Over the last 20 or so years, price comparison websites have become a major disruptor for many previously established industries. These days, it’s possible to search online and compare prices for everything from holidays to insurance and flights to credit cards.
As more and more companies look to establishing comparison sites in an increasing number of sectors, the popularity of these services will only continue to grow – but just why have these platforms become so popular, and why have consumers flocked in their droves to comparison websites?
Price comparison services save time
Before comparison sites became viable through the growth of the net, users had to manually contact providers to get quotes for goods and services. Not only was this hugely time-consuming, but it was also frequently difficult to make a direct comparison between suppliers that frequently bamboozled customers with a varying range of prices.
Throw into that often overly-persuasive, pushy salespeople keen more on driving a purchase than anything else, and it’s clear to see how impartial comparison sites could become so popular with so many customers. Better yet, comparison sites return results in mere minutes (sometimes seconds) – in a fraction of the time, it would take to discuss options with so many providers.
There are often considerable savings to be found by using comparison sites
No two customers are the same, and it’s quite likely your particular requirements will differ significantly from another customer. With a price comparison site, by answering a few simple questions, the underlying software and Application Programming Interface (API) will be able to scour the web for the best available price, tailored to your specific needs.
For example, imagine you were looking to get the most competitively priced energy quote for your business. Firstly, the power requirements of a firm will likely vary massively from those of just an individual household – but many other factors could influence the final cost (e.g., does your company primarily use energy at night, is your firm looking to reduce its carbon footprint, etc.).
By asking a few simple questions at the start of the process, a comparison site can quickly build a picture of your precise requirements (in the example above for business energy quotes), then return a range of bespoke prices tailored precisely to the firm’s needs.
Comparison sites offer more choice
Customers tend to go with companies and businesses they know and trust – often unwittingly precluding themselves from other deals that might be available. However, by using a price comparison site, customers will be presented with a much wider range of options, often from firms they might not have considered (or even have heard of). This is because the best price comparison sites work with several service providers to offer the very best prices available, regardless of whether the consumer is aware of the firms involved.
Also, there is an extra level of consumer protection to be had from selecting a firm featured on a price comparison site – after all, it wouldn’t be in the site’s interest to partner with unreliable suppliers, so you’ll already have relative peace of mind that the provider is to be trusted.
