![]() ![]() For merchants, shopbots mean added expenses as well as a heightened level of price competition that can lead to razor-thin margins. Critics complain that because of various technical and business-imposed limitations, shopbots can mislead consumers into thinking they've uncovered a rock-bottom price when, in fact, much better deals exist. Yet, despite their immense potential, shopbots remain far from being a problem-free technology. "They place shoppers in the driver's seat by allowing them to easily decide which merchant offers the best deal," says Ha. Shopbots have come a long way in a remarkably short period of time, says Edmund Ha, an e-commerce analyst at Giga Information Group, a technology research company in Cambridge, Mass. ![]() "Shopbot technology helps me acquire the newest and most powerful software quickly and cheaply." "I don't have a lot of time to spare, so I really don't want to run from merchant to merchant in order to find the best deal," says Watts, owner of G&R Designs in Redondo Beach, Calif. They can also help shoppers avoid drowning in choices. Shopbots are intelligent software agents that scour the Web to find the lowest price on a particular product. And if you're an online merchant, the very thought of such margin-slimming shopping assistants may cause you to groan. But while current 'bots can offer a great service to small-volume buyers and individuals, similar tools for larger companies are just starting to appear. Like a growing number of small businesses and consumers, Watts has started relying on shopbot technology to help him find killer deals on a wide array of products. RANDY WATTS LIKES to design webpages, but he doesn't like to pay unnecessarily high prices for new development tools. ![]()
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