With a number of price comparison sites already available for consumers in South Africa like ShopMania, Shopbot and PriceCheck that was acquired by MIH, the investment arm of Naspers in 2010, websites like these are certainly not a new concept but one that has potential for improvement. Jump Shopping, an online shopping search engine itself, aimed to do just that with the launch of its latest initiative, FindPrice.
FindPrice was launched to align the requirements of consumers with that of E-Commerce shops by listing products of South African online shops in one convenient location. As E-Commerce in South Africa continues to grow with so much potential, Jump Shopping noticed a shift in online consumer trends over the last few years and observed a few key aspects of the online shopping industry, focusing on how shoppers interact online and what they want from a price comparison website. A key finding was that with with so many online shops offering great deals it was difficult to keep track of them all and so Jump Shopping wanted to provide the solution. Enter FindPrice.
As a result of this shift, managing director of Jump Shopping Jaco Roux explains, “We were faced with the option to adapt or be left behind. The choice was easy. We didn‘t want a face-lift. We wanted a fresh start and the ability to do it right from the start. Data quality and user experience is the key focus of FindPrice. Give the consumers what they want in the most convenient manner and it will lead to more sales and a stronger E-Commerce economy.”
FindPrice differentiates itself from other existing price comparison sites by acknowledging that consumers don’t have the time to sift through thousands of products for hours and so they need fast, accurate and convenient results in one location in order to compare prices. All products are categorised making searches easier for shoppers and ensuring they find the right product quickly and easily. New and extensive filters have been implemented within searches and offers are matched and grouped on a single page, enabling consumers to compare prices and make decisions knowing they have found the best price on offer.
FindPrice also offers consumers a secure location to browse various retailers and proceed to retailer sites to pay for merchandise. FindPrice offers “˜Verified Shops‘, where online shops have to meet a strict set of criteria in order to be verified by FindPrice including providing a shop description, contact method, delivery details and payment methods which are publicly available in the shop directory. This allows consumers to determine if they feel secure in purchasing from them. Other features offered by FindPrice include the indication of which offers qualify for free shipping, the setting of price alerts, tracking price trends by means of price history graphs and an option to save products to a list to return to at any time. The overall layout of the site is clean, clear and conducive to easy navigation.
As for future developments, “We will be rolling out Group Buying Aggregation within the next week,” reveals Mr Roux “and there are many other developments in the pipeline that we are very excited about.”
Jump.co.za will remain active for the next few weeks until the transition to FindPrice is completed. In future, jump.co.za will act as a content site focused on E-Commerce, bringing shoppers news as well as the much anticipated and ever competitive annual South African E-Commerce Awards.
