From the monthly archives:

November 2009

Comparison Shopping Engine Holiday Rate Changes

by lynbat on November 4, 2009

‘Tis the season!

For e-commerce stores, that simply means being aware of the annual tradition of comparison shopping engines hiking up their costs per click. In an effort to capture a bit of their own holiday glee, CSE’s like Pricegrabber, NexTag and Shopzilla raise their rates by as much as 25%.

How does that work?

Cost Per Click – Bid Model:

If you list products in NexTag, under the TOYS category, your normal minimum bid is 25 cents per click.  During the holiday shopping season, NexTag increases their pricing by 25%.  So the new minimum cost per click is 32 cents per click.  Now, you may not be affected by this at all.  If the bids you set on your products already start higher than that minimum bid, you may not feel any difference in spent budget.  However, the increase in minimum cost per click does bring lower positioned competitors higher on the results page.  Be aware and adjust accordingly.

Cost Per Click Flat Rate Model:

With this model, your total cost will go up.  If you are utilizing Pricegrabber, you pay a flat fee per click, based on the category your products are in.  With the application of the 25% holiday rate increase, you will see your costs rise.  For example, if you have products in the TOYS category and your normal price per click is 75 cents per click, you will be paying 94 cents per click for each click.  So your budget will be depleted quicker and your products could go offline earlier.

Some Good News:

There are several comparison shopping engines that are breaking with tradition and NOT increasing prices this holiday season.  They may have other specials to note though.

Here is a breakdown of the rate increases by major engine:

nextag-small-logo

  • Runs from 11/4/2009 through 1/06/2010
  • 25% increase.  All categories

sites_pricegrabber

  • Runs from 11/1/2009 through 1/15/2010
  • 25% increase. All subcategories

yahoo-shopping-small-logo

  • Runs from 11/02/2009 through 12/29/2009
  • 25% increase. All categories.

shopzilla-small-logo

  • Runs from 11/16/2009 through 12/27/2009
  • 0% to 25% increase, based on category.

shopping-small-logo

  • Runs from 11/15/2009 through 12/31/2009
  • 0% to 20% increase, based on category.

smarter-small-logo

  • Runs from 11/01/2009 through 1/01/2010
  • 20% increase, All categories.

become-small-logo

  • NO INCREASE
  • Add a Logo 1/2 off – Entire month of November.

sortprice-small-logo

  • NO INCREASE
  • Contact for special placement pricing.

google-product-search-small-logo

  • NO INCREASE
  • (Hard to beat FREE)

Some of these have already kicked in.  There are two watch points for you, if you have products listed in the comparison shopping engines.  First is that you will spend your budget quicker and should monitor your spend closely to ensure your products do not experience down time as a result.  Second is that rate changes cause a scramble for bid placement.  Keep your eye on the listings to ensure your are in the position you want to be in.

Have a great season!

I’m Linda Bateman and I’m here to help.

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It’s November… Do you Know Where Your Products Are?

by lynbat on November 2, 2009

The holiday shopping season is already underway.  Long gone is the time that  holiday shopping kicked off the day after Thanksgiving.  Retail shelves are already full of holiday offerings.  What is amazing is that shopping carts are already full of holiday products.

I ventured into the local Walmart on Halloween fully expecting aisles full of families gathering that last bag of candy in preparation for evening festivities. I was truly shocked. The gardening section of the store had already been transformed into the North Pole, complete with fully decorated Christmas trees.  I shrugged it off and finished my own last minute Halloween shopping. Flabbergasted was I,  when it came time to check out.  The family just ahead in line had a full cart, mostly of  Christmas tree and trimmings.  Being the inquisitive type I am,  I asked the matriarch of the family if she thought it was too early for holiday shopping.  I got an answer that may be the perspective of the whole country,  ”It is early, but we have the cash now.  Who knows about December.”

So insert your favorite cliche here.  Mine seems to be:  ”It is what it is.”

Are stores on the right track?  Where does that leave e-commerce stores and comparison shopping engines? How will perceptions of the economy and family cash position effect calendar buying trends?  Should the average e-commerce proprietor have products well positioned in shopping engines all year or concentrate efforts to just the traditional holiday shopping season?

E-Commerce stores who use comparison shopping engines (Google Products, NexTag, Pricegrabber, Shopzilla, etc.) are used to the annual holiday ramp up by these shopping engines.  In years past, these engines provided a substantial amount of visitors during the holiday season. If shoppers are purchasing now, will that change the overall effectiveness of shopping engines?

I believe there is enough doubt in consumer trends this year to warrant concern over the traditional advertising model that places a ton more eggs in one holiday basket than the rest of the year.

With that in mind, savvy e-commerce stores should re-evaluate their use of comparison shopping engines.  This does not mean NOT using them, but it is time to look at your products and simply list those that are good sellers or have a high margin.  To save some budget, try cutting out your non-selling products or those which are not competitive at price point.  Try listing your products in shopping portals that do not charge for clicks, like Google Product Search.  Try listing your products in shopping engines that are not raising their rates for the holiday season, like Become.com.  Lastly, but critically important,  spend some dedicated time and energy optimizing your data feeds.

One thing is for certain… a person can’t buy your product if they don’t know it is there.

Another thing is for certain… the time to do all that was yesterday.

It may be that the economy has consumers thinking differently about this holiday season. It may be that Walmart is doing their part to rid Americans of the procrastination habit one holiday at a time.  Whatever the case, people are shopping now.  They are in the comparison shopping engines and in the search engines.  If your products aren’t, well… GET MOVING!  It’s November.  Do you know where your products are?

I’d love some feedback from you.  Let’s get the conversation started.

I’m Linda Bateman and I am here to help.

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