Choosing the Best CSE for My Products
By ebiz Insider Staff on Mon (1/26/09) in Featured Stories, Marketing | 0 Comments
In the past few years, comparison shopping engines (CSEs) have gained traction with online shoppers. The big three search giants, Google, MSN, and Yahoo!, all offer comparison shopping, oftentimes bundling regular search results with relevant products from their respective CSE. Engines such as Shopping.com, Pricegrabber, and Shopzilla have become household names. There are also niche CSEs that spring up almost daily in hopes of capturing a portion of the comparison shopping market. Sites like Pronto.com and Healthpricer.com each have unique comparison shopping themes that customers can utilize to find the lowest prices for products they’re searching for. For merchants who have no idea which CSE to start advertising with, the choice can be a tough one to make.
“Which CSE is going to make me the most money?” is a question that I’ve been asked countless times, and unfortunately there’s no easy answer. For starters, the answer is dependent upon a host of factors, not limited to but including: 1) Marketing Budget 2) Time dedicated to managing data feeds
3) Quality of your feeds
4) Product pricing
5) Merchant website look and feel 6) Shipping costs and options offered and so on….
The real question to ask is “Which CSE is best for my type of product(s)?” The answer requires some research, but luckily our team of account managers has come up with a list of CSEs and “compatible” product types for you. Please keep in mind that this list is based on our team’s experience managing accounts with a hodgepodge of different product types.
Google Product Search
Product Type: Everything!
URL: http://www.google.com/products
Google Product Search offers one of the best comparison shopping engines for two main reasons. 1) it’s Google.
2) it’s absolutely free. Google is, obviously, the search king and, as such, no CSE marketing campaign would be complete without having this engine active in their list of CSEs. Most merchants I’ve serviced only include the bare minimum for content in their data feeds which is a huge mistake. Google Product Search doesn’t use categories or cost-per-click (CPC) to determine search rank so the more content you have in your feed the better. Electronics, for example, should have information related to Battery Life, Aspect Ratio, Capacity, Operating System, etc. included in the data feed so that your listings will be featured more prominently when people search for items you sell. Populating your data feed with this extra information may be a chore but you’ll be glad you did once other CSEs start asking for some of the same information. Google Product Search is THE starting point for anyone launching a comparison shopping campaign.
Shopzilla
Product Type: Clothing & Accessories, Jewelry, Home & Garden, Toys & Games
Shopzilla is recommended to any merchant who isn’t sure where to start for several reasons. One, the setup is quick and easy. Two, their support team is extremely quick in responding to account issues. Third, they have a high volume of traffic that covers a wide variety of search queries and product types. Lastly, Shopzilla lets users check CPC bids against a list that show their rank relative to the competition’s for a given category. The important thing for merchants to remember when considering Shopzilla as a startup CSE is that, overall, they’ve produced positive results for most, if not all, of the accounts our team has managed. We attribute this to a comprehensive list of categories, listing syndication across a broad network of affiliates, and an easy-to-use merchant account interface coupled with a reliable support staff.
Shopping.com
Product Type: Electronics, Appliances, Clothing, Jewelry, Brand Name Items
Shopping.com, an eBay company, is one of the best-performing engines our team works with. It’s one of those shopping portals that you just can’t ignore. With more than 1.5 million shoppers visiting the site daily, Shopping.com is a must have for any merchant interested in reaching qualified customers who are ready to make a purchase. One of the biggest concerns merchants have when considering this CSE is the initial funding cost of $700. The money is refundable if you decide to opt out of using Shopping.com at any point, so there’s no need to fear. Another concern merchants have is whether or not their funds are going to be exhausted in a short period of time because of the volume of shoppers Shopping.com produces. A well-planned strategy will pay off in getting the most out of your investment. Make a point of including products in your data feed that have high profit margins instead of others that may only break even after factoring in the conversion costs.
Pricegrabber
Product Type: Electronics, Clothing, Brand Name Products
URL: http://www.pricegrabber.com
Pricegrabber.com describes itself as “the industry innovator in online comparison shopping.” Founded in 1999, Pricegrabber offers one of the most competitive shopping engines for merchants both big and small. Product popularity is used to determine listing position, so even newcomers to this CSE can perform very well if they offer actively sought-after products. Manufacturer Part Numbers (MPN) ought to be included for all items you submit to Pricegrabber to optimize your current feed.
The staff at Pricegrabber are some of the most helpful in the industry. We all know how difficult completing your account setup can be without the assistance of an experienced account representative, and the Pricegrabber staff points users in the right direction and even gives periodic updates on product performance and optimization tips specific to your store’s industry so that you’re getting the best advice you can get.
Live Search Cashback
Product Type: Electronics, Computers, Jewelry, Clothing
URL: http://search.live.com/cashback
Live Search Cashback, known as Jellyfish prior to Microsoft’s acquisition of the company in late 2007, is Microsoft’s answer to “the CPC problem.” One of the most difficult things about CSE advertising on CPC engines is making sure your advertising dollars are being spent on products that perform well, as opposed to spending on products that customers are just window-shopping for. Wouldn’t it be nice if you were allowed to pay referral fees only if a customer made a purchase instead of every time you received a click? Jellyfish uses a cost-per-action (CPA) model: Cashback charges merchants a commission only on purchases made through referrals from the engine. The amount of the commission is determined by the merchant and can be set both on the category and product level, either in the account interface or within the data feed itself.
When Cashback launched, it raised skepticism about how well it would actually perform using this new revenue model. All fears seem to have been dispelled by the 2008 holiday shopping season, though. Not only did Cashback outperform some engines that our team considers to be “Tier 1”, but the ad spend for most merchants, even the ones that didn’t do extremely well, was nominal. What’s more, fraudulent orders were able to be reported to Cashback within 60 days of the occurrence so that the commission that was paid out could be credited back to the merchants account.
So, now you should have a decent idea of where you may want to begin your venture into comparison shopping campaigns, right? If you still have more questions about other CSEs and how they stack up to the ones mentioned in this article, our best advice to all of you who fall into this category is to research, research, and research some more. Reach out to the CSEs you’re interested in and ask as many questions as possible before deciding which one is the right fit for you. Don’t be ashamed to ask your friends and relatives if and where they comparison shop. Sometimes the best field research is conducted right in your living room with your family or at a friend’s house.
Finally, be realistic about the current state of our struggling economy when considering including CSE marketing as part of your store’s advertising campaign. Online shoppers are going to continue to search for bargains on items they are ready to purchase. CSEs continue to gain more market share as a result of this trend and as such should be paid more attention to. If you’re still not sure about whether your business is ready to take the CSE plunge, give us a call. We’d be more then happy to consult with you and your team about why comparison shopping advertising is a good fit for your business.
By Carlos Sanes
Solid Cactus, Inc. has designed or redesigned more than 3,000 e-commerce sites. Solid Cactus is an Inc. 500 company and was named one of the "Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania" in 2006 and 2007.
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