Price watch is the process of monitoring competitor prices.
Businesses require large amounts of regularly delivered high-quality competitive data, including price comparison and promotional activity data, as well as the capacity to analyze it to set the optimal price.
Analysts spend 80% of their time merely discovering and preparing data. However, as retail is becoming increasingly digital, an increasing amount of competitor price monitoring software is emerging. They automate competitive data collection and processing and let managers focus on strategic tasks of meeting KPIs.
81% of retail consumers search for the best bargain online before making a purchase. Therefore, it is essential for retailers to monitor competitor prices and update their pricing accordingly to ensure they have the optimal offer. Otherwise, they would lose customers and significantly decrease their revenue.
The six core dimensions of data quality are:
To set the optimal price, retailers need to factor in the following:
The price index maps the retailer’s market position against its competitors, while the pricing history enables retailers to set their competitive pricing strategy.
The most significant benefit of a price-watching solution is high-quality competitive data it provides. Inaccurate, rogue, incomplete or outdated data causes wrong competitive pricing analysis, pricing decisions and, as a result, profit decline.
With price-watching software, retailers, who would blindly price their products in the past, craft a solid pricing strategy based on transparent competitive data. Once the strategy is ready, the solution further helps boost sales and margins, enhance communication with suppliers, and update assortment, among others.