America’s Top 5 eCommerce Platforms with Most Frequent Price Changes

eCommerce platforms with the most frequent price changes

Whether you’re a business owner operating in marketplace-like eCommerce platforms or a frequent shopper, learning about popular practices and leveraging them is always beneficial. This year, we’ve published an industry-first report, eCommerce Maturity Index, exploring how platforms around the globe leverage dynamic pricing strategies and how advanced their user experiences are. Our team of experts has dived even deeper into the rabbit hole of dynamic pricing and has prepared a complete list of eCommerce platforms with the most advanced pricing strategies in America.

How we created the list – methodology

The first-ever Dynamic Pricing Index reflects how eCommerce websites worldwide implement dynamic pricing, considering its complexity. Data was collected from the United States and Canada, tracking 12 random products from the most popular categories at four-hour intervals over 33 days, leveraging the eCommerce Scraping API. The final score shows how many times per day the platform changed the prices from those 12 tracked products. The study tracked pricing for high and low-value products across three categories per website, capturing over 245K price data points in 264 scraping sessions between April 25 and May 27, 2024. Learn more about the methodology of our Dynamic Pricing Index.

To prepare the top 5 list of eCommerce platforms with the most dynamic pricing, we analyzed the competitive landscape of the United States and Canada, tracking how daily price changes varied across the products we’ve tracked. The ranking is based on the average price change count per day for each listed eCommerce website.

#5 BestBuy.com (2.6 price changes per day)

Entering the list in 5th, BestBuy.com, while not as large as other eCommerce platforms, has carved out its niche in the U.S. market, especially in the electronics and home appliances sectors. Known for its competitive pricing, BestBuy uses various dynamic pricing strategies to stay ahead of its rivals, regularly adjusting prices based on competitor promotions and local availability.

BestBuy also integrates AI-powered tools to track trends and anticipate demand shifts, allowing the platform to tweak prices on high-demand items or offer limited-time discounts. In addition, its Price Match Guarantee encourages frequent price adjustments, ensuring customers get the best deal possible while reinforcing its reputation as a go-to destination for tech-savvy shoppers.

#4 Wayfair.com (3.6 price changes per day)

Wayfair.com, a leader in home furnishings and decor, has implemented dynamic pricing as a core eCommerce strategy. Wayfair frequently adjusts prices to reflect changes in demand and seasonality. The platform’s pricing model relies heavily on real-time data, allowing for quick shifts in product costs to maximize profitability while offering customers competitive deals.

Wayfair’s use of data-driven algorithms helps identify market patterns, which enables timely discounts or price increases. This eCommerce platform is also known for its wide supplier network. Dynamic pricing strategies help to balance out inventory and ensure the best possible price is offered to consumers at any given moment.

#3 Amazon.ca (4.3 price changes per day)

Amazon.ca, the Canadian counterpart of Amazon, operates with a powerful dynamic pricing model tailored to the Canadian market. Amazon.ca leverages sophisticated algorithms to monitor local competitor pricing, stock levels, and constantly changing consumer demand.

With frequent price shifts driven by local shopping patterns, Amazon.ca offers sellers a flexible platform to implement dynamic pricing strategies. Sellers benefit from automated repricing tools that track market conditions and adjust prices accordingly, allowing rapid responses to fluctuating supply and demand. The platform’s real-time adaptability and special promotions like Prime Day deals make Amazon.ca a leader in dynamic pricing within the Canadian eCommerce space.

#2 Walmart.ca (7 price changes per day)

Walmart.ca, visited by more than 1.5M shoppers daily, utilizes dynamic pricing to maintain its competitive edge in the retail landscape. Known for its wide range of products, from groceries to electronics, Walmart.ca frequently adjusts prices based on supply, demand, and other variables. This constant monitoring allows the platform to offer customers the most competitive prices in the multi-category eCommerce platforms landscape.

Additionally, Walmart’s price-matching policies encourage further adjustments, ensuring that customers always get the best deal. This adaptability positions Walmart.ca as a strong contender in Canada’s fast-paced eCommerce sector, offering both affordability and convenience.

#1 Amazon.com (12.6 price changes per day)

And now it’s time to crown the absolute winner – Amazon.com. With over 37.6% market share in 2023, Amazon.com is the most popular eCommerce platform in the United States. And with such popularity, this website can allow sellers to experiment with various dynamic pricing strategies successfully. Some reports state that Amazon.com implements a dynamic pricing technique every 10 minutes, building up to 2.5M price changes a day on all available products, and we’re sure that this number is increasing daily.

Amazon’s advanced algorithms constantly monitor competitor prices, demand, inventory levels, and even user behavior to make real-time pricing adjustments. This allows sellers to optimize their prices throughout the day, ensuring they remain competitive while maximizing profits. The platform's AI-driven repricing tools enable businesses to respond quickly to market changes, making it easier for them to offer discounts or raise prices based on supply and demand.

“Our industry-first Dynamic Pricing Index was designed to provide a holistic view of the global eCommerce landscape. By evaluating local and regional websites across 40 countries using carefully chosen criteria, we ensured a comprehensive assessment of eCommerce platforms that use dynamic pricing. This data reflects the popularity of the usage of dynamic pricing as well as any price change patterns in the market. We believe that our Dynamic Pricing Index will become a go-to source for various eCommerce businesses that want to improve their user experience, and the whole report will keep savvy online shoppers informed about the most recent developments in this extremely competitive landscape." – Vytautas Savickas, CEO at Smartproxy

What’s the concept of dynamic pricing?

