Each quarter, CPC Strategy gathers data from more than 4 million clicks and nearly $8 million in revenue to determine the best comparison shopping engine (CSE) online. Merchants use this data to tailor their marketing budget and gain more sales on the sites which consumers use to find great deals on products.
These are the 10 best comparison shopping engines, based on traffic, revenue, conversion rate, return on spend, average cost-per-click (CPC), quality of merchant tools, and merchant response ratings.
1. Google Product Search (Free for now) – Google Product Search, which is transitioning to become Google Shopping, is a free CSE which generates the most traffic and conversions. Merchants can manually upload feeds or use an FTP to upload in bulk. Google is consistently the best performing CSE. While Google Product Search is a free CSE as of this writing, it will transition to paid by October 15.
Get an Account | Sample Data Feed | Data Feed Specifications
2. Nextag (CPC) – Comparison shopping site lets shoppers search products, event tickets, real estate, book travel plans, find sales and more. Nextag's CPC pricing model allows merchants to optimize where their products appear on comparison pages. Supports bulk uploads. Nextag is the best performing paid comparison shopping engine.
Get an Account | Sample Data Feed | Data Feed Specifications
3. Pricegrabber (CPC) – Paid deal site features coupons and weekly specials. Shoppers can compare product price, reviews and merchant ratings before making a purchase. Users can search in English or Spanish, with product searches tailored for retailers in Brazil and Mexico. Merchants using Pricegrabber also have the added advantage of sending their product listings to Yahoo Shopping. Allows bulk data feed upload through an FTP.
Get an Account | Sample Data Feed | Data Feed Specifications
4. Shopping.com (CPC) – Paid comparison shopping engine aggregates product listings based on price and merchant attributes. EBay owned Shopping helps consumers make quick, informed purchasing decisions with its product reviews and ratings. Allows bulk uploads via an FTP.
Get an Account | Sample Data Feed | Data Feed Specifications
5. Amazon Product Ads (CPC) – Unlike the Amazon Marketplace, Amazon Product Ads allow merchants to link customers to their website externally. This is a good option for retailers that don't wish to list on the Amazon Marketplace, or those who are already listing there.
Get an Account | Sample Data Feed | Data Feed Specifications (Requires account login to view.)
6. Shopzilla (CPC) – Price comparison shopping site helps connect shoppers with unique retailers, sales, and customer feedback to help them make important buying decisions. Shopzilla connects shoppers with over 100 million products across its partner sites such as Bizrate. Allows bulk product feed uploads through an FTP.
Get an Account | Sample Data Feed | Feed Specifications (To view, you will need to log into your account.)
7. Pronto (CPC) – Shopping site which provides shopping results for customers looking for low prices and top performing merchants. Allows whole feed processing through an FTP.
Get an Account | Sample Data Feed | Data Feed Specifications
8. Become.com (CPC) – A Shopping partner, Become provides research information to help shoppers find the right product, review product details, reviews, articles, and other relevant shopping information. Accepts bulk feed transfer with an FTP. No initial fee.
Get an Account | Sample Data Feed | Data Feed Specifications
9. Bing (Free) – Free price comparison engine compiles product data, price, and reviews for user searches. You need to establish a Microsoft Advertising adCenter account to use Bing Shopping, but you won't be charged for any clicks from Bing.
Get an Account | Sample Data Feed | Data Feed Specifications
10. TheFind (Free) – Shopping search engine displays product information, coupons, and local searches for merchant listings. No feed submission. Instead merchants can give TheFind bot access to their product pages for crawling. Listing and setup are free.
Get an Account | Sample Data Feed | Data Feed Specifications
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