber.com to have your items listed. CPC based pricing, allows bulk uploads.
Smarter.com
Merchants have real time control over which products are online. This is another bid based Comparison Shopping site with a minimum CPC price of $0.15. Smarter.com uses paid and natural search to get traffic to the site.
CoolSavings.com
Affiliated with PriceGrabber.com, this comparison shopping site also has a large coupon component.
ShopLocal.com
Shoppers browse based on location. They also use demographic knowledge to target their advertising. It works as a weekly sale circular that can be accessed anytime.
Digital Performance Inc. digitalperformance.com
Digital Performance Inc. is automotive aftermarket specific. The more specific the target market is the better the leads. Yes, please! DPI has created a data standard that allows consumers to find the perfect fit for their vehicles by matching year, make and model to parts and accessories.
ShopMania – shopmania.com
Besides Google Product Search, ShopMania is the only other free to post Comparison Shopping Engine website out there.
Amazon Marketplace
Sellers can sell their merchandise (both new and used) along side Amazon’s products. You only pay fees when an item sells.
Live Product Search
Free services that allows users to post products across relevant Microsoft services including MSN Shopping and Live Search Onebox.
Shopping.com
Comparison shopping engine, owned by eBay, that allows users to list their catalogs along with other trusted merchants to be distributed within the Shopping.com network. Offers shoppers one-stop shopping, time saving navigation and product reviews from ePinions so to help find, compare, and make purchase decisions. CPC based pricing.
DealTime
A service of Shopping.com offering another comparison shopping engine for users to list their products with, and allowing consumers to find the right products at the right price.
BrowseGoods
An Amazon.com Affiliate site which offers a visual shopping experience rather than a traditional search experience. Shoppers can zoom, pan, search, save and more. Items are linked to Amazon for expedient purchasing.
Like.com
Site visitors can search, find and compare items based on visual appeal or appearance (images not text). Sorting options include colors, shapes and patterns. Merchants can add items to Like.com and join thousands of other sellers in this visual comparison shopping engine. CPC based pricing, allows for bulk data feed uploads.
Become.com
Shopping comparison and product research engine that features, comprehensive research information such as buying guides, product reviews, articles, forums, and other useful shopping information. Allows users to compare items and research products from a variety of eCommerce stores. Accepts data feed files, FTP uploads and regularly crawls the Web for new shopping related pages and to identify changes to existing pages. CPC based pricing with free setup.
myTriggers.com
Site visitors can search over 100 million items from over 1 million sellers, compare prices and buy online. Allows merchants to upload items via data feed file and FTP. Free to use, free to list. Merchants can also get listed through third-party aggregates.
ShopBIG A myTriggers.com Affiliate shopping comparison site that allows site visitors to shop Online and compare prices on thousands of products from a huge selection of merchants. Accepts bulk data files uploaded via FTP. Items are also shown on myTriggers and other sites within the network. Free to list, free to use.
Price.com Site visitors compare prices and find deals on popular brand name products from reputable merchant stores. Merchants list and display items from an Online catalog that is searchable and sortable via the Price.com shopping interface. Free to list, free to use.
BuyersEdge.com
Site visitors have access to price comparisons, unbiased product reviews and merchant information for a variety of Online stores. Helps merchants reach more buyers, generate sales or visits and manage their campaign from an easy to use interface. CPC based pricing for merchants, free for users to search and buy.
PriceSCAN.com
Assists site visitors in finding low prices, comparing product features and making shopping Online more hassle free. Allows merchants to upload items from their catalog into the Pricescan database for easy discovery within their network. Free to use, free to list products.
PriceFight
An online shopping and price comparison engine that allows users to shop easily, make buying decisions and purchase with confidence. Merchants can include items sold through their product catalog with no sign up fees and accepts data feed uploads in a variety of formats. CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) based pricing. Free to use and sign up.
Buy.com Marketplace
Sellers have a wide range of categories to be listed in including, Apparel and Shoes, Bags and Luggage, Books, Camera, Cell Phones, Computer and Office, DVDs, Electronics, Fragrance, Games, Home and Outdoor, Music, Networking, Software, Pet Supplies, Musical Instruments, Office Supplies and Toys & Baby. Buyers have access to product, price and seller comparisons. Helps merchants who wish to leverage the Buy.com customer reach. CPC based pricing, free to use, free to sign up.
Shop.com
Site visitors can shop for millions of products, hundreds of stores and thousands of name brands with the convenience of OneCart™, their universal shopping cart. Cost Per Order (CPO) based pricing, accepts bulk data uploads. Allows merchants to manage account via a Marketplace Business Center.
Relevant Shoppers Mean Increased Conversions
When your product listing matches a shopper’s search term they will be directed to your merchandise. Then the shopper simply clicks on the listing to be taken directly to your store. But, consider that it may not always be the lowest price that the consumer is looking for. They may be willing to pay more for your items if your eCommerce site has:
- Simpler navigation
- A more professional looking site
- Better product details so they know they have made the best decision
- Easier return policies
- Less expensive shipping prices
By matching exactly what the customer is looking for to your product you will deliver qualified, relevant, and motivated buyers to your site.
Allow WSM™’s Automated Shopping Feed to optimize your eCommerce store. Contact us today to get started on a free web design quote.
