Price Comparison Sites: The Best Platforms and Tips for Retailers

Price Comparison Sites in Detail (idealo, billiger.de, Google Shopping)

There are many platforms for finding the lowest price, which can generally be divided into broad comparison sites and niche providers. Below, we introduce three of the most popular options.

idealo

idealo is certainly one of the best-known, if not the best-known, names in price comparison. Its popularity is one of the platform’s biggest strengths, as it brings a high volume of visitors. Retailers who list their products on idealo.de can be fairly confident that they will gain visibility. On the customer side, the portal stands out with a well-designed user experience, numerous filter and sorting options, and strong performance in consumer studies. Users can also set up a price alert to be notified when a product drops below a certain price threshold. In addition to shopping offers, the portal also compares flights, hotels, rental properties, and vehicles.

Costs on idealo

idealo works on a CPC model. The cost per click is EUR 0.56. Retailers must also generate a minimum monthly turnover of EUR 20 in order to list their products. This low threshold makes idealo accessible even for very small businesses that run their online shop as a side business, at least in theory. The comparison sites below may offer lower-cost alternatives in some cases.

idealo is a good fit for you if you:

• sell to a broad target group
• are looking for a well-known platform
• can absorb the click costs

billiger.de

billiger.de is part of the e-commerce service provider solute and, according to its own information, lists more than 100 million offers across Germany. This makes the portal one of the major players in price comparison as well. Through various subdomains, customers can also compare electricity and gas contracts, insurance, DSL, and mobile tariffs. However, the core business of billiger.de, similar to idealo.de, is price listing. Deals and bargains are already highlighted on the homepage. On product detail pages, users can transparently track average price developments and get a better sense of whether they are really looking at a strong offer.

Costs on billiger.de

Unlike idealo, billiger.de is not a standalone comparison portal. Listing products requires registration with solute’s own e-commerce network, soluteNet. In addition to the comparison portal billiger.de, soluteNet also gives access to partner networks and other solute services. Fees on billiger.de or through solute are also based on a CPC model. At present, as of February 2022, the CPC is EUR 0.34. Compared with idealo, this makes the portal significantly cheaper. However, companies must prove a minimum monthly turnover of EUR 500 in order to register with soluteNet.

billiger.de is a good fit for you if you:

• want a particularly transparent comparison environment
• would like to use the services of an e-commerce provider

Google Shopping

Google Shopping plays a special role because it is not really a traditional comparison portal. Instead, the service allows you to display your products directly in Google Search. Since many potential customers start their product search on Google, this can significantly increase the visibility of your listings. It can be a particularly useful option for small businesses or retailers who are new to e-commerce and do not yet have much reach through SEO.

Costs on Google Shopping

Unlike the two comparison portals above, Google Shopping can also be used free of charge. Google introduced this option in 2020 to support retailers that had experienced losses during the coronavirus pandemic. Paid Shopping Ads, which already existed before the free listings were introduced, can still be used and are generally given priority over free listings. CPCs for paid ads vary significantly depending on the product. For both models, retailers must register in Google Merchant Center and set up a product feed. The most common shop systems offer suitable integrations for this.

Google Shopping is a good fit for you if you:

• want to increase your visibility in search results
• would like to use free Shopping listings

In the End, the Total Price Is What Matters

Every price comparison site uses different criteria to decide which products appear in search results. In that sense, the logic is somewhat comparable to the Amazon BuyBox. As a retailer, you can improve your position, for example, by offering low shipping costs or enabling direct checkout through the comparison site.

At the same time, one thing is clear: the purpose of every price comparison site is to show users the best available deal. That means you need a competitive product price to stand a real chance of appearing in the results at all. If your prices do not meet that standard, strong performance in other areas will only help to a limited extent. In most cases, it will be much harder to gain visibility and generate more sales through price comparison sites.