The Bottom Line: Hoppers surf to compare; how to get them to buy?

Internet comparison engines allow shoppers to zero in, then buy the item at nearby store

THIS GIFT-GIVING SEASON, many shoppers are heading to the mall after sitting down at the computer.

     "We first do a lot of comparison shopping online," says Janet Davis, a Beaverton mother of teenagers.

     "We look for availability and price, and we try to support local stores on a lot of items."

     Davis is among the nearly 63 million Americans who used the Internet to comparison shop in October, up 14 percent from last year.

     "Rather than flipping through catalogs, writing down sale items from newspaper ads, or scouring the Yellow Pages and calling local retailers," says Mark Bradley, vice president at comparison engine NexTag, shoppers "can now conduct very thorough searches for just about any product -- and many services -- in a few seconds with a few mouse clicks."

     Riding the trend is a new breed of search engine that provides results only for products people can buy either online or at a store near them.

     These "comparison shopping engines" often let users sort results by price, features, brands, customer reviews, coupons or proximity. Results feature product photos and links to retailers willing to pay for clicks or sales sent by the engine.

     "We participate in some comparison sites," says Kim Sutton, brand marketing coordinator for Portland-based bookseller Powells.com. "But over time, we've had to opt out of big sites like ShopZilla because of their pricing game: The price per click can be 50 cents to one dollar. If you're only selling one book, that's a substantial portion of your profit."

     Powell's has shifted its strategy for comparison shopping engines, working only with sites that make sales and with comparison search engines focused on books, like campusi.com and bookfinder.com, Sutton says.

     How are other local businesses attempting to reel in online comparison shoppers?

     "We just reworked our Web page to post weekly bargains and a store locator," says Larry McCurley, manager for Big Lots in Beaverton, "and we've been getting a lot more activity since."

     At nearby Cedar Hills Crossing, the mall's larger merchants, G.I. Joe's and Best Buy, this year tapped into corporate comparison shopping engine campaigns. On the day after Thanksgiving, mall manager Ron Powell says, 1,500 people stood in line at Best Buy, and G.I. Joe's door busters brought in 800 and 1,000 people.

     Meanwhile at locally owned Annie's Hallmark in Beaverton Town Square, "our sales are pretty level with last year, so I'd have to say that we've not been impacted from not being in the comparison engines," says its manager, Beaverton resident Elizabeth Huber. "But who knows, five, six, seven months from now we may decide that's something we need to do."

     There are comparison engines for most every niche, from gardening supplies to specialty gifts. PricingCentral.com maintains a list of comparison shopping engines by specialty.

     Retailers need a regularly updated database of products and photos to get on most engines. For Powell's Books in Beaverton, the cost of inclusion is critical to getting customers in the door.

     "It's important for us to be on these, to represent ourselves when people are shopping for a specific item," Sutton says. "It reminds people that we are online and they have an option to Amazon."

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