Product Sourcing News   

Shopping Smart:

Using Technology to Simplify Market Research

FEATURED COMMENTARY

By Chris Malta
Home EBiz Product Sourcing Expert

Every time you’re out—at the mall or in a store—you see ideas for great products you can sell through your e-business. But before you decide whether a product is worth pursuing, you have to determine if you can compete with it. That requires performing some market research to understand what the market will bear. And that is what makes Frucall.com’s free, phone-based service a valuable resource, not just to shoppers, but also to Online Sellers looking for information on prospective products.

If you see a product you’re interested in selling, you can call from any phone (including cell phones) and instantly find out exactly who your competition is and what kind of price you can expect to get for that item. Not only is the service free, it’s also extremely user-friendly—your phone doesn’t even have to be internet enabled!

How Does It Work?
When you see a product you’re interested in selling, you simply dial a toll-free number, 888-363-7822, and enter the product barcode. Frucall’s system searches most of the major online aggregators, and through your voice portal, you get the top three merchants listed. Those aggregators include Amazon, YahooShopping, Shopping.com, StreetPrices, and Google. So your results represent hundreds of thousands of online merchants.

Explains Tony Milner, Frucall’s Vice President of Marketing, “It’s a free comparison shopping service you can use from any cell phone. There are no downloads, no hardware or software requirements—anyone can use it.” So basically, you can shop online from anywhere—without actually going online!

What’s the Benefit to Me, as an eBiz Owner?
The consumer benefits of a service like this are obvious. But eBiz owners can also benefit tremendously. There are two primary advantages to using Frucall for Online Sellers:
• Market Research just got a whole lot easier. In a matter of seconds, you can find out if it’s worth your time to look into a product any further. Not only can you do quick pricing research, but you can also get product ratings from services like Amazon. This is particularly useful when you need to compare the quality of similar products with similar prices. And every search you save is automatically updated, so each time you click on an item, you’re getting the most current information.
• You have a highly targeted advertising opportunity. Frucall’s system supports advertising, so you’re getting your message to consumers searching for exactly what you sell, at the moment in time when they’re looking to make that purchase. If they like what they hear, they can choose to buy your product right then and there. This is focused advertising—if your ad appeals to the caller, more than what they see in the store, you’ve just made a sale.

Whether you’re looking to expand your reach to new buyers, or grab fast facts on potential products for your eStore, taking advantage of this unique service can empower you to run your business that much more efficiently. Says Milner, “Think of Frucall as a comprehensive personal shopping assistant in your pocket or purse… The searchable database offers the best online prices of millions of items—the best way to experience it is to give it a try!”