Price Comparison Site Research Articles

E-Commerce Price Tracker

Price comparison websites are meant to compare the prices of goods and services from a variety of sources, assisting consumers in making decisions to purchase things that will save them money online. Given their hectic lifestyles, especially those who live in cities, most customers prefer to acquire their necessities online because it saves them time. Furthermore, consumers always look for the lowest price when purchasing things; thus, by utilizing a price comparison website, users do not have to drive from shop to shop only to compare the prices given by different stores for the same product. They may just check it on the price comparison website and select where they should buy the things

Prices for veterinary care of dogs, cats and horses in selected countries in Europe.

In recent years, prices for veterinary care have received considerable attention in mainstream media, yet scientific literature has not delved into actual figures. This study aims to elucidate veterinary care costs for dogs, cats, and horses across five countries [Sweden (SE), Norway (NO), Denmark (DK), United Kingdom (UK), and Ireland (IR, with limited data)] through web searches. Utilising online business directories, we located URLs featuring veterinary care prices in autumn 2022, and repeated tri-monthly five times. Vetpris.se (VP), a price comparison site for SE, NO, and DK, emerged from the search. Additionally, we sought to compare price data from veterinary clinics (ranging from animal hospitals to small private clinics) using a similar approach to VP. We targeted elective procedures (e.g., gonadectomy, GDY) and common procedures (e.g., pyometra surgery in dogs). Comparing data from the same clinics' websites and from VP within extraction from autumn 2022 to winter 2023/2024, median prices for dog and cat GDY were largely consistent. By October 2023, median prices for male cat GDY ranged from €72 (SE) to €230 (DK), and €130 (SE) to €361 (DK) for females; for dog GDY from €390 (SE) to €599 (DK) for males, and €461 (UK) to €1015 (DK) for females. Across sources, median prices for cat and dog GDY increased by 2-24% over a year for procedures with at least 10 clinics per extraction. Equine GDY (per sedation and local analgaesia) in SE saw a 64% increase by year-end, with a median price of €492. Emergency surgeries during regular-hours (e.g., pyometra and caesarean section) in SE were approximately €2,300 at the last extraction, marking a 27% increase for pyometra surgery during regular-hours and 15% after-hours compared to the previous year. Variability existed within and across countries and diagnoses/procedures. Cross-validation suggested VP generally provided reliable information, though data points for emergencies were limited. Our web searching tool necessitated extensive manual verification, indicating room for further development. We recommend enhancing price transparency for animal owners to become better informed about the cost of veterinary care and be able to make informed choices.

온라인 플랫폼의 보험상품 비교·추천 서비스에 대한 연구

The online insurance product comparison and recommendation service is a new sales method that changes from the existing face-to-face sales method of insurance agencies to an online service. In addition, large online platform companies such as Naver Pay, Kakao Pay, and Toss are also trying to enter new businesses. The online platformʼs entry into the insurance industry has advantages such as innovation in the insurance market due to increased competition, expansion of consumer accessibility and choice, and customer satisfaction through provision of customized services. On the other hand, there are disadvantages such as heated competition between platform companies and insurance companies, commission issues, financial alienation issues, and monopoly by a few dominant platforms. The main purpose of financial authorities introducing this service is to increase consumer convenience, so the service should be operated and regulated in a way that ensures maximum consumer interest and protection. In the case of the EU and UK, it is clarified that acts such as comparing insurance products and providing information using media such as the Internet correspond to “insurance sales” through “insurance Distribution Directive,” and non-insurance companies are required to register as insurance brokers to sell insurance. In addition, we regularly evaluate the impact of the spread of insurance price comparison sites on the insurance industry and continuously announce system improvement plans to correct problems occurring in the recruitment market. It is necessary for Korean financial authorities to identify problems with price comparison websites occurring in the UK and preemptively prepare guidelines or clear regulatory standards for compliance and prohibitions of comparative service providers. Lastly, it is necessary to carefully consider allowing Big Tech to enter the insurance industry after monitoring cases such as those in the UK and establishing regulations to offset risks to some extent.

Exploring price tolerance in online retail: A comparative analysis of price comparison website use and repeat purchases

AbstractThe present empirical study is the first research to examine how the price tolerance of online buyers correlates with price comparison website (PCW) usage and customer relationship status (CRS). Longitudinal sales data of power tools and household appliances in 8,097 transactions from a German online shop and scraped PCW price data over a 6-months period in 2021 are used for the analysis. Consumer demand falls on average by around 80% per less favorable PCW rank. In addition, PCW (new) customers show significantly less price tolerance than organic (existing) customers. A small but significant interaction effect induces that the correlation of CRS and price tolerance is stronger for organic than for PCW customers.

