Budget Tips – Understanding Comparison Shopping
Mike Harty asked:
The internet is awash with e-commerce websites, meaning that when it comes to shopping online, you are not short of choice. However, we are all working to a budget, in one sense or another and we all like to think that we are getting the best deal possible. Many of us therefore use price comparison services in order to find the best price, but this prudent logic typically goes out of the window when it comes to businesses shopping online.
In this article I am therefore going to investigate the role that high quality price comparison websites can have when it comes to saving businesses money. In this new age of austerity and cuts, every penny counts. Here is how you can make your businesses money go a little bit further.
When your business is looking to buy anything, from paperclips to printers, you could find yourself thinking “any price will do”. This way of thinking costs businesses £7 billion per year in the UK alone, according to The Guardian for Business. This is likely to be a prudent calculation – the reality is that businesses all around the world are overspending when cheaper prices are available. It’s unlikely that you have a supplier for everything your business needs, all the small and irregular purchases, such as pens, paper, calculators, coasters for the meeting room. These small purchases add up over the years, and with careful planning, and intelligent shopping, you WILL save a fortune.
The first step is to shop online, if you don’t need it immediately, don’t pay the premium. By shopping online you cut out the immediacy premium and your donation to shop floor staff, heating and a fancy high-street location. Both parties are happier, the online retailer can monitor stock far more easily, and you save money.
The next problem you face is finding the shop which can give you the best price. We all know that Google doesn’t show you results in price order. Google is driven by complex algorithms, relating to the number of inlinks your website has and the volume of substantive unique content. For online shops both of these ranking factors are hard to come by – e-commerce sites aren’t inherently structured to offer link bait for gaining easy links and they don’t typically have vast amounts of unique content. The result is that many online shops get lost in the Google maze, the result being that high PR sites like Wikipedia, social networks and popular content sites appear above shops. This makes online shopping frustrating and leads many people straight in to the arms of Amazon. Staff often make the mistake of hitting the first shop they see on Google and buying. They think they are saving time. In fact, they often miss out on the cheapest price, and also the opportunity to get the purchase just as quickly.
It is imperative that you start using a comprehensive shopping search engine. They exist to save you money, and that principal aim works the same for your business.
These websites let you fulfil the three rules for business efficiency:
Shop online Shop quickly Never miss the best deal
Isn’t it time your company shopped smarter online?
Stay tuned for more tips for smart shopping.
Leo
The internet is awash with e-commerce websites, meaning that when it comes to shopping online, you are not short of choice. However, we are all working to a budget, in one sense or another and we all like to think that we are getting the best deal possible. Many of us therefore use price comparison services in order to find the best price, but this prudent logic typically goes out of the window when it comes to businesses shopping online.
In this article I am therefore going to investigate the role that high quality price comparison websites can have when it comes to saving businesses money. In this new age of austerity and cuts, every penny counts. Here is how you can make your businesses money go a little bit further.
When your business is looking to buy anything, from paperclips to printers, you could find yourself thinking “any price will do”. This way of thinking costs businesses £7 billion per year in the UK alone, according to The Guardian for Business. This is likely to be a prudent calculation – the reality is that businesses all around the world are overspending when cheaper prices are available. It’s unlikely that you have a supplier for everything your business needs, all the small and irregular purchases, such as pens, paper, calculators, coasters for the meeting room. These small purchases add up over the years, and with careful planning, and intelligent shopping, you WILL save a fortune.
The first step is to shop online, if you don’t need it immediately, don’t pay the premium. By shopping online you cut out the immediacy premium and your donation to shop floor staff, heating and a fancy high-street location. Both parties are happier, the online retailer can monitor stock far more easily, and you save money.
The next problem you face is finding the shop which can give you the best price. We all know that Google doesn’t show you results in price order. Google is driven by complex algorithms, relating to the number of inlinks your website has and the volume of substantive unique content. For online shops both of these ranking factors are hard to come by – e-commerce sites aren’t inherently structured to offer link bait for gaining easy links and they don’t typically have vast amounts of unique content. The result is that many online shops get lost in the Google maze, the result being that high PR sites like Wikipedia, social networks and popular content sites appear above shops. This makes online shopping frustrating and leads many people straight in to the arms of Amazon. Staff often make the mistake of hitting the first shop they see on Google and buying. They think they are saving time. In fact, they often miss out on the cheapest price, and also the opportunity to get the purchase just as quickly.
It is imperative that you start using a comprehensive shopping search engine. They exist to save you money, and that principal aim works the same for your business.
These websites let you fulfil the three rules for business efficiency:
Shop online Shop quickly Never miss the best deal
Isn’t it time your company shopped smarter online?
Stay tuned for more tips for smart shopping.
Leo
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