

Since its launch two years ago, however, Bargain Finder has not been developed any further. The category's ancestor, Andersen Consulting's Bargain Finder, searches 10 online storesįor the price of a compact disk and displays the results on a single page. Yet so far shopping robots have been fairly primitive. Stark and her team estimated in a study that total revenue earned from agent-related sales on the Web will hit $1.6 billion by 2001, up from $19 million in 1996 and $159 million last year. "They can make the Web faster and more reliable, and make online shopping a convenient experience," she added in an interview. They may "help to overcome the barriers that keep consumers from using the Web," said Heather Stark, a principal with Ovum, a British consultingĬompany. Shopbots have long been regarded as a technology with the potential to revolutionizeĬonsumer retailing on the Internet by making comparative shopping easy and fast.
#Shotbot competitors software#
If you're looking for a book, for example, chances are that you'll search for it at one of the big American online bookstores, like ,īarnes & Noble or Borders and end up buying it from one ofīut is the price they charge really the lowest possible? What about delivery deadlines? How do you know there isn't another lesser-known store somewhere on the Web that can ship it cheaper and faster?Įnter the shopbots, or shopping robots, software agents that automate traditional Web surfing and search the Internet for the best prices or shortest delivery times. German Students Build a Next-Generation ‘Shopbot’īy BRUNO GIUSSANI German Students Build a Next-Generation 'Shopbot' s commercial venues on the Internet continue to multiply, it has become increasingly difficult to find the best bargains.
