Digital marketing is an essential venture for any business. Propelled by technological advancements, the market has enabled consumers to find goods and services more efficiently than ever before. With one click of a button, you are looking at a range of products and services you may never have seen walking around a brick-and-mortar store. Not only are you looking at these items, but you can better compare one product with another. This flexibility helps you save time and money. Technology like targeted social media ads has played a role in this, but so have comparison and review sites.
What Are Comparison and Review Sites?
A comparison website allows consumers to filter products and compare everything from a product’s price and features to customer testimonials. These sites can help activate the consumer buying decision process as many help put things into perspective for consumers. These websites also help show value-added products, which many consumers look for today, and businesses must be aware of this when creating products and services. Comparison sites have been around since the late 1990s and have been steadily growing. For example, UK comparison services made between £780m and £950m in revenue in 2005.
Comparison sites are typically associated with eCommerce and retail shopping. For instance, some of the biggest comparison shopping websites include Google Shopping, PriceGrabber, Shopzilla, and Bizrate. These websites are also associated with the travel and food and beverage markets. Websites like TripAdvisor and Yelp have become staples in the comparison and review website market. In 2020, TripAdvisor saw revenue drop 61%, but the comparison site is still used worldwide. On the other hand, Yelp has increased in revenue, reaching $1.03 billion in 2021. The public company that offers business ratings and reviews also increased in operating income, hitting $32 million in 2021.
However, there are many comparison and review sites available in other industries. The iGaming market is an excellent example since this industry encourages gamblers to use comparison and review sites to make informed decisions. That is because online gambling involves real money, and bettors must choose wisely before playing. Comparison gambling sites will inform online gamblers about the different games available, deposit methods, and bonuses and promotions they can activate by signing up to a particular platform. Some comparison sites even compare new competitors entering the market and their offerings, and you can read the full post here about these new online casinos.
Overall, comparison and review sites are beneficial tools for any type of consumer. Regardless of what you are looking at, these websites highlight a product or service’s strengths and weaknesses. They also save you time and let you read customer testimonials. The latter is crucial since word of mouth is an influential sales driver. You may be swayed to look at another product or service if you read a negative review. These websites can either help businesses or harm them, which is why it’s crucial companies consider their price and features offered before rolling a product out to the market.
