QBerg compared the prices of technology items on consumer electronics retailer sites and direct to consumer sites.
QBerg compared the prices of technological items available on retailer sites specialized inConsumer electronics and on the websites of the producers of the individual brands, who have activated an eCommerce direct to consumer. The product category where competition is fiercest is that of small appliances and large built-in appliances. Let’s look in detail at the competitive framework analyzed.
Retailer vs direct to consumer
The phenomenon of direct to consumption mainly concerns areas such as technology or fashion, for which there is a tendency to purchase a single product with a rather high cash flow.
What are the advantages of the direct to consumer model?
–Privileged positioning in search enginesif the request concerns a specific brand or model;
–Greater richness of product information: the manufacturer provides technical data sheets and suggestions, such as feature comparators, sought by those who prefer to inform themselves well before purchasing;
-The manufacturer is in general much more attentive to branding of its offering.
As a result the retailer they can focus on:
–Richness of assortment greater than direct to consumer;
–Promotional leverage;
The advice is to check the proposals that the direct to consumer world offers and to prepare your offer accordingly, knowing that the manufacturer obviously focuses on the strength of the brand.
Prices investigated by QBerg between direct to consumer and retail
QBerg compared prices in the month of maggio 2024 Of 30 manufacturer eCommerce sites technological, comparing the minimum prices with those of specialized retailers.
In particular, the study involved 67,267 unique models of product, which range over 18 categories e 62 families.
The overlap areawith products available both in direct to consumer and retail, is made up of 4,499 products equal to 6,7% of the total.
Retailer sites, predictably, have a much wider assortment but this does not prevent there from being a wide range of products available exclusively on the manufacturers’ sites: there are 1,925.
QBerg’s price comparison of the 4,499 shared models
Retailer eCommerce sites are generally more competitive: 85% of the 4,499 products found on both platforms have a lower minimum price on retail sites, higher on manufacturers’ sites. QBerg observes, however, that this type of comparison based on the minimum price recorded in the panel may not highlight the greater competitiveness of the single direct-to-consumer site. L’11% of products in common between retailers and manufacturer they still have a lower minimum price on the manufacturer sites, while 4% of the products are aligned.
Direct to consumer, more competitive categories and families
Within the 11% of products for which the manufacturer wins in terms of competitiveness, the most convenient categories are small appliancesi large built-in appliancesl’hardware hey large appliances free-standing.
The most competitive families instead highlight the cooking hobswith 56 models in which the direct to consumer site has a lower minimum price than the retail site, vacuum cleaners with 56 more advantageous models, kitchen appliances with 46 models.
If the comparison is instead made by calculating the price index – (manufacturer price / retail price)*100 – first place in direct to consumer convenience is confirmed for hobswhich cost about 40% less, followed by cell phones (over 25% less on manufacturer sites) and the vacuum (22.5% less).
