What is comparison shopping?

In today’s digital age, information is at our fingertips. And, when people are making their purchases online, they’re thinking about getting the best deal through shopping comparisons. We’ll take a look at what comparison shopping is all about and how you can satisfy the consumer drive to always get the best product for the best deal.

The definition of comparison shopping

Before we get into the details, let’s take a look at what comparison shopping actually is. When a consumer wants to buy a product or a service, they will often evaluate the prices and offerings of different companies prior to making a purchase. This is known as ‘comparison shopping’.

Hundreds of factors lead to a successful purchase, but even with the best marketing, product, or service on your side, a competitor can easily claim a sale at the final hurdle. While consumer habits have changed in recent years to value things like authenticity and ethical sourcing, price is always a fundamental factor in any purchasing decision. That’s why comparison shopping is such a powerful tool.

What is an example of comparison shopping?

As mentioned above, comparison shopping involves taking the same product or service and evaluating it against multiple sellers for the best deal. For example, imagine you’re looking to buy a new phone. Instead of immediately purchasing your new phone from the first retailer you find, you end up comparing the phone’s price across several different shops and online stores. Within this evaluation, factors like warranty, customer service and bundled offers will all play into your final purchasing decision.

Comparison shopping sites

Shopping comparison sites are indispensable tools for savvy shoppers, offering the convenience of price comparison, features and product reviews from multiple retailers all in one place. These examples will show you the power of comparison shopping and how consumers use these sites to transform the way they shop and save online. 

• Google Shopping — A widely recognised comparison shopping platform, users can search for products across various retailers to compare prices, features and reviews directly from Google’s search engine results
• PriceGrabber — Alongside comprehensive price comparisons and product categories, PriceGrabber has detailed product information and user reviews. This encourages engagement from users looking to make informed purchasing decisions
• Shopzilla — Famous for its user-friendly interface and a wide range of retailers, Shopzilla provides consumers price comparisons and product details for items from electronics to household goods
• CamelCamelCamel — This one is popular among Amazon fans for tracking prices of products sold on the site, with extra details like price history charts and user alerts for price drops

What is the purpose of comparison shopping?

Comparison shopping is when consumers compare the prices of products or services between different providers and retailers before making a purchase. This enables customers to shop around for what they perceive to be the best deal.

It’s not always about price, though. There are other factors which influence customer comparison shopping behaviour that will make them prefer one product or service over another. Branding is very important in a world driven by imagery and colour, but consumers also want to know exactly what they’re buying. Adding qualitative descriptions and technical specifications will make sure your target customer is armed with adequate knowledge and understanding of your offering before they make a purchase. 

In addition, use reviews and feedback to understand your audience better and drive improvements so you stand out to comparison shoppers. There are other ways to add value to a purchase like free shipping, a loyalty program or simply positioning yourself as a credible and trustworthy supplier.

In short, the power of comparison can make or break a sale for your brand, and even loyal customers might be tempted to shop elsewhere if you don’t stay competitive. Today, the power of comparison comes with an important caveat — it has to deliver on the extra effort customers exert. In times of financial difficulty, customers are proving that it’s easier to stick with what they know and won’t stray to a new provider or retailer if the difference in value doesn’t seem worth it. So keeping an eye on your competitors is important for nurturing current customer relationships.

How important are shopping comparisons?

In the digital age, comparison shopping has proven to be more important than ever. Comparisons in price are often shown as soon as a user types a product name into a search engine and once the algorithm knows what they’re after, they are exposed to enticing deals in ads in their email inbox, on affiliate sites, on social media etc.  

The role of Google in comparison shopping and advertising, or rather, the news that surrounded it, perfectly exemplifies how important it is. The internet is a shopping mall, the front page of Google is where customers window shop and it’s why so many brands aim to rank highly (75% of users don’t scroll past the first page of Google, after all).  

The ease with which a customer is exposed to these opportunities has also made it something of an expectation for shoppers — they expect a search to bring them reliable, good-value results. With every search term, Google and comparison shopping services are there to tell customers what they could buy and from whom they should buy it. Placing your brand into these ranks is vital for brand awareness, as well as securing a sale.

Is comparison advertising the same as comparison shopping?

Comparison advertising is similar to comparison shopping in that they both aim to drive the customer towards the best deal. Comparison shopping is the act of a customer knowingly seeking out information from different retailers in order to come to a decision. Comparison advertising is what awaits a user when they hit enter on that search term and helps them make their choice as tailored ads follow them around the internet. 

Comparison advertising can be capitalised on in several ways. One of the most common ways is through affiliate marketing with publishers that build content around popular items for comparison, for example, blog articles. These often follow heading styles such as listicles for the “top 10 PCs” or direct comparisons like “Designer mascara vs. drug store.” This sort of content is great for potential buyers, even for those who don’t plan to make a purchase immediately as they can remain as a go-to resource for information (and affiliate links) when they do decide to buy. Flank these articles with appropriate brand advertising and they bring valuable information and a natural next click to potential shoppers. 

These pages also have value in and of themselves, provided they are written well, as better engagement will push the page up the Google ranks and that means more exposure for the brands mentioned therein.