Detecting resale price maintenance for competition law purposes: Proof-of-concept study using web scraped data

Computational antitrust tools can support competition authorities in the detection of antitrust infringements. However, these tools require the availability of suitable data sets in order to produce reliable results. The present proof-of-concept study focuses on the understudied area of resale price maintenance, that is, the fixing of retail prices between manufacturers and retailers. By applying web scraping to price data for washing machines in Austria from a publicly accessibly price comparison website, we compiled a comprehensive data set for a period of nearly three months. Visualised with the help of interactive dashboards, this data was then analysed using various benchmarks in order to determine whether individual washing machine manufacturers and their retailers may be engaging in resale price maintenance. We conclude that the availability of data is a strong driver for research into and the application of computational antitrust tools. If market data were publicly accessible and provided in a more structured format, researchers and competition enforcers could develop ever more refined computational antitrust applications and screens that would, ultimately, help safeguard competition in markets.

Automated switching services

Automated switching services have recently emerged as online intermediaries that use algorithms to facilitate consumer switching. Unlike price comparison websites, these services (i) act on behalf of consumers by actively switching them to the cheapest deals, (ii) typically charge consumers directly, rather than charging suppliers commission, and (iii) tend to consider every supplier’s price. We offer the first theoretical analysis of such services. In an oligopoly model with imperfect price information, we characterize an equilibrium with an automated switching service, and analyze its impact on market outcomes and welfare. Among other results, we show how the service’s existence benefits all consumers, despite it only serving some consumers and charging them a fee.

Is having an expert “friend” enough? An analysis of consumer switching behavior in mobile telephony

We present novel evidence from a large panel of UK consumers who receive personalized reminders from a specialist price-comparison website about the precise amount they could save by switching to their best-suited alternative mobile telephony plan. We document three phenomena. First, even self-registered consumers with positive savings exhibit inertia. Second, we show that being informed about potential savings has a positive and significant effect on switching. Third, controlling for savings, the effect of incurring overage payments is significant and similar in magnitude to the effect of savings: paying an amount that exceeds the recurrent monthly fee weighs more on the switching decision than being informed that one can save that same amount by switching to a less inclusive plan. We interpret this asymmetric reaction on switching behavior as potential evidence of loss aversion. In other words, when facing complex and recurrent tariff plan choices, consumers care about savings but also seem to be willing to pay upfront fees in order to get “peace of mind”.

MFNs: the latest turn in the policy debate – key lessons from the CAT’s judgment on CompareTheMarket’s use of wide MFNs in home insurance

For the last ten years, most-favoured-nation clauses (MFNs), also known as price parity clauses, have remained a hotly debated topic in competition policy. The direction of travel has generally been one-way, culminating with the UK and EU vertical block exemption regimes designating wide MFNs as ‘hardcore’ or excluded restrictions respectively. However, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal’s judgment in BGL (Holdings) Limited v. Competition and Markets Authority injects nuance into the debate. The CAT found that, not only had the Competition and Markets Authority not proved its case on anti-competitive effects, but that it was unlikely that, in this case, wide MFNs had any effect on the key market outcomes of retail prices (i.e. insurance premiums), commissions paid by insurers to CompareTheMarket or increased barriers to entry. The CAT’s judgment and the economic evidence presented throughout the case provide valuable insights into how the competitive effects of wide MFNs should be assessed, why harmful effects may not arise and the role that econometric evidence can play. As explained in this article, at most, MFNs (whether wide or narrow) only directly restrict intra-brand competition and, if coverage and adherence to the MFNs are limited, competitive effects (whether pro-competitive or anti-competitive) may not arise. In this case, there was an opportunity to test empirically for any competitive effects, as CompareTheMarket removed its wide MFNs shortly after the CMA’s investigation opened (and no other price comparison website had them in place). As described by the CAT, ‘such a “before and after” consideration at least prima facie lends itself to econometric analysis’, which can provide a robust comparison to the situation that prevailed when wide MFNs were applied. In contrast, the CAT raised concerns with the qualitative evidence relied on by the CMA and its absence of any quantitative analysis of the competitive effects, if any, of the wide MFNs.

