Difference between Pricegrabber, Shopping.com and Shopzilla
Shopping has truly changed in numerous significant ways over the years, and the Internet has had a large role to play in those changes. Sites such as Pricegrabber, Shopping.com and Shopzilla are routine haunts for hordes of shoppers, many of whom are attracted to the benefits of an online price comparison service. What makes these sites so special? This comparison article aims to show you.
Profile
Pricegrabber is an online price comparison service that is affiliated with over 13,000 merchants, retailers, and sellers. The service offers free information on millions of different types of merchandise in more than 25 categories. PriceGrabber also provides data to shopping Web sites such as AOL Shopping, Bing, About.com, iVillage, Comcast and CNET.
Shopping.com is also a price comparison service and is owned by eBay. The service currently has websites in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Australia. The company started out as DealTime.com, a firm that still operates as a separate site.
Shopzilla is yet another price comparison service that started out in June 1996. Founded as the Binary Compass Enterprises by Farhad Mohit and Henri Asseily, the firm underwent a name change in January 1999. The company also launched its online version named Shopzilla in November 2004.
Business Model
Pricegrabber was actually the first engine of its kind to offer "BottomLinePrice", wherein taxes and shipping costs are provided during the price comparison process.
Shopping.com originally started out as a downloadable client that would allow users to monitor price changes for certain products. This allowed users to purchase products once it has reached a predetermined price. The service was later changed into an entirely web-based service, a model that it maintains to this day.
Shopzilla’s goal is to allow shoppers to find, compare and buy practically any product sold anywhere.
Reception
PriceGrabber passed into the ownership of Experian in 2005 for a reputed price of $485 million. The deal was negotiated by then company CEO Kamran Pourzanjani, who started up the company with Tamim Mourad in 1999.
Thanks to a combination of online and offline advertising with Google and other services, Shopping.com managed to become the 3rd most-visited site on the Internet in 2004, flowing only eBay and Amazon. At present, the site continues to place in the top 10 of most visited sites on the Internet.
Shopzilla pulled in more than 19 million unique visitors in the U.S. in September 2009, according to comScore. In addition, the company’s BizRate.com subsidiary features millions of reviews of stores and products from consumers.
Similarities and Differences
Pricegrabber
- An online price comparison service that is affiliated with over 13,000 merchants, retailers, and sellers
- Passed into the ownership of Experian in 2005
Shopping.com
- A price comparison service and is owned by eBay
- Currently an entirely web-based service
Shopzilla
- A price comparison service that launched its online version in November 2004
- Pulled in more than 19 million unique visitors in the U.S. in September 2009
