As new and automated products are coming up in the market, the curiosity to use them also increases. Sometimes even social platforms can also contribute a lot to their popularity at a point in time. But such branding and popularity also make the products slightly higher priced. This is an opportunity for companies to sell their alternative products by attracting more customers through low prices.
Alternative products can range from traditional versions of modern tools to private-label equivalents of popular items. Here, we delve into the strategies and technologies that can streamline the competitor price monitoring process, particularly when dealing with alternative products that may lack straightforward identifiers like EANs.
What do Alternative Products Mean?
Products that are economical alternatives to an expensive product in the market but tend to have similar functionalities and features are alternative products or substitute products. There are two types of alternative products:
- Traditional Alternatives: These are older versions of a product that still serve the same function but may lack modern features. For example, a manual toothbrush serves the same purpose as its automated counterpart, and an old-school doorbell functions similarly to newer, tech-enhanced models.
- Market Alternatives: These include private labels or lookalikes, often produced in markets like China, which mimic the functionality of more established brands at a potentially lower cost.
You can price well to attract more customers towards the market alternative products. They serve the same purpose with similar functionality and almost the same features. You can analyze competitive products and their prices from online marketplaces and set your prices accordingly.
However, identifying and comparing these alternatives poses unique challenges, especially when they do not carry standard identifiers such as European Article Numbers (EANs).
Also Read: How to Stand Out when Competitors are Selling the Same Products
Challenges in Monitoring Prices of Alternative Product Prices
The main hurdle in price monitoring for alternative products is the identification process. Many alternatives, especially those from overseas markets, may not have an EAN, making them difficult to track across different platforms. Without EANs, the process often requires finding the product URL and setting up website scraping, which can be labour-intensive and technically challenging.
1. Locating Alternatives
The initial challenge lies in the identification of alternative products themselves. Finding these alternatives is not a straightforward task; it involves considerable research and validation to ensure that the alternatives are comparable in terms of features, quality, and customer expectations.
2. Lack of Standard Identification Numbers
A significant hurdle in this process is the absence of standard product identifiers such as the European Article Number (EAN). EANs are crucial for easily tracking and comparing products across different platforms and databases. However, many alternative products, especially those from smaller manufacturers or private labels, might not have an EAN. This lack of universal identifiers complicates the process of accurately matching products and their prices.
3. The Need for Web Scraping
To overcome the absence of EANs, one often has to resort to finding the product's URL and utilising web scraping techniques. Web scraping involves extracting data from websites, a method that can automate the collection of product and pricing information from various online sources. However, this method also brings its own set of challenges such as dealing with different website layouts, varying data structures, and the legal and ethical considerations of scraping data from websites without violating terms of service.
4. Automation and Technology Solutions
To efficiently monitor the prices of alternative products, leveraging technology is key. Automating the data collection process through sophisticated scraping tools and integrating advanced matching algorithms can significantly reduce the manual effort involved. These technologies can help in identifying product similarities, aligning product characteristics, and ensuring accurate price comparisons.
Also Read: Top 10 Best Competitive Pricing Tools for B2B and B2C
Competitive Price Monitoring Strategies for Alternative Products
Competitive products that are look-alikes of the high-end alternative or the traditional or manual alternative are very competitive as they are priced right. This also attracts a pool of customers more than the high-end product.
Implementing competitive pricing using a smart pricing tool is the ideal approach in this case. However, to overcome the challenges of monitoring the prices of such competitive products challenges and optimise the pricing strategy for alternative products, businesses can employ several techniques:
1. Using Advanced Web Scraping Tools
Implementing sophisticated web scraping tools can automate the extraction of pricing data from websites, even when products lack an EAN. These tools can be configured to recognize product names, descriptions, and other identifiers to gather comparative pricing insights.
2. Adopting Machine Learning for Product Matching
Machine learning algorithms can assist in matching products based on features, descriptions, and images, bypassing the need for EANs. This technology can analyze large datasets to identify correlations and similarities between products, making it easier to compare prices for alternatives.
3. Develop Custom Solutions
For businesses frequently dealing with alternative products, developing a custom software solution to automate the search and comparison process can be highly beneficial. Custom solutions can integrate directly with existing inventory and pricing systems, providing a seamless workflow for monitoring and updating prices.
4. Foster Partnerships with Data Providers
Partnering with data providers who specialise in market and pricing data for alternative products can reduce the workload. These providers have access to comprehensive databases and may offer unique insights into market trends and alternative product pricing.
How SYMSON Helps you Overcome such Challenges in Competitive Price Monitoring
SYMSON’s competitive pricing solution can significantly aid in overcoming the challenges of identifying and comparing alternative products, especially those that lack standard identifiers such as European Article Numbers (EANs). Here’s how SYMSON can be particularly effective:
1. Advanced Data Integration: SYMSON can integrate various data sources to consolidate product information, even if it's not standardized. This capability allows for the aggregation of data from multiple platforms, including those where products are listed without EANs.
2. Machine Learning Algorithms: SYMSON utilises machine learning algorithms to recognize and match products based on descriptions, images, and other non-standard identifiers. This can help in accurately identifying similar products across different retailers or manufacturers, even when standard codes are absent.
3. Custom Workflow Automation: SYMSON can automate the process of product comparison and monitoring. By setting up custom workflows, SYMSON can continuously scan the market for alternative products, extracting and comparing data automatically. This reduces the manual effort required and increases the efficiency of the monitoring process.
4. Predictive Analytics: Leveraging predictive analytics, SYMSON can also forecast pricing trends and suggest optimal pricing strategies for alternative products. This helps in staying competitive in the market by adjusting prices based on predicted market movements.
By deploying SYMSON, companies can streamline their process of monitoring and comparing alternative products, making it less dependent on the presence of standard identifiers and more robust against the variability in product data.
Do you want a free demo to try how SYMSON can help your business with margin improvement or pricing management? Do you want to learn more? Schedule a call with a consultant and book a 20 minute brainstorm session!
