For frugal consumers, price comparison websites have been an absolute boon. The chance to find the best possible value for products and services is something that simply wouldn’t be available at your fingertips without the internet, even if you had a telephone and the Yellow Pages for company.
The role of e-commerce in our everyday lives has grown year-on-year. We’re in an age now where most industries are price-led rather than service-led, which is why price comparison portals have become so important for purchasing decisions.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s home insurance, mortgages or your next mobile phone contract¬—it’s easier than ever to get access to a broad spectrum of available deals and prices at the touch of a button.
Football fans that enjoy a flutter on their favorite teams can compare the latest prices offered by various sportsbooks on sites like Oddschecker for upcoming games and events months into the future, in a bid to find the best value for their wagers.
Why are price comparison websites hot right now?
They save you time as well as money
Historically, shopping around for the best price for your desired product or service used to take up days of your time, let alone hours. Instead of phoning around different retailers or visiting businesses in-store, you can use comparison websites to get an instant feel for which brands are the cheapest in the marketplace, helping you to make better shopping decisions.
Get access to more choice than you’ve ever had
Depending on the size of the marketplace, you’re shopping in, it’s possible to get access to potentially dozens, if not hundreds, of different retailers or service providers, all in one place.
Pinpoint product weaknesses
It’s important to consider that when a retailer tries to sell their goods or services to you, it’s not in their benefit to outline the cons of what they are selling to you.
That’s where price comparison sites offer the utmost transparency and clarity, outlining the strengths and weaknesses of each service so that you can make a well-informed judgment call at checkout.
Some are powered by verified independent reviews
All retailers will attempt to claim their goods or services are the best in their respective industries. But they can’t all be the best, right? So, how do you distinguish between genuine market leaders and the pretenders?
Find a price comparison site that allows users to submit verified, legitimate reviews and ratings of brands. Think of it as crowd-sourced market research!
Compare details
In some cases where two products were made to serve the same need, they will rarely identical in respect. For instance, if you check out a loan comparison site you are going to notice that the offer on the same interest rate may be different when it comes to the fee levied.
Comparison sites always have their way of getting the details of every single product that might even go to the extent of payment security, delivery speed, the shipping cost, and also, refund policies. They always force the sellers to have their cards on the table, which allows the consumers to make a well informed and in-dept choice.
Users ratings and Reviews
Every seller always has its ways of claiming their product is the best out there in the market. So how do you distinguish sellers with a solid reputation and the ones who cannot walk the walk? User reviews and rating is the other best way to learn about the products, form people that already have the experience of the product
Some comparison websites will allow customers to share their experiences, which is very important for new users. This is effectively free crowd-sourced market research. Nothing beats hearing the merits and demerits of a product from people who’ve actually used it for a while it is one of the best ways to get absolute truth of the product.
Today, it pays to use a price comparison website rather than shop around yourself because it saves you time, stress and energy. In the time-poor world, we live in, having a platform that does the legwork for you is invaluable when free time is precious.
