How to Select the Right Competitor Pricing Tool for Your Business

Most customers do not want to pay more than necessary for products and services. They want to get the lowest price they can. So, they shop around. They compare costs from different brands to see which one offers the best value. Only then do they place their order.

They have price comparison tools to help them. Plus, there are now more options than ever, and the advent of the internet makes it so simple for the average person to shop around to avoid overspending quickly. In short, today’s market conditions and technologies heavily favour the consumer.

This is why it is vital for brands to keep their prices low and competitive, in line with their rivals. Competitive pricing has always been an important strategy in business, but it is more valuable than ever these days. Fortunately, it is also easier to accomplish.

You no longer need to worry about manually checking rival prices and adjusting your own, one by one. You can use a competitor pricing tool to do the hard work for you. This guide explores how such tools work and how to pick the right one.

What Is a Competitor Pricing Tool and Why Is It Essential? 

A competitor pricing tool – or price tracker – is a platform for monitoring competitor prices. Doing the work of entire teams all by itself, and at a much faster rate than any human worker could, a tool like this can track numerous stores, sources, and product pages to gather price data.

It can also deliver real-time alerts to the user as and when competitor prices rise and fall. Additionally, the best tools also provide price recommendations, letting you know how high/low and when to change your own prices to remain competitive.

Key Features to Look for in a Competitor Pricing Tool 

The best competitor pricing tools should offer:

• Real-time price tracking – This will provide you with the most accurate, up-to-date prices from your competitors.

• Automated alerts and notifications – Good tools will alert you instantly when the average prices of important products/services in your catalogue rise or fall.

• Historical price data and analytics – The best tools store price data over the long term, letting you track rises and falls, spot trends, and predict future changes to build a smarter strategy.

• Integration with eCommerce platforms – This should make it easier for you to deploy your tool and make the most of its features in your online store.

• AI-powered dynamic pricing recommendations – Leading tools now harness the power of artificial intelligence to recommend optimal price adjustments instantaneously.

How to Choose the Best Competitor Pricing Tool for Your Needs 

Competitor pricing tools vary greatly. So you should not make the mistake of assuming any tool will suffice. Instead, choose with care. Compare options and only invest in a tool that ticks every one of your business’s boxes.

Focusing on relevant tools to your industry is a good way to get started and narrow the field. The best tools for retail, for example, tend to be different from those for manufacturing:

• In the retail industry, time is of the essence. You need a tool that delivers rapid, real-time tracking of your rivals. It should also offer instant notifications of important price changes and insights to help with inventory management.
• In the world of manufacturing, it is often helpful to see the bigger picture. The best competitor price tools in this industry need to have strong data analysis features. They can track price trends and patterns across your main distribution channels.
• In the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG sector) sphere, it helps to have intelligent features. AI-powered competitor pricing will help you plan promos ahead of time and manage your stock more efficiently.

Leading tools should also offer demos or free trials. Make the most of these options to see the tools in action or test them first-hand. Look also for highly flexible tools, with broad feature sets to support your business’s changing needs.

The Role of Competitive Pricing in Business Success 

Competitive pricing – aided and informed by a strong competitor pricing tool – can prove invaluable for long-term business growth and success. Many industries, like those mentioned above, are highly competitive.

Brands lower their prices strategically to take customers from their competition. If you fail to spot and respond to this, you could lose huge amounts of customs. Using a competitor pricing tool is the easiest way to stay ahead of the game. It is like having a whole team of people constantly checking your competitors’ catalogues and price lists for you, and letting you know when they change.

So you always have the data you need to dynamically shift prices up and down, helping you stay competitive, plan promos/sales events, and manage your inventory efficiently.

Case Study: How Assosia Helps Businesses with Competitor Price Tracking 

Assosia is a name you can trust for price tracking tools and pricing strategies, both online and offline. As an example of our work in the offline sphere, we were commissioned by a client to conduct in-store price tracking at a range of retailers. So, we dispatched a team of agents to various retailers.

They covertly checked prices and reported back to the client. They then used the data provided to keep their own prices in line with rivals so as not to lose customers or market share.

Getting Started with a Competitor Pricing Tool 

These steps show how to make the most of your competitor pricing tool:

1. Research Your Rivals: Identify some of your main competitors. That includes brands that are in similar positions to yours, as well as emerging and more established competitors, with smaller and larger market shares, respectively.
2. Identify Products to Track: Draw up a list of the products/services you wish to track prices for. It is often best to start with a smaller list of products that is easy to manage, rather than trying to track hundreds of product prices at the same time.
3. Run Initial Tests: Deploy your competitor pricing tool to log price info for an initial test period of anywhere from two days up to a week.
4. Fine-tune Your Strategy: Look at the data gathered during the test phase and identify any important changes you might need to make. You may want to track more product prices or a wider range of retailers or set up instant alerts for key price changes, for example.
5. Monitor, Analyse, and Adjust: Continue monitoring prices. Adjust your tracking to provide the info you need, and analyse it to make data-driven price adjustments. When the average prices of your products drop, make sure to react quickly. Reduce your own prices to stay competitive, all while maintaining your brand’s market position.

A quality competitor pricing tool, like Assosia, is key to getting results. Request a demo today to see how it works.

FAQs:

1. What is a competitor pricing tool, and how does it work?

A competitor pricing tool tracks competitor prices in real-time. It repeatedly scans numerous web pages and other sources to access the latest price data. It then gives the user up-to-date, error-free insight into how much their rivals are charging for the same or similar goods.

2. How can competitor pricing software benefit my business?

It helps you employ data-driven pricing strategies, leading to increased revenue and sales from having lower, more competitive price tags, plus the possibility of a greater market share.

3. What industries can benefit from competitor pricing tools?

Retail, manufacturing, FMCG, and eCommerce are but a few examples. Many additional businesses can also benefit from competitive pricing tools and strategies.

4. How accurate is the pricing data collected by these tools?

That depends on the tool you use. The best ones are highly accurate and reliable. They check a range of sources, like web pages and marketplaces, all in real-time, to provide the most accurate pricing information.

5. What makes Assosia’s pricing intelligence services stand out?

Assosia’s tool delivers accurate, real-time info. It has a rich feature set, with versatile functions to support businesses in numerous industries, and advanced levels of customisation.

Conclusion: Choose Your Perfect Pricing Tool Today

Choosing the ideal competitor pricing tool is a question of understanding your business needs and finding an app to provide holistic and accurate pricing data and strategy support. Find the right tool, and you will soon see the benefits – increased market share, stronger customer retention, and more. Assosia’s pricing tool is one of the best on the market, with a range of customizable features, in-depth analysis, and accurate real-time tracking. Request your demo today, or contact us for more info.