E-commerce Price Comparison Website using Web Scraping

Price comparison sites are designed to compare the price of goods and services from a range of providers, which will help consumers in making decision to choose products that will save their money through online. Considering the customers’ busy lifestyle especially those who are living in the city area, most of the consumers prefer to buy their needs through the internet because it saves their time. Besides, consumers always go for the cheaper price in purchasing products therefore by using price comparison website, customers do not have to travel from shop to shop only to survey the price offered by different shops for the same product. They can just check it from the price comparison website itself and decide where they should buy the products they need. This project, named as Price comparison website using web scrapping is the place where shoppers could find the great deals on the products. The best deals will be clearly highlighted. To obtain best deals from Price comparison websites web scrapping techniques are used to fetch detailed information. This way, paper aims to provide solution for online customers to buy products at good deal and save their valuable time, effort, and money.

Impacts of Word of Mouth (WOM) on E-Business Online Pricing

In response to the rising power of electronic word of mouth (eWOM), marketers are gradually placing importance on the effects of their marketing strategies. The main objective of the study is to use both secondary as well as primary data to investigate the relationship and interaction between eWOM and online pricing. This study took BizRate UK, a price comparison website, as the database to investigate 100 mobile phone and tablet products and conducted interviews with online shoppers and managers from online retailers. After applying the test from quantitative methodologies, the result indicated the positive and negative reviews from online shoppers had an effect on pricing performance. Two types of reviews can be sorted out in a specific way as well. Finally, because the subject covers both quantitative (pricing) and qualitative (eWOM) aspects, future studies that are interested in this area should still apply the two methodologies for more accurate investigation.

E-Tourism for Sustainable Development through Alternative Tourism Activities

E-tourism refers to the broader integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the tourism sector and infrastructure. In this context, tourists can choose the travel destination, use price comparison sites and buy online tickets at low prices, while tourism entrepreneurs enhance their marketing strategies in response to the increasing demands of modern tourism Over the last few decades, alternative tourism has gained considerable interest among tourists and enterprises in the tourism industry. At the same time, it acts as an enabler and a facilitator of sustainable development. This paper presents an overview of the current situation of content characteristics of the websites of enterprises involved with alternative tourism services in Greece. The websites are evaluated according to 30 characteristics through multicriteria method. Furthermore, the final ranking of websites is presented to identify the most successful strategies, as well as the website that need improvements. According to the results, an e-tourism website model is suggested for the entrepreneurs to exploit the opportunities that arise in the digitalization transformation of the tourism industry.

Distributed crawler using python and Redis

An online platform known as a price comparison website serves as an intermediary between consumers and sellers. It presents various lists of prices for products selected by the user, enabling them to make informed decisions and save money. Additionally, it fosters price awareness in consumers, making them less susceptible to deceitful retailer advertisements. In essence, the website also serves as a promotional tool for retailers, supermarkets, hypermarkets, and shops to reach out to customers. In today's economic environment, where living costs are high, and time is limited, a price comparison website can significantly assist consumers with their shopping and household needs.

The Highest Retail Price Checker for Web Based Medical Equipment and Necessities

In the business world that is in medical equipment and staples for customers, the availability and also the need for data is also very important. As time goes on, the data is getting more diverse, which makes various products that are uniform but have significant price differences. This triggers confusion for customers to choose a product, so a price checking application is needed. The purpose of this report is to create a price comparison website application that displays the best prices for medical equipment products and staples. The data collection methodology uses Ideation which collects related journals, books, and credible sources. The application design methodology uses the Waterfall method for web development and maintenance. Product data retrieval is done by using the HTML Web Scraping method. How to test the application is done by Alpha Testing and Beta Testing and also Checking Input Output with BlackBox Testing. From the results of data collection and Web Development PriceCheck provides benefits where customers can find out the best price for the product they are looking for which is also available at the right store.

Why do firms compete on price comparison websites? The impact on productivity, profits, and wages

