Do People Want Shopping Bots?

from the how-useful-are-they? dept

An interesting article looking at whether or not people really want to use comparison shopping engines. In many cases, people shopping online are looking to save time, and not money, so the shopping bots aren't all that helpful. Plus, many people seem to do research online, but then do the actual purchase offline. Apparently, only 10% of online shoppers felt the need to use a comparison shopping engine during the holiday season last year. I think it really depends on the product (and how knowledgeable the shopper already is about the product). One of my complaints with shopping engines is that they don't seem to give very much product info. So, if I want to find out all about the product (including reviews) I have to go elsewhere first.
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