#competitor monitor

[competitorpricewatch-blog]

Royal Mail now delivers to your Neighbour

Over the last three months, the Royal Mail has been trialling a scheme where they will leave your online purchases to your neighbours if you are out when they try to deliver them.

This has always been one of the biggest difficulties with ordering online -The fact that it's not always possible to wait around at home for the whole day until your delivery arrives.  With this new scheme from the Royal Mail, you can now just pop next door to pick up your parcel rather than have to drive to the sorting office before work the next day, because they close before you can get there at lunchtime.

It is a definite bonus for the online retailer, meaning that one more obstacle has been removed from making web based shopping the only way to buy.

Of course, once the e-tail market has become the dominant way to make purchases, you are going to need to ensure that you have the best price possible when compared to the other sites selling the same thing.

The best way to do this is with Competitor Price Watch.  They will monitor your competitor's prices, including the shipping, let you know when they are out of stock and send you an e-mail whenever a price changes.

[competitorpricewatch-blog]

Sales via Mobile Devices show dramatic increase

A recent report shows that shopping via mobile devices in the UK increased by 254% between March 2011 and March 2012.

Whilst it's true that the actual percentage is still only 1.4% of sales, this is showing a definite trend toward the online marketplace.  The thinking is that a lot of online retailers do not have a so called 'M Site' which has been optimised for browsing on the smaller screen of a smart phone.  With the rapid growth of the mobile shopper, this is something that might be of great benefit to the online retailer in the coming years.

Of course, there will always be people who only shop via their PC and they still account for a greater percentage share of online sales than their mobile counterparts, but the mobile revolution is gaining momentum and is something that needs to be considered if you are to keep pace with the changing trends in people's shopping habits.

However, once you have the customer looking at your site, whether it's on a smart phone, tablet, desktop of laptop screen, you're going to need to keep them there by offering the most competitive prices that you can;  And to be competitive, you'll need to know what price other people are selling at.

That's where Competitor Price Watch is an invaluable tool.

[competitorpricewatch-blog]

Extended Sunday Trading Hours Not Popular With High Street Stores

Some good news from the ongoing battle between online retailers and their 'bricks and mortar' counterparts.

It would appear that the longer Sunday trading hours that the government approved during the Olympic summer would not be wanted on a permanent basis.

Sainsbury's, shop workers union UDSAW and clothing manufacturer Fat Face are all of the opinion that we should revert back to the reduced Sunday opening hours at the end of the trial period.

This would, of course, be great news for all online retailers as they would have the day back to themselves, allowing full access to the customer without the distraction of their having the possibility of going out to shop.

Of course, having access to the customer is only half the battle.  Once they are on your site, they need to know that you are the most competitive seller of what they are looking at.

This is where you need Competitor Price Watch to complete your victory over high street and online competitors alike.

[competitorpricewatch-blog]

Delivering the best online service

According to a survey carried out by OnePoll on behalf of GPs tracking system supplier, Trimble, nearly two thirds of shoppers saying they buy more online now than they did five years ago and 88.9% agreeing they expect to be spending more or the same online between now and 2017.

Some of the main reasons for this trend are convenience, a desire to avoid crowded high streets and shopping centres and busy lifestyles.  Controversially, 7.6m UK adults would go as far as to say the UK high street is dead and over fifth of all respondents would like to do most of their shopping online.

This is all despite the fact that they are spending a total of £3.5bn per year – £136.00 for every household – on delivery charges for online shopping.  In fact one quarter of UK adults believe delivery costs are too high, but the report revealed consumers are still prepared to pay to get the items they want, when they want.

Whilst there are certainly complaints about the delivery service available (chiefly missing a delivery and the parcel being returned to a distant depot or post office, long delivery times and high delivery costs) this shows that getting your delivery costs as well as your actual product prices set competitively against the competition is growing ever more vital.

Fortunately, Competitor Price Watch is here to help you find out what your competitors are charging for both product and shipping.

[competitorpricewatch-blog]

Ocado's virtual shopping wall comes to Birmingham

Ocado, the independent online grocer who focus on the home delivery of high-quality food, drink and household goods, have set up their second virtual shopping wall for people to use with their Smartphone apps.

By simply scanning the bar-code of a product pictured on the wall, the customer can order an item and have it delivered to their home.

As this trend of easily accessible online shopping continues to grow and appear in mainstream life, the importance of being at the forefront of the emergent technologies and perfectly placed priced cannot be overstated.  Making sure that when people see your site and you prices that they know that they are in the best place for value and service is vitally important.

Fortunately, Competitor Price Watch can help you with every step of making your customers know that they have come to the right place.

[competitorpricewatch-blog]

Get ready for the economic 'Indian Summer'

Ernst & Young have predicted that the UK economy will return to growth over the next 6 months and that " inflation should hit 1.7% by the end of the year, giving consumers extra cash in their pockets to spend"

Obviously, this is good news for all retailers but in order to take advantage of this extra money, you need to make sure that your prices are priced at exactly the correct level to be both enticing to the customer and as profitable as possible for you.

With so many firms selling online, this can be a difficult balance to strike without help.

All the help  you could possibly need in respect to making sure that you are competing as best you can with the competition can be found at Competitor Price Watch.

[competitorpricewatch-blog]

eCommerce suggest ways to reduce cart adandonment

According to the eCommerce Pro website, there are 5 'top tips' that will help you reduce cart adandonment.

These are -

1.       Create a secure checkout process

2.       Make registering for an account optional

3.       Keep it simple

4.       Communicate clearly

5.       Make sure your shopping cart is bug free and pages load quickly

However, they appear to have missed a very important 6th tip.  One which really should be at the top of this list.

Your customer needs to be sure that they are getting value for money!

It's so easy for a potential customer to shop around on the web.  Jumping from one site to another, trying to remember what each one was charging and who they have already looked at.

What you really need on your site is an information box that displays your competitors current, up to date price for that same item.  As long as you are cheaper than your competitor, all of their price will be listed right there on your page so the customer won't have to shop around and will stay on your site and buy from the best value store there is.

Luckily, Competitor Price Watch can help you become the best value you can be and has the facility to let you put your competitor prices on your page.

That's one thing that eCommerce seem to have missed...

[competitorpricewatch-blog]

Online Shoppers see the end of 'Traditional' shopping

Cap Gemini have conducted a global survey of online shoppers and the responses indicate that by the end of the decade more than half of the people surveyed expect that traditional 'bricks-and-mortar' shops will be little more than showrooms for buyers to physically see the product before purchasing it online.

Additionally, the ease and convenience of online shopping seems to have a postitive benefit on the way that people shop - "In the two big Asian consumer powerhouses, digital shoppers are bypassing traditional retail. 72% of survey respondents from India, and 69% from China, say they buy more products in a single online transaction than in one conducted inside a store."

This shows that more and more sellers will be moving into the online marketplace very soon and, with it becoming an increasingly competitiive arena, the importance of setting your prices at just the right level cannot be overstated.

You can read more about the best way to achieve the perfectly placed price by visiting Competitor Price Watch.