Factors Contributing To Price Discrepancies On E-Commerce Platforms - How To Deal With Them?

Divyesh Sureja
Divyesh Sureja
Published: August 9, 2024
Read Time: 2 Minutes
Factors Contributing To Price Discrepancies On E-Commerce Platforms - How To Deal With Them?

What we'll cover

    Customers often get angry when they see that an e-commerce platform is selling a product at one price, but the invoice mentions a different digit, leading to major price discrepancies. They immediately assume that the company is scamming and doing this deliberately, and as a result, it costs them their reputation. However, these discrepancies are not always intentional and can arise from various factors. Understanding these reasons is crucial to retaining an online store's reputation and earning customer satisfaction. Let’s explore these factors and how to effectively deal with them using Dealavo’s solutions. 

    Reasons that result in price discrepancies 

    Price discrepancies that both the buyer and seller face can be due to the following reasons too. 

    • Human error: If the values are being entered manually, then there can be a good chance of putting the wrong data in the information of the product, showing incorrect pricing. 

    • System glitches: Technical issues or bugs can invade any pricing software or e-commerce platform, making it another reason to display wrong prices. 

    • Dynamic pricing: When using software, there can be issues with the algorithms to that dynamic pricing uses and at times can display incorrect rates and inconsistencies. 

    • Supplier errors: The culprit can not be the software or the vendor you are purchasing from, but the supplier. It can be a fault from their end too, resulting in price discrepancy. 

    • Competitor pricing: Retailers might revise their prices according to competitors’ pricing, which may show one price on the e-commerce platform, but another on the receipt. Resulting in temporary mistakes. 

    • Currency fluctuations: The currency value keeps dropping and increasing on and off. For retailers to function and sell from another country, their exchange rate may vary, which can influence product prices. 

    • Promotional Offers and Discounts: promotional offers and discounts turn out to be a treat for customers and in that happiness, they tend to buy multiple products, but this also leads to overlapping. You might have assumed that this particular article was at a discounted rate, but in reality, it wasn't. Hence, it led to a price discrepancy. 

    • Channel Conflicts: if the e-commerce platform is available across various channels like mobile apps, websites and even using multiple platforms and the prices across these mediums are different, then that can also lead to price discrepancies. 

    How to deal with price indiscrepancies? Explore Dealavo

    Now, another question that arises is how to deal with price discrepancies to convince customers that the store is not at fault, but there is a technical fault in the software. You can implement the following strategies with Dealavo.

    • Robust Price Management System

    A robust price management will solve the majority of such discrepancy issues. All you need to do is to implement a pricing management system that guarantees price accuracy and consistency. Dealavo offers an advanced pricing management solution that ensures price accuracy and consistency across all platforms. 

    Here, an Idealo repricer can come in handy. The software steals the limelight by using a combination of CSV files and website screen-scraping, secured by an automatic matching system and an expert team of content curators.  Hence, the procedure will become easy, efficient, and without any discrepancies. 

    • Error Prevention and Automation

    To witness minimum human error, it's best to train employees so that they carefully enter the data for error prevention. To minimize human error, Dealavo offers automated processes and real-time data synchronization, reducing the need for manual data entry. This automation helps prevent pricing errors and ensures that your pricing information is always up-to-date and accurate across all channels.

    • Monitor Competitor Pricing

    One can also use price tracking solutions. With Dealavo’s competitor price monitoring, you can track and analyze your competitors' pricing strategies in real time. This allows you to adjust your prices quickly in response to market changes, ensuring that your pricing remains competitive and consistent with customer expectations.

    Now you understand the factors leading to price discrepancies and how it can be the system’s, supplier’s, or the employee’s error. By leveraging Dealavo’s comprehensive suite of tools, you can effectively understand the factors that lead to discrepancies and using the right technology to address them will help maintain your store’s reputation and customer loyalty.

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