Comparison Shopping Services (CSS)

Another key method of comparison advertising is through comparison shopping services. CSS works to gather information from websites about products and services and then shares it with users. This is how Google Shopping works; when you input a search term, Google fetches information from suitable retailers and displays the shopping results to you at the top of the page. However, Google Shopping is not the only service that does this and, since the misuse of the first page outlined above, competitors now have equal standing when it comes to displaying their results. 

What this means for brands is that there are prime affiliate opportunities in CSS to make it to that all-important first page. Awin works with a range of CSS partners able to support brand promotion through the Google Shopping platform. These include NMPi, RedBrain, Kelkoo, Dooshop, Pro-position, Shopforward, Lyst and Kiesproduct, all able to help brands rank better for search terms and optimise product feeds.

How to create comparison shopping content

Creating effective comparison shopping content involves a balance between providing insightful comparisons and maintaining professionalism. Directly criticising competitors is not recommended. Instead, focus on informative comparisons between your products and services to offer valuable insights to your audience.

Brands often showcase this through comparison tables for services like subscriptions or for different models of products like smartphones, highlighting varying features and specifications. As a brand, you have the unique advantage of in-depth product knowledge, enabling you to create comprehensive and hands-on content across your product range. This is something customers usually cannot replicate, and influencers can only do so to a limited extent unless provided with entire collections.

In the beauty industry, for example, brands provide swatch videos showing how products perform on the skin, offering insights that customers cannot get in-store, especially post-pandemic with limited access to samples.

Brands can adopt this approach online through product feeds. Using platforms like Awin, you can upload and regularly update your product feeds, facilitating affiliates to create effective comparison tables. Additionally, ensuring your feeds are available for affiliate partners allows them to appear in Google Shopping, enhancing your product visibility. It's crucial to consider how these feeds are presented, ensuring they are clear, concise, and up-to-date, providing all necessary information for effective comparison. This approach not only aids in transparent marketing but also builds trust with your customers by offering them the detailed information they need to make informed purchasing decisions.

How do reviews impact comparison shopping?

Word of mouth still holds significant weight in the internet age, or perhaps more aptly, word of type. While recommendations from friends and neighbours still count, cumulatively positive feedback from online reviews can really sway customer opinion. This means comparison shopping is important at every stage of your brand’s offering. Is your product high quality enough to earn a 5-star review? Is the price point enticing enough for people to not opt for a 3-star alternative? Is shipping free and therefore supportive of your affordable price point? Does the customer service that follows reward the customer for choosing you out of the options out there? All these factors influence a customer to write a good review, or even bother to leave one at all. 

Reviews are a core tenant of affiliate marketing, as well. Whether endorsed by an Instagram influencer, added as a link to a popular blog post or rewarded in return for a free item like the Amazon Vine program, human opinion remains as important as ever. If you choose to reach out to publishers for an advertising collaboration with this goal in mind, then remember that not all reviews are equal. High-quality, well-written reviews are the ones that will really hold weight with potential buyers.

What does a quality review look like?

There are several best practices you should follow when requesting a review or writing one yourself. Failing to shape a review around these basic principles can result in something that isn’t all that valuable to your brand or to would-be shoppers.  

• Describe the product or service in a way that relates to the user — A review that is a thinly-veiled sales pitch is quickly recognizable, as is one that isn’t authentic to real users and their experience of the product.
  
• Prove your own knowledge — Of course, not everyone is a professional when it comes to every item they purchase, but we all have a frame of reference on if something is a quality purchase or not. If you show you are a knowledgeable source and your word is worth listening to, people will indeed listen. With a new non-stick frying pan, for example, comparisons to other products, examples of when the non-stick quality proves the most useful, or understanding of the product’s overall composition e.g. aluminium vs cast iron, all add credibility. 

• Prove you’ve experienced the item — Words are powerful, but as the old adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand of them. Photos and videos of the product in use prove you are an authentic buyer and give a candid real-life look at the item itself, highlighting aspects which may not be discernible from studio-perfect product imagery.
  
• Provide metrics — If your review platform offers specific metrics like “Rate the fit” (for clothes) or “How would you rate delivery speed?” don’t overlook these fields. Every little bit helps in building a review that is as valuable to skim-readers as those who read each review word for word.
  
• Don’t be afraid to mention competing products — If you know there is a particular product  often competing with your own, don’t be afraid to mention it to support why your chosen product is better. You will often see this in comparison shopping articles that address the most asked questions around rival products e.g. the latest Apple phone vs. Samsung.
• Don’t gloss over flaws — Nothing can be perfect, but most customers aren’t expecting perfection, either. So, to remain authentic, but also to let shoppers know precisely what they can expect, don’t act as if there are no cons to your chosen product if it has some issues. These don’t have to be massive, but they do need to prove you have genuinely used it e.g. that non-stick frying pan above could be a bit heavy or better if it came with a lid.

Awin and advertising for comparative shopping

By leveraging Awin's extensive network, your brand can gain a significant advantage in the competitive landscape. Whether it’s collaborating with big-name sites or getting extra power behind your search rank with CSS, Awin can help create connections that help your brand win in any customer comparison.  

Find out more about Awin connects advertisers and affiliates to create engaging comparison shopping content.