Tracking the pricing of competitors is not like it used to be. Before, you could hire a secret shopper and then have that person check the prices of other similar businesses. However, with the Internet now responsible for at least half of the sales most companies have, you must now track competitors pricing using other options.
It’s not enough to just track competitors pricing, you first must know who the competitors are in your industry and what others are saying about them and you. It is also important to track pricing of competitors often. You can’t just check once a month or once a quarter. It is important to do so at least once a day so that you can start to see the patterns of others.
By tracking prices, you will receive many benefits, including:
- Target customers better
- Understand the market
- Forecast the pricing potential of the market
- Know what others are charging for similar or same products
- Learn what competitors are offering
- Find new customers
You will be able to target your customers better because you will be able to see why you have fewer sales than other comparable businesses. If prices are lower for your products at other online retailers, then customers will be more likely to shop there. Consumers are notorious for choosing the lowest price on many products because they are interested in saving money. Many companies are able to offer these lower prices because they have no overhead or only run an online business. Tracking prices of competitors can help you understand why certain online retailers are offering lower prices and can help you find patterns in pricing.
It could also help you find new customers by tracking competitors pricing. If you have a low fan-base, it may very well be due to pricing matters. If you start lowering prices immediately, current customers may think there is something wrong with your items or that they are lower quality. However, if you start consistently lowering prices, it will return former customers and bring in new ones.
You could conceive your own program to help you track competitors pricing and hire a lot of people to keep up with the tracking, but this is time consuming and costly. There is another way; there are websites like Price Manager that will manage everything about competitor pricing, including tracking, comparison and monitoring.
Track Competitors Pricing could be a valuable need for your business progress.
