According to Josh Silverman, General Manager of Shopping.com, “There’s more competition among online merchants than ever which is great for shoppers as many of them are rolling out more incentives and discounts this year. In fact, according to our research, 20 of the top 50 merchants ranked by Internet Retailer are offering shoppers free shipping this holiday.” It’s good to know that both eBay.co.uk and eBay.com got it right with their promotions to encourage sellers to offer free shipping and to promote the auctions to buyers inspite of those sellers who decryed the move.
Shopping.com was created with a merger of DealTime and Epinions in April 2003. The site is dedicated to delivering the world’s ultimate shopping experience, where people use the power of information to make the best shopping decisions. With their new branding as DoorOne in the UK they are going from strength to strength with traffic on the US Cyber Monday (traditionally the start of the shopping season) up 40%.
As an eBay company some eBay Express listings are now appearing on Shopping.com on a trial basis. This allows eBay Express sellers to reach an even wider audience at no extra cost and to help attract new buyers to visit and purchase from eBay Express.
Many sellers are concerned that shopping comparison sites encourage buyers simply to choose the cheapest product available but Silverman states “only around 20 percent of our shoppers click on the lowest-priced items, indicating each shopper’s priority isn’t always to find the lowest price”. That has to be reassuring and an added incentive to offer extras whether it be product, service, free shipping or a trusted brand.
According to a document by e-consultancy, shopping comparison sites continue to grow at 30% year on year so shopping.com and DoorOne will be increasingly important to the eBay portfolio of companies.
