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Why Australian Retailers Trust Competitor Price Monitoring to Maximize ROI?

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There are almost 140,000 retail businesses in Australia, accounting for 4.1 per cent of GDP and 10.7 per cent of employment. The pressures in retail sales are increasing as there is competition from both online and offline channels. Retailers face stiff competition from their online counterparts–the e-store owners, e-commerce marketplaces, etc.

Generally, shoppers search for items online and then, after evaluating features and brands, purchase the best-priced item (from the seller or platform that is offering the same item at the best price). Now, competitor monitoring is critical here, at least for price.

While competitor monitoring includes monitoring competitors for their product selection, product catalogs, brand choices, services, customer reviews, prices, and delivery times, etc., price is the key to beating them. Many Australian retailers are using competitor analysis and competitive price intelligence to beat their rivals and maximize their ROI.

This article explores why Australian retailers have come to trust competitor price monitoring as an essential component of their business strategy to boost ROIs.

Why Do Australian Businesses Need Competitor Price Monitoring?

The Australian retail market is valued at AUD 358.9 billion in 2022 and projected to grow to approximately AUD 416.1 billion in 2027. Australian retailers operate in a fiercely competitive environment. Also, with the online shopping trends breaking record sales in Australia, keeping prices at par with competitors is essential for beating them. Also, as products are sold online, prices are visible to all shoppers. Online shopping increases price transparency, forcing Australian retailers to stay competitive. For this reason, businesses need competitor price monitoring.

Competitor Price Monitoring is the systematic process of tracking, analyzing, and comparing the pricing strategies of competitors in real-time. The process involves collecting and analyzing competitor datasets regarding products, prices, features, reviews, etc.

From competitors' product prices and their discount offers to cashbacks and loyalty programs, anything that affects the price of products can be scrutinized and tracked under competitive intelligence.

As manual tracking of prices is not possible across so many websites and retailers, we are witnessing a growth of automated processes like Web Scraping. Australian businesses are investing in competitive pricing intelligence tools and services.

What are the Use Cases of Competitor Price Monitoring?

The use cases of competitor price monitoring are diverse and extensive. Especially in a competitive yet lucrative market like Australia, competitor price monitoring can be very beneficial.

Below are the top use cases of competitor price monitoring for Australian Businesses:

Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic pricing means Australian retailers can adjust prices as per the market conditions. For this, there must be a system that extracts prices from reliable market sources in real-time and analyzes them. By analyzing competitor prices, Australian retailers can prevent any sales loss due to price leverage by any other competitor. It creates a system to protect margins also.

Competitive Intelligence

Competitor price monitoring gives Australian retailers deep insights into market dynamics. From competitors' pricing and promotions to their discount strategy, Australian businesses can track their competitors' movements to stay one step ahead of them. This Intelligence creates a ‘competitive moat’ that is key for differentiation.

Market Entry Insights

Competitor price monitoring helps Australian retailers explore new product categories and enter new markets. For instance, a new homeware brand wanting to enter the Australian market must analyze competitor pricing to decide its prices and discounts to create a space for itself in the crowded market.

Better Revenue & Sales

Australian stores can make smarter decisions by monitoring how other stores price their products. Instead of just trying to have the lowest prices, they can track the whole market for prices. This helps them match maximum stores' prices and keep their revenue above that of their competitors.

More Conversion

Australian retailers can significantly improve their conversion rates by keeping pricing aligned with market expectations. When shoppers perceive pricing as fair and competitive, they're more likely to complete purchases. This also reduces abandoning carts to continue comparison shopping.

How Competitor Price Monitoring Maximizes ROI for Australian Businesses?

Strategic pricing directly boosts profit margins. Competitor monitoring helps businesses find optimal price points, balancing competitiveness and profitability. Many Australian companies have increased their revenue growth using automated price monitoring.

How is it done?

• Retailers can identify products where raising their prices won't affect their competitive edge.
• Tracking prices helps businesses find chances to make smart and real-time price changes on high-profit products.
• Smart businesses can skip unnecessary price cuts on products where they’re already optimal in the market in terms of price.
• Implement dynamic pricing models on their e-store itself to automatically adjust to market conditions.
• Australian retailers can use dynamic pricing systems to adjust prices based on the market.

Results it brings:

• With competitor price monitoring, Australian retailers build a strong image as leaders in pricing for specific types of products.
• Automated systems eliminate human error in data collection and analysis
• Staff time previously dedicated to manual price checks can be redirected to more strategic activities
• Scalable tools let businesses monitor thousands of products without adding extra costs at the same rate.
• Businesses can identify and highlight their pricing advantages in marketing materials.
• Price-matching policies can be implemented with confidence when backed by accurate data.
• Customers tend to trust retailers more when prices remain competitive over time.
• Retailers gain insight into new pricing trends before they spread widely.
• Seasonal pricing patterns become clear, helping plan strategies ahead of time.
• Pricing products based on their lifecycle becomes smarter.
• It's possible to time sales and events in a way that gives an edge over competitors.
• Setting discounts just ‘right’ helps keep a balance between staying competitive and keeping profits.
• Faster pricing adjustments help Australian retailers sell their slow-selling inventory before it becomes obsolete.

Web Scraping for Competitor Price Monitoring

Web scraping for competitor price monitoring is a process of Automated collection of crucial competitor price data from various sources such as websites, marketplaces, e-stores, aggregators, etc. It involves using web scrapers built especially for various web platforms. These web scrapers are tools that have competencies, features, and scripts that are designed to extract high-volume data at significant speed and scale from target websites. Apart from prices, Australian retailers can extract product specifications, availability, shipping costs, etc.

Price monitoring technology using Custom Web Scrapers and APIs overcomes key extraction challenges like frequent website changes, anti-scraping measures, and inconsistent product descriptions. Australian retailers receive clean, standardized data despite these obstacles. Importantly, when done by professionals, Web Scraping Companies like Scraping Intelligence, data collection also complies with Australian privacy laws and website terms of service.

For Australian retailers, price monitoring tools also integrate with data analytics tools. Also, there are APIs with integration capabilities. These APIs connect with Amazon, eBay, WooCommerce, and Shopify.

Conclusion

Competitor price monitoring is now essential, not optional, for Australian retailers seeking maximum ROI. Top Australian retailers now track more products using advanced price monitoring systems. Australian businesses that adopt this tech easily maximize their ROI with competitor price monitoring.

Competitor price monitoring is highly beneficial for improving your competitive position, maximizing revenue, and getting more sales conversions. Scraping Intelligence offers cutting-edge competitive price monitoring solutions for Australian businesses.

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