Shoppers do research before making purchasing decisions touching many factors, including price. Going online has made it much easier to conduct product and service research. More than 80% check online customer reviews before making a purchase.
Also, comparison shopping is becoming a trend in eCommerce that is crowded with many players selling similar products with little or no differentiation. Most customers will settle for reasonably priced goods and ignore brands selling similar products at higher prices. That is retail price check in action.
Price retail checks involve comparing prices of similar products across brands and resellers. Shoppers benefit so much from retail price checks besides just spotting affordable products.
Let’s learn how price retail checks help daily shoppers.
Help Them Stick to Budget
Shoppers are likely to adopt a strict budget as inflation continues to rise across the globe. According to the World Bank, energy and non-energy commodities have increased by over 100% and 30% since 2021. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is making the situation more challenging.
As a result, every country and its citizens feel the mounting price pressure in one way or another. Naturally, people will react by sticking to their budget plans. And anything out of a shopper’s budget can easily be ignored. In fact, comparison shopping may increase to help them stick to their budgets.
For example, shoppers will buy your foodstuff like cereals and breakfast food if they are of the same quality but cheaper than your rivals. Otherwise, they will buy from your competitors if they offer lower prices than you.
In short, companies and retailers like you can not afford the wrong prices. Many will shun your in-store products, and your sales will be affected badly. Using price checks to price your products correctly can be helpful. It will make you part of shoppers’ budget and increase your sales.
Get Value for Money
Value for money is relative and may entirely depend on the person evaluating it. It is like beauty; what is beautiful to me may be disgusting and ugly to you. What is valuable to me can be useless or meaningless to you. So it depends on the shopper and their perspectives, and measuring it can be challenging.
But one thing is for sure; the value goes beyond price. It also includes the effectiveness and overall efficiency of the purchase. Customers know what they want and the amount they are willing to pay for it. So, they will always bargain for a price that meets quality.
Price checks help customers gauge not only the product prices but also product quality. Quality will be checked against price across each reseller online for each brand product. Comparison shopping sites show the price of a similar product within a single view.
The price difference should not be large if products have identical features and quality. As a result, price checks will help them gauge the price range of similar quality products. A higher price should correspond to better value for money. Lower prices for similar products may easily be marked as inferior quality.
Therefore, price checks allow buyers to get value for each product purchase. As a retailer, you should redefine value and affordability simultaneously. Other ways of adding value to retail shoppers apart from affordability include:
- Better customer service.
- Increase shopping convenience through shorter time delivery, buy-now-pay-later policy, etc.
- Enhance customer experience through tailored products and services based on preference.
However, affordability will significantly define the brand’s product value, given the impact on the economy after the pandemic. Hence, price checks will help shoppers maximize the value of their money on any shopping.
Get the Best Deals
On top of these, customers are also looking to save more money during these unpredictable economic times. If they perceive that your offers are the best deals that guarantee maximum savings, they will settle for your products.
Regardless of the industry, online shopping cart abandonment is rising and affecting the performance of retailers. According to Statista, over 80% of online shopping carts were abandoned in 2021. The research cited high prices and non-working discount codes for the rising shopping cart abandonment.
It means that shoppers will carefully evaluate prices before making purchase decisions. And if you wish to help them purchase your products, working and effective discounts are vital. Other crazy offers that can increase the perception of saving can effectively reduce cart abandonment. Hence, price checks will help customers check resellers offering crazy discounted deals.
Importance of Right Pricing and Organic Reviews to Retailers
As mentioned earlier, shoppers conduct extensive research before making decisions. Some retailers are using underhand methods to dupe shoppers through fake online reviews.
Fake reviews cost over $150 billion and are rising steadily with the help of malicious bots and users. More ordinary shoppers can spot fake reviews easily. Hence, it can damage brand trust and loyalty, eventually driving shoppers away.
The right pricing strategy should encompass price checks that ensure you maintain brand trust and nurture loyalty with customers. Some tools make price checks more effortless and valuable for shoppers and retailers.
Combing the right pricing strategy through price checks is essential for many reasons:
Improve Brand Loyalty and Sales
Shoppers can quickly get the best offers from many retailers and comparison sites. Price checks can help you price your products competitively to the nearest retailers. The objective is to build a reputation as a retailer offering value for money. It will increase sales and maximize loyalty.
Consistency is key. If you position yourself as a value-for-money retailer, you will become the go-to destination for many shoppers.
Drive Competitive Leverage
We operate in a competitive market, so you must know what your competitor is doing or planning to do. Are they offering products at the recommended retailing prices (RRPs) or lower to boost sales?
Competitors use many tactics in their pricing strategy. You should understand every technique they are using to compete effectively. Check out how rivals regularly use discount codes, product bundling or cross-selling strategy, etc.
These factors can influence value perception without changing the product’s pricing. Even a trivial thing like next-day or same-day delivery can be a deal-breaker for shoppers. For example, Amazon’s move to one-day shipping increased its sales in 2019 compared to previous years before the strategy.
Knowing every detail of competitor pricing tactics allows you to refine yours to gain a competitive edge over rivals.
Help Adjust Promotional Campaigns for Better Performance
Part of a good pricing strategy should include the best offers through promotions. Price checks can help adjust your advertisements accordingly to counter rivals’ offers. You can use multi-buy deals, gifts with purchases, discount codes, etc.
Make sure you inform your followers and shoppers about these offers when they are available. Share the crazy deals on social media and every channel you can think of, whether paid or organically. Also, do not forget to include your promotions in your email campaigns.
A good example is giving a 10% discount for the first 10, 100, or 1000 shoppers that join your mail list. The incentive will get you a larger email audience that can be useful for future promotions and retargeting.
Take Away
Shoppers can compare prices and customer reviews easily online to make purchasing decisions. Charging more or less than rivals will affect how they relate to your brand. And it eventually affects your store’s performance.
You should know rivals’ prices and see what shoppers see through comparison shopping sites. Using price checks allows shoppers to get the best deals and value for money within their budgets. You can deliver the same using price checks to refine your pricing strategy and drive brand loyalty.