Dynamic pricing in eCommerce is the practice of adjusting the price of products or services in real time based on various factors. These factors might be seasonality, demand, competition, customer behavior, or market conditions. Unlike traditional static pricing, where a product's cost remains fixed over time, dynamic pricing can fluctuate multiple times a month, week or even change numerous times during the same day.

The concept is driven by advanced AI algorithms, machine learning models, and scraping technologies that analyze vast amounts of data, including competitor pricing, inventory levels, purchasing patterns, and, depending on the product or service, even weather conditions.

Why do businesses implement frequent price-changing techniques?

Simply put, the higher the demand, the more businesses sell and earn. However, some eCommerce players adjust their pricing not just because they want to get more cash. Let’s continue exploring the complex logic of dynamic pricing.

Here’s a great example – during high-demand periods such as the holiday seasons, prices may increase due to heightened competition and urgency from shoppers. On the flip side, prices may drop during slower times or clearance sales to attract buyers and clear out inventory for the new products that are gaining the spotlight.

One common practice of dynamic pricing is seen in the airline and hotel industries, where prices change with almost every request. Based on seat availability, booking trends, and time to departure, aviation and hospitality businesses either increase or drop the prices of flights or hotel rooms. Some eCommerce platforms have also adopted similar strategies to maximize sales. For instance, products like electronics, fashion, or groceries may fluctuate in price based on demand surges or promotional events.

While beneficial for businesses, dynamic pricing can create a sense of unpredictability for consumers, thus strengthening FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). According to ConvertMate research, nearly 60% of millennials make instant purchases driven by FOMO. For some shoppers, it also raises ethical questions about fairness, especially when prices vary based on user data like location, cookies, or browsing history.

Dynamic pricing allows businesses to stay competitive in fast-moving markets, increase profitability, and enhance customer experiences by offering personalized pricing – though it's a double-edged sword regarding consumer transparency and trust.

What’s in it for eCommerce shoppers?

While it may seem like dynamic pricing only benefits businesses, it also offers advantages to shoppers. At its core, dynamic pricing responds to market conditions, meaning that savvy customers can take advantage of price drops during off-peak or promotional periods. For example, prices might be lower during seasonal sales or special events to attract more buyers, allowing shoppers to score deals they wouldn’t usually find.

Additionally, dynamic pricing encourages competition among retailers, leading to more competitive pricing for customers. Some eCommerce platforms use sophisticated algorithms to track their rivals' prices, often forcing them to adjust their prices to stay competitive. Customers might see lower prices as different businesses compete for attention and purchases.

Moreover, dynamic pricing enables personalized pricing based on a shopper’s behavior, location, or buying history. Some retailers offer frequent customers exclusive discounts or loyalty rewards, giving them a more tailored shopping experience. Furthermore, savvy shoppers often use price tracking tools and browser extensions to monitor changes, catching the lowest possible price of the product they had their eye on.

However, the downside for shoppers is that prices can increase when demand spikes, such as during holidays or limited-time sales. This frequently leads to frustration when prices fluctuate unpredictably.

While frequent pricing change strategies are primarily designed to help businesses maximize profits, eCommerce shoppers who understand how it works can leverage it to find the best deals, benefiting both parties.

“Dynamic pricing, when utilized properly, can create a win-win scenario for businesses and consumers alike. For companies, it offers the flexibility to adjust to real-time market demands, thus maximizing revenue while keeping a competitive edge. For consumers, dynamic pricing means access to products at a variety of price points, often leading to great deals during low-demand periods. As more and more businesses embrace this pricing model, it’s essential to find a balance – leveraging technology to provide transparency and fairness while driving profitability.” – Vaidotas Juknys, Head of Commerce at Smartproxy

Dynamic pricing trends

Looking at the report, while some of the eCommerce platforms have adopted dynamic pricing strategies and even offer AI-powered tools for sellers, some are still in the early stages of adjusting product prices based on industry fluctuations.

However, with the growing sophistication of modern consumers, eCommerce platforms will continue to explore this complex term of dynamic pricing, and we’ll see more websites introducing price changes coming from seasonality, market conditions, and local demand.

With AI dominating every industry online, there’s no doubt that more eCommerce giants will present tools powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning. In the long run, AI-powered dynamic pricing offers businesses in various sectors a substantial opportunity to refine their pricing approaches, boost competitiveness, and drive profitability. Companies can adjust prices in real time, adapting swiftly to shifting market conditions with increased precision. Still, successfully deploying such strategies will require a careful balance between embracing new technologies and ensuring customer satisfaction.

Bottom line

Dynamic pricing is transforming the way eCommerce platforms operate, benefiting both businesses and savvy shoppers. The platforms listed in our top five, Amazon.com, Walmart.ca, Amazon.ca, Wayfair.com, and BestBuy.com, showcase how advanced pricing algorithms and AI-driven tools enable frequent price changes based on real-time data. For businesses, this creates an opportunity to maximize profits and stay competitive, while for shoppers, it offers the chance to snag deals by keeping a close eye on fluctuating prices.

And the dynamic pricing techniques will continue to evolve. With more eCommerce websites implementing various, and even AI-driven, tools for automated pricing adjustments based on various factors, more online sellers will be able to leverage the frequent price change concept.

If you want to learn more about the Dynamic Pricing Index – reach out to our experts at [email protected] or explore the industry-first eCommerce Maturity Index.