The growth of e-commerce implies a growth in the development of tools facilitating the online buying process,. according to direct marketing consultancy Winterberry Group. Comparison shopping engines (CSEs) influenced $1.4 billion (3.7%) of the total $38 billion in B2C e-commerce sales in 2000.
CSEs enable consumers to compare pricing, fulfillment and other information about a specific product sold by multiple e-merchants. By 2005, Winterberry forecasts that CSEs will influence nearly one out of every ten B2C e-commerce dollars, or $25 billion out of a total B2C e-commerce market of $278 billion.
“Comparison shopping engines eliminate the consumer’s need to visit multiple sites to shop for a single product,” said Michael Petsky, CEO, Winterberry Group, in a statement. “As a result, the role of CSEs will significantly impact online shopping behavior, and B2C e-merchants should begin to integrate comparison shopping engines into their e-marketing strategies.”
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