Research by Google has revealed comparison website trends in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Consumer Barometer Survey found that internet users in Germany were the most likely to use price comparison websites, with over a third saying they used such websites when making a purchasing decision.
This made price comparison websites a more popular destination than even a brand or retailer's own website in the country, which were visited by only 28% and 27% of German internet users respectively.
In the Czech Republic, brand websites were the most popular destination for consumers making a purchasing decision, followed by price comparison websites and retailer websites. Just under 3 in 10 said they used price comparison websites.
Slovenian internet users showed similar behaviours to their Czech counterparts, with around a quarter saying they used price comparison websites.
A spokesperson from the Slovenian ecommerce company Ceneje commented on the findings, saying: “Retailers whose only focus is in physical stores and don't provide any information about products and offers online, are losing an important part of potential consumers that make a key part of the purchasing decisions on the internet, but then want to buy products in traditional sales channels.”
