Price Comparison Websites Guide: Features, Benefits & Top Platforms

What is a Price Comparison Website?

A price comparison website is an online tool or platform that helps you compare prices of selected products. Within seconds, you can find out which e-shop sells them at the lowest price. Besides price, price comparison websites also provide additional product information, such as parameters, features, and availability.

Additionally, they include multiple illustrative photos and, in some cases, promotional videos.

The history of price comparators is not long. The first widely recognised one was BargainFinder, developed by Andersen Consulting, now known as Accenture. BargainFinder was developed by a research team led by Bruce Krulwich as a small experiment.

It was made available to customers in 1995 without notifying the brands and e-shops whose prices it compared.

Krulwich didn’t expect much from the comparator, which is why he remained surprised when people took to it.

It wasn’t long before another price comparison website appeared on the web. Its name was Jango, and it was created by the startup company Netbot. Oren Etzioni and Daniel S. Weld, two professors at the University of Washington, were the ones who founded it.

Popular price comparison websites at the turn of the millennium included PriceWatch.com, KillerApp.com, and NexTag. The latter even made it into Times magazine’s top 50 websites in 2008, and in 2018, Shopify ranked it among the top 10 price comparison websites.

However, even this couldn’t save it from closure, which occurred in the same year.

Around 2010, price comparison websites made their way to Asia. It all started with the CompareXpress portal in Singapore and continued with the Baoxian comparator in China, Jirnexu in Malaysia, and AskHanuman in Thailand.

Interesting fact

The first price comparison website, BargainFinder, initially searched through catalogues of eight online music shops to help customers find CDs at the best price. If they were interested in an offer, they could get to the e-shop’s website with one click and proceed with the purchase.

How Do Price Comparison Websites Work?

Price comparison websites gather and compare current product prices from various online shops. Additionally, they provide supplementary product information, making the entire shopping process easier. To obtain all necessary data, comparison websites use several processes and technologies. These are:

Data Collection

Price comparison websites collect data in three basic ways:

• Web Scraping

Web scraping refers to the extraction of data from selected websites. This data is collected and exported into various formats that are more readable and easier to use for customers. Web scraping can be done manually, but automated tools are preferred in most cases. These work faster, saving both time and energy.

Price comparison websites obtain many important details through web scraping. Along with price, this includes product names, detailed descriptions, images, and similar information. The web scraping process occurs regularly within price comparison websites. Therefore, individual prices and other information are always current.

• XML or CSV Files

Many online shops provide price comparison websites with direct access to their data in XML or CSV files. These files contain always up-to-date information about products, including their prices, features, and availability. Access to data is given to comparison platforms through a specific URL address where the files are stored. You simply provide this when adding your shop to the database.

The XML file is typically created automatically. However, to use it, someone needs to program it for you. If this hasn’t happened yet, request it from a programmer or your e-commerce CMS provider. Be mindful that each comparison website has its own specification for XML files. Therefore, inform yourself about this fact in advance.

Once you program the XML file and provide the comparison website access to it via URL address, the data automatically uploads and will update itself in the future.

Expert Advice:

Regularly check your XML file and verify it doesn’t contain any errors. It very often happens that products lack information about manufacturers, volume, capacity, or other mandatory parameters. Consequently, they won’t appear in the main comparison where many potential customers could see them.

API Integration

The third way price comparison websites collect information is through API, or Application Programming Interface.

The API interface represents a set of protocols and tools that allow applications and systems to communicate with each other and exchange information. Using these interfaces, developers can access and obtain real-time pricing data from various sources. They can also compare prices and present results to regular consumers in a simple and readable format.

The API interface is very practical, highly flexible, and has multiple customisation options. Not to mention that after collecting the data, it arranges it into a consistent and standardised format that’s easy to work with.

Data Processing and Indexation

When a price comparison website obtains product data, it begins processing it. This step involves three activities:

• Data Structuring

Initially, the comparison website structures the collected data. This means unifying it into one structure to create order and minimise the risk of unnecessary errors.