ABSTRACT A substantial literature indicates that competition on price comparison websites is fierce, leading to lower prices for products sold. As such, we want to answer the key research question: Why do firms compete on price comparison websites? Based on theory, we suggest that participation in these marketplaces leads to increased productivity, i.e., output increases when holding constant the level of inputs used. This, in turn, leads to increased profits, motivating firms to enter price comparison websites despite fierce competition. To find out if theory holds, we empirically investigate how firm entry into a price comparison website affects firm productivity, profits, and wages. Empirically investigating the impact of PriceSpy market participation on productivity, profits, and wages is not easy since firms are free to select whether and when to enter or exit the PriceSpy marketplace, and we use a two-step procedure to address this problem. In the first step, we control for differences in observables between entering firms and potential control-group firms. Then, in a second step, we use a within-firm difference-in-difference estimator on the matched data to investigate how entry into the PriceSpy marketplace affects output while holding inputs constant. Our results indicate that for the full sample of firms, PriceSpy participation increases output by almost 12% when holding the level of inputs constant. Also, an investigation of who gains from the increased productivity shows that, for entering firms, operating profits increase by 9% and gross wages by 14% when studying the full sample of firms. That labor gains more from PriceSpy participation is even clearer when studying the impact on wholesale and retail firms separately. For those firms, wages increased by 16–17% after entry, while no statistically significant impact was found regarding operating profits.

Vertical restraints in an online world – the consumer perspective

This paper maps out some of the vertical restraints in the online environment that are particularly relevant from the consumer perspective. This article focuses on some of the most contentious vertical restraints that directly involve prices, are particularly relevant for online commerce and are harmful to consumers – resale price maintenance, price parity clauses, dual pricing and bans on price comparison websites. We look at how these vertical restraints have been analysed in the EU to date and where we should go from here from a consumer perspective. Notwithstanding this limited focus, other vertical restraints—especially on online sales, selective distribution systems, or non-compete obligations—can also have strong anti-competitive effects and harm (final) consumers.

Competing Sales Channels with Captive Consumers

Abstract We study strategic interactions in markets in which firms sell to consumers both directly and via a competitive channel, such as a price comparison website or marketplace, where multiple sellers’ offers are visible at once. We ask how a competitive channel’s size influences market outcomes when some consumers have limited price information. A bigger competitive channel means that more consumers compare prices, increasing within-channel competition. However, we show that such seemingly pro-competitive developments can raise prices and harm consumers by weakening between-channel competition.

The impact of price adjustment costs on price dispersion in e-commerce

We analyze price dispersion using panel data from a large price comparison site. We use past pricing behavior to instrument for potential endogeneity of firms to select into certain product markets. Our main result is that greater price adjustment costs result in greater price dispersion even in e-commerce markets where price adjustment cost are thought to be negligible. Although the impact of price adjustment costs on price dispersion became weaker over time, the causal effect of price adjustment costs on price dispersion is still present at the end of our observation period. Our results are robust to many alternative empirical specifications. We also control for a range of alternative explanations of price dispersion, such as search cost, service differentiation, obfuscation, vertical restraints, and market structure.

Vertical restraints in an online world - the consumer perspective

This paper maps out some of the vertical restraints in the online environment that are particularly relevant from the consumer perspective. This article focuses on some of the most contentious vertical restraints that directly involve prices, are particularly relevant for online commerce and are harmful to consumers – resale price maintenance, price parity clauses, dual pricing and bans on price comparison websites. We look at how these vertical restraints have been analysed in the EU to date and where we should go from here from a consumer perspective. Notwithstanding this limited focus, other vertical restraints—especially on online sales, selective distribution systems, or non-compete obligations—can also have strong anti-competitive effects and harm (final) consumers.

Pass-through of oil supply shocks to domestic gasoline prices: evidence from daily data

Oil prices react to various types of shocks, and their impacts could reach our lives quickly. For example, on one day, we might hear on the radio that OPEC has decided to cut their oil production for the next year, and, only a few days later, find out that our local gasoline station has just raised the price. This paper examines daily data on gasoline prices, produced by a price comparison site in Japan, to estimate how they respond to a shock that hit the world oil market. In doing so, we take seriously the possibility that an increase in oil prices might cause different reactions depending on the source of the change. This paper focuses on one particular type of shock, namely changes in expectations about future supplies of crude oil. Identification is achieved via estimating a version of the Structural VAR with External Instruments (SVAR-IV or proxy-VAR) coupled with High Frequency Identification (HFI). The result confirms that pass-through is indeed very fast: about 70% of the entire adjustment process is completed within just 18 days.

PRICE COMPARISON WEBSITES

AbstractThe large and growing industry of price comparison websites (PCWs) or “web aggregators” is poised to benefit consumers by increasing competitive pricing pressure on firms by acquainting shoppers with more prices. However, these sites also charge firms for sales, which feeds back to raise prices. I find that introducing any number of PCWs to a market increases prices for all consumers, both those who use the sites and those who do not. I then use my framework to identify ways in which a more competitive environment could be achieved.