5 Questions to Ask When Choosing Competitor Price Monitoring Software

If you think that “all competitor price monitoring companies do the same thing”,  then you are very much mistaken. Before diving into a long-term contract that doesn’t fully suit your business’ present or future needs, ask these 5 fundamental questions to evaluate if the company you are talking to is suitable for your requirements. 

Is Your Data ‘Quality Checked’?

In the field of competitor price monitoring, an error can be very costly. Whilst much of the data is collected by computers, human intervention is still essential to ensure that the data collected is accurate. Make sure the service provider has processes in place to ensure that data quality is not compromised.

How Flexible and Scalable is Your Price Monitoring System?

Always look for price monitoring companies that offer to track a large number of products without hesitation. So if your current requirement is for 5,000, ask how quickly that can be scaled to 20,000+ products.

Do You Offer Bespoke Reporting on Competitor Price Tracking?

The service provider must be able to produce bespoke reporting so you don’t have to spend your valuable time downloading standard reports and modifying them to suit your business needs. The ability to auto-export the data so that it can be incorporated with your internal systems is also a must. You may not want this feature now, but it could be a useful competitor analysis tool in the future.

Are Changes to my Existing Workflow Required?

The service provider must be able to receive data from you and deliver data to you in a suitable format of your specification. This way you are not tasked with making changes at your end, and it also shows how flexible the provider is willing to be.

Can You Scrape Any Site for Us?

A good competitor price tracking company should be able to scrape any website for you. You should also ask the following in relation to website scraping: 

 

• Ask about scraping sites that have dropdowns, product configurators, product lists, etc. 
• Ask how the correct price is scraped if the product page has multiple sizes and colours. 
• Ask about Amazon and Google Shopping scraping and ask for sample data. 

Your requirements might be simple, but make sure that you future-proof your selection as much as possible. Remember that most reputable price monitoring companies will ask for a long term contract to be agreed, so make sure to choose a service provider that can do what you require now, and what you may need in the future.

Competitor Price Tracking Software with Price Trakker

Price Trakker offers bespoke competitor price monitoring and business intelligence for retailers and brands. Our tried and tested methods help our clients to make swift and highly effective pricing decisions that drive competitive advantage and overall growth. 

Hopefully, this article will have given you some insight into what you should ask before choosing competitor price comparison software. But, if you still have any questions, or need further information, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Price Trakker team today.