Unfortunately, for many years and still today, public web data collection – or “web scraping” – has had a negative connotation for several organizations. But it’s time to face reality. To maintain a strong foothold in your industry, get the answers you need for your business, and thrive ahead, you must disregard several common myths. Let’s break them together:

#1 – It’s illegal.

The short answer is, no it’s not. If the website is public, or does not require a log-in, it’s legally accessible. This verdict was most recently displayed in the hiQ Labs vs. LinkedIn case, where the Ninth Circuit ruled data scraping to not be unlawful.

Public web scraping is performed by organizations of all sizes globally. It’s used to evaluate internal operations, back up key business decisions, and get a full grasp of the market to pursue new innovations and boost revenues. Of course, as part of this, compliance regulations must play a major role. Businesses (or their public web data collection providers) have guidelines they must follow to remain legal. This entails a strong understanding of what you are and aren’t allowed to collect. And since there is still limited regulation in the industry, companies are mainly held to moral and ethical standards when it comes to legal data collection.

#2 – It hinders your organization.

Contrary to this belief, public web scraping enhances your organization. It offers real-time, precise insights into your competitors and your customers. This could include anything from pricing to shopping habits, as well as crucial trends and innovations that you should take advantage of in the market.

The pandemic sparked a massive shift to a digital economy. Legacy business strategies like undercover shoppers therefore shifted to online data collection. Now, you can receive even greater and more accurate insights while cutting the time and energy required by your organization as much as 80%. You can increase your teams’ time spent on innovation and truly push your business forward. As result, public data collection strongly benefits consumers as well. They receive more appealing or advanced  products, obviously better pricing, and greater shopping experiences overall.

#3 – It’s legal, but unethical.

This falls on either the organization or the external web data provider. When accessing public data, they must be professional and act with transparency when sourcing the data. This includes all parties firmly abiding by both global compliance regulations and deeply-rooted ethical guidelines. To put it simply, ethical and legal public web scraping offers the same internet view, insights, and transparency that an individual user has access to – and enjoys.

#4 – The sources are private.

In fact, most of today’s web data is public. According to researchers, as of January 2022, roughly 62.5% of our global population (4.95 billion people) uses the internet. And of the data being created from this significant online use, it’s estimated that nearly 70% is public. Essentially, anything that can be opened via a standard browser without a log in. This is what businesses and providers are accessing through web scraping – and the data set only expands each year as more and more people use the internet globally.

#5 – It makes you untrustworthy.

The final common misconception we’ll walk through is that if you collect web data, then you’re up to no good. In reality, various organizations (from startups to large enterprises) around the world are acquiring, analyzing, and employing it to their day-to-day operations – even as you read this article. In order to succeed in today’s constantly moving and highly competitive business world, companies must receive the full picture by utilizing this massive data resource that is only growing.

The web data industry will continue to expand as more and more market sectors begin to take advantage of its benefits. To survive, and as part of our moral obligation, all participants must remember to act legally and ethically at all times. This is essential.

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Retailers can take insights on crafting a winning strategy for the most significant shopping event from last year’s statistics. In 2019, in the USA alone, over 93 million people chose to do their shopping online. With the Covid-19 global situation around the globe, this number unexpectedly will only grow, along with consumers’ ever-growing pricing sensitivity.

These insights mark a huge shift in the public’s spending patterns. Those retailers who will apply pricing intelligence and dynamic pricing to their e-commerce strategy will most likely come out on top during this Black Friday. 

Winning Black Friday with dynamic pricing  

The allure of Black Friday for consumers is all about attractive prices. Retailers in 2020 are faced with a challenging task to guarantee the largest possible profits while at the same time remaining competitive. 

To effectively address the challenge, dynamic pricing is a must. It is a practice employed by retailers to set flexible prices for their goods or services based on real-time demand. Prices are adjusted based on supply and demand fluctuations, competitors’ prices, and other market conditions.

Examples of dynamic pricing 

Most commonly, dynamic pricing is used by airline companies, transport services, and e-commerce websites. For example, a transport service can modify their ticket prices according to the demand. If a particular travel destination or time is particularly popular, the price is raised to capture larger revenue. In the opposite case, when the seats are left unsold, ticket prices tend to go down to attract more sales. 

E-commerce websites also use intelligent pricing to control supply and demand. Their dynamic pricing strategy is often based on various factors, including inventory levels, competitors’ prices, and even shopper location.

The same can be applied when crafting a winning pricing strategy for Black Friday. Switched-on retailers must consider the popularity of specific goods and services, as well as direct competitors’ pricing. In turn, this will allow setting the most optimal prices for their products and services, resulting in winning the customer of the new normal and a healthy bottom line.

How to apply dynamic pricing

Companies need to continually follow their competitors’ prices in real-time, which is one of the biggest challenges when implementing dynamic pricing, especially on a large scale. 

Retailers must make sure that the data they receive is accurate and updated continuously to adapt their pricing strategy accordingly. This requires having a reliable web data gathering infrastructure and expertise.

There is also an option for retailers to outsource real-time web data gathering solutions to effectively address business’ needs. In this case, retailers must be aware of the quality and type of data they want to obtain, as well as determine how much management or resources their preferred data acquisition method will require. 

Adapting to the new normal

Charles Darvin famously said: “it is not the strongest of the species that survives, it is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” It rings particularly true in the business environment. Companies such as Kodak, Nokia, and Myspace have experienced the unforgivable effects of failing to innovate and neglecting customer trends.

For a large part of the retail sector, dynamic pricing has been known to a limited degree due to complexities, which arise with data acquisition. However, its steady rise to popularity starts slowly pushing out companies that cannot compete against data-driven businesses. These switched-on retailers are already reaping the benefits of increased control in pricing strategy, better stock management, and larger revenue.

The post Retailers’ Winning Strategy of Black Friday 2020 appeared first on Grit Daily News.