Yahoo! New Zealand and PriceMe launch price comparison site

Yahoo! New Zealand and price comparison site PriceMe have launched Yahoo! Deals, a new price comparison site.

Powered by PriceMe, the site sites within Yahoo!’s portal and involves over 250 retailers, said Yahoo! New Zealand general manager Laura Maxwell-Hansen said.

“We know Kiwis’ love a good deal and Yahoo! Deals provides pricing, expert and User reviews for over 400,000 products, so consumers can do their own research on products before they buy."

NARROW CHOICE: Yahoo's price comparison site lists just two retailers for the product of the moment, the iPhone 4S. The rival Pricespy.co.nz lists 12. Both ignore Telecom and Vodafone stores (and websites), among other buyinig options. Click to enlarge:

The partnership was commercially sensitive, she said, but combining PriceMe’s price comparison powers with Yahoo!’s online user reach made good sense.  She said for merchants, the ability to reach a larger audience made good sense too.

Online shopping was growing faster than offline shopping, she said, with 42% of Kiwis making a purchase online in the last three months, according to Roy Morgan research.

“Consumers have moved to digital environments to conduct pre-purchase shopping and so bringing such a comprehensive array of products, together with product reviews and branded retailers, is a great new proposition for our audience.”

PriceMe had the widest range of product categoris in New Zealand, Ms Maxwell-Hansen said, and major retailers such as the Warehouse, Dick Smith, Noel Leeming and Parallel Imported were among its merchants.

A comprehensive product comparison site saved time researching products and different prices, she said.

“Launching Yahoo! Deals provides an in-channel experience for the 77% of our audience who have researched a product online in the past four weeks. They’re one click away from research to purchase.”  

PriceMe director Chris Palmer said Kiwi retailers were pleased with the partnership as it would help them increase sales and their online profile by giving them access to Yahoo!’s large audience.