• Removing Duplicates

XML files or other sources from which the comparison website takes data might contain some products multiple times. To prevent them from repeating in its comparison and confusing customers, it checks and removes all duplicates.

• Categorisation

When the comparison website cleans the data, it moves on to categorising products into appropriate categories and smaller subcategories. It holds true that comparison platforms working with large numbers of products have dozens to hundreds of categories. This allows you to quickly find everything you need.

Searching and Displaying Results

Products that the price comparison website has sorted and divided into categories can be searched using a special algorithm. This typically only needs a keyword based on which it displays relevant offers.

The platform also allows filtering products by various parameters or displaying them based on price (most expensive/cheapest), popularity, or name.

Data Updates

Prices and product availability constantly change. Therefore, the price comparison website regularly updates its data. The update process happens automatically, thanks to the aforementioned methods such as web scraping, XML files, or API.

What Features Do Price Comparison Websites Offer to Customers?

Many customers use price comparison websites only to compare products. However, these platforms have additional features, including:

• Product search – price comparison websites serve you even when you don’t know exactly what product you want to buy. Based on your chosen keyword, they’ll search all available alternatives and sort them by price or popularity.
• Product filtering – products you search for in a price comparison website can be filtered based on various parameters. For mobile phones, this includes memory size, battery capacity, or camera resolution. For appliances, it’s depth, width, power input, or energy class. This way, you only see inventory you’re really interested in, significantly speeding up the entire purchase process.
• Result sorting – another feature that simplifies shopping. Thanks to it, the price comparison website can sort search results alphabetically, by price, popularity, or number of reviews.
• Detailed information display – even though the main task of a comparison website is to compare and display product prices, it also shows availability information and parameters on its website. Therefore, if you want to learn more about a given product, you don’t need to visit other websites. All information is in one place.
• Price change alerts – some price comparison websites monitor product prices for you and notify you by email if the price drops below your specified amount.
• Price history – comparison platforms show practical graphs that let you see how a product’s price has evolved over time.
• Direct transition to seller pages – when you discover a product you like, you can click through directly to the e-shop that offers it. You don’t have to search for it yourself.
• Product reviews – reviews are an important aspect of purchase decision-making. They tell you how other customers were satisfied with the product and whether it really fulfils what it promises. Most price comparison websites allow publishing both traditional reviews and star ratings. These are then on one subpage along with the price and specification of the chosen product.
• Shop reviews – besides product reviews, you’ll find reviews of the online shops themselves on comparison portals. This way, you can easily avoid purchasing from unverified suppliers who might misuse your payment details.
• Mobile applications – people today shop predominantly via mobile phones. Price comparison website operators are aware of this, which is why they’ve created user-friendly applications. These have the same features as the website while being adapted to smaller screens and ensuring smooth shopping.
• Personalisation and recommendations – based on search history and your preferences, comparison websites offer recommendations for products that might interest you.
• Expert reviews and articles – alongside price comparison, you can read articles full of tips and advice, or reviews from experts on electronics, appliances, home equipment, fashion, cosmetics, and similar topics.

Benefits of Price Comparison Websites for Customers

Price comparison websites bring numerous benefits to customers. The main ones include:

• Simplify shopping: comparison websites provide current information about prices, availability, and parameters. Everything is in one place, making shopping quick and easy.
• Save time: you don’t need to compare products and their prices manually. The comparison website handles everything automatically and in a fraction of a second.
• Wide product selection: price comparison websites work with thousands of products from hundreds of shops. They don’t limit you in any way when shopping.
• Help save money: thanks to comparison websites, you’ll find the e-shop that sells your product at the lowest price. Alternatively, you’ll discover where it’s immediately available or which seller offers free delivery.
• Provide better overview: using a price comparison website, you can find out which products are currently the most popular or newest, without lengthy internet browsing.

Did you know that… 

Some comparison websites allow you to purchase products directly through them? You just need to add the product to your basket and then pay. You don’t need to leave them at all.

