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Whilst the world of online shopping has opened up opportunities like never before, it’s also widened the playing field for competition. Competitive pricing is essential to success. Getting an up-close view of competitor pricing and competitor analysis needs constant and consistent monitoring.
The result is that your approach to wiser price monitoring and achieving competitive advantage requires advanced technological tools. It requires Pricing Intelligence. Here’s why:
1. Pricing Intelligence vs. Old School Price Comparisons
Having the competitive edge when it comes to prices has been central for retail businesses since their inception. However, staying on top of price comparisons was once governed by the practicalities of a much smaller market place.
These rules simply don’t apply in the online marketplace. You are now competing with retailers from around the globe, 24-7. Whilst competitive advantage is of course dependent on more than price alone, we know that price matters enormously to the consumer. And these prices fluctuate constantly.
Typically, this required the cumbersome approach of manually comparing prices with competitors. Price comparison websites have grown to meet this need. However, even these are not as adept at competitive price monitoring as they could be.
Pricing Intelligence, using a Price Tracker such as Competitive Monitoring acting as a 24-7 continuous Price Spy, ensures you are always performing competitor analysis.
2. One Size Fits All Competitive Price Monitoring Doesn’t Work
Pricing Intelligence can also help to grow your business by being specific. If you are using a basic price comparison website or a manual process of price compare, then you are missing valuable opportunities to refine the data.
Wiser pricing intelligence is possible through technology. If your consumer is turning to price comparison websites, then it’s not enough that you are getting your data here also.
The only way you can achieve competitive advantage is by automating your competitive pricing in a tailored way. You need to be wiser than your competitors. You need to be the ultimate Price Spy.
Competitor Monitoring’s Price Tracker sees your business as an individual: arrange a Demo today.
3. Pricing Intelligence Provides Reports for Smarter Decisions
The ecommerce marketplace needs strategic decisions to be made on quantifiable analytic data. Competitive pricing is made possible through insights accessible from data throughout the marketplace. This means your competitor analysis needs to be watertight.
For example, strategic decisions need to be taken in response to offers and promotions by competitors, direct price changes, as well as short- and long-term changes to product lines. You need data at your fingertips which is both accurate, and actionable.
If the pricing reports you receive are generic, and provide you with the same limited insights your competitors receive, then you’ve already missed the starting whistle. Instead, a Price Spy which delivers a bespoke report suddenly puts you back in the driving seat for strategic pricing decisions.
4. Pricing Intelligence with Automatch
Competitor Monitoring goes further still. Our Automatch function provides an even more dynamic approach whereby you are able to tailor critical information even further. All of a sudden your promotions, sales events, and the like, are highly analysed strategic decisions allowing your business to grow and thrive.
Visibility is more than just knowing what’s happening in your competitive playing field. You need information in near real-time which you can act on quickly. This is much more than the basic function of a price tracker.
Automatch gives you the visibility you need. For example, you are able to receive reports breaking down all relevant product price changes, allowing you to identify opportunities.
5. Pricing Intelligence is More Than a Price Compare Tool
Price compare tools are limited in their competitor analysis. They do not give you the insights in to competitor pricing you need to actively grow your business. As a business owner or manager, time is always of the essence. You don’t have the time to manually attempt price monitoring whilst getting on with the central focus of your business.
Competitor Monitoring, through its pricing intelligence, automates the process. Through Automatch, triggers are set when certain events occur. For example, you don’t manually need to keep an eye on what your competitor is up to; instead, you are auto-alerted when they begin a sale initiative. These triggers are unique to you, so serve to assist your business only.
6. Pricing Intelligence is About the Past As Well as the Present
Pricing in the ecommerce marketplace has a tendency to be largely reactive. For example, a competitor runs a promotion, and you react by doing the same. Pricing intelligence is about more than on-the-spot reactions. It’s also about analysing past trends to predict future pricing decisions. Pricing Intelligence is about combining the past and the present, to allow growth in the future.
Using competitive price monitoring is a valuable tool in this regard precisely because it unites the two different aspects of pricing: past and present. Pricing intelligence removes guess work, and allows wiser pricing.
7. Pricing Intelligence is About Actionable Outcomes
Insights are only as valuable as your ability to act on them. Providing you with information regarding competitor analysis is the central tenet of Competitor Monitoring, but it goes further to provide insights which are actually actionable. These actions need to be in line with your business strategy, and therefore another individualised part of price tracking.
Given that average weekly spending online is worth £1.1billion, an increase of 14.4% from a year ago, you need to be able to act on information rapidly to maximise growth. Competitor Monitoring and Automatch reports don’t just report the data, but also supply customised recommendations.
Pricing Intelligence – Staying Ahead of the Game
Pricing Intelligence, through competitive price monitoring, enables you to stay ahead of the online ecommerce market. There’s no doubt that ecommerce is the place to be, but online retail still only accounts for 15.9% of all retail spending excluding fuel. Whilst this is still a growing proportion, it’s an incredibly competitive marketplace to be in. You need the most powerful tools you can access.