Price Comparison Websites from E-shops’ Perspective

Price comparison websites are important tools for both customers and e-shop owners. The latter can use them to support their product sales and expand brand awareness.

The target group found on comparison portals attests to this fact. These are customers who know exactly what they want and are convinced they need the product. At this stage, they’re only gathering additional information, such as price and availability.

Therefore, when you provide them with an interesting offer, they’re highly likely to purchase from you.

Price Comparison Websites vs Inspirational Portals

A separate category is so-called inspirational portals. These are similar to classic comparison websites in many ways, as they compare prices of various types of products.

However, unlike them, they focus primarily on customers who don’t yet know what they want to buy. Their main goal is to explore the market and find out what’s available.

Since the target group consists of people who haven’t yet decided to make a purchase, inspirational portals focus more on interesting website design and beautiful product photos rather than price.

From foreign portals, we can mention – Houzz.com, Etsy.com, or Instagram Shopping.

What Features Do Price Comparison Websites Provide to E-shop Owners?

Price comparison websites provide different features to e-shop owners than to customers. These are:

Product and Price Management

You can manage and update information about prices, availability, or parameters of individual products. This can be done manually or automatically. The second alternative is more advantageous because it’s faster, saves time, and reduces the risk of errors.

Marketing and Promotion

Price comparison websites are excellent advertising channels. Most allow you to choose advertising in the form of PPC or banners. Another alternative is sponsoring products in their category. Thanks to this, they will always appear in top positions and customers won’t overlook them.

Analytics and Reporting

As e-shop owners, you have access to overviews of how individual products are performing, including click counts and sales. Additionally, there’s information about shopping trends and advertisements (if you use them).

Customer Communication

If customers leave reviews on the price comparison website, you can respond to them. This shows that you care about them and are grateful for their feedback.

Professional Support

Price comparison websites have professional support ready for e-shops and brands. So if you’re unsure about something, having trouble updating prices, or have another problem, don’t hesitate to contact them.

Benefits of Price Comparison Websites for E-shop Owners

The biggest benefits of price comparison websites for e-shop owners include:

• increased e-shop traffic
• expanded brand awareness
• sales support
• promotion opportunities
• improved credibility

Best Comparison Websites in the Market

There are many price comparison websites in the market today. Let´s discover few of them.

Foreign Price Comparison Websites

• Google Shopping – a service from Google through which you can compare prices of thousands of products from hundreds of e-shops. It’s available almost worldwide. It divides products into several basic categories, where you can also use practical filters.
• Shopzilla – one of the most famous and oldest price comparison websites, established in 1996. Its portfolio consists of products from areas such as electronics, household, clothing, cosmetics, and others. After clicking on a product, you’ll see the price, availability, list of e-shops, and detailed description.
• Bizrate – the platform is characterised by minimalist, perhaps slightly outdated design. However, this doesn’t change the fact that millions of users visit it monthly. Its strength lies in extensive filters that significantly narrow down the offer and thus facilitate the entire shopping process.
• PricePirates – its operation differs from regular price comparison websites. It doesn’t divide products into main categories. Instead, it has a panel where you enter a keyword and search for the most advantageous offer. It thus focuses purely on price. It doesn’t inform about other details, such as parameters.
• PriceRunner – a leading price comparison website with simple design, thousands of products, and detailed information about them. After registering, you can also use the “Price alert” function. This will monitor the product’s price for you and when it drops, inform you about this fact via email.

Conclusion

Price comparison websites have become an essential tool in modern online shopping, serving both consumers and e-commerce businesses effectively. For shoppers, they offer unprecedented convenience, combining time savings with the ability to find the best deals across multiple retailers.

The platforms go beyond simple price comparison by providing comprehensive product information, user reviews, and even direct purchasing options.

From an e-commerce perspective, these platforms serve as valuable marketing channels and sales tools. They offer businesses increased visibility, customer insights through analytics, and opportunities for competitive positioning in their respective markets.

Frequently Asked Question