> ## Knowledge Base Index
> Fetch the complete knowledge base index at: https://help.metalocator.com/sitemap.xml
> Use this file to discover available pages before exploring further.
> Pure-Markdown content can be obtained by appending a '.md' suffix to the content URLs listed in the sitemap (without the trailing slash).

# Evaluating a retailer website for price monitoring

## Introduction

In MetaLocator's Where to Buy solution, price monitoring is a key component of the software. To monitor prices, MetaLocator crawls the target retailer Website, in hopes of indentifying important product attributes which can be [used for matching](https://support.metalocator.com/en/articles/1653745-product-matching).

Matching relies on overlapping data within what is found on the target Website and what is provided in the [product import](https://support.metalocator.com/en/articles/1653724-importing-products-for-retail-product-monitoring). Without sufficient overlap, the product will not be matched and therefore will not be displayed to the end user when opening the Where to Buy interface. Matching is therefore a "two-way street", where the quality of the imported data and that found on the Website combine to provide the customer the best experience.

## Evaluating a Retailer Website

When MetaLocator staff evaluate a Website for inclusion in the Where to Buy suite, we look for the following features and data:

| Feature | Required? |
| --- | --- |
| Search engine that returns a list of products for a keyword | Y |
| Unique product detail page for each product | Y |
| Display of structured, required product meta-data, including name, price, SKU, MPN and other keys, such as GTIN, UPC, EAN etc. | Y |
| Stock status information, quantity available, etc. | N |
| Product photos | N |
| Delivery modality (In-store, online, ship-to-store, shipping details) | N |
| Condition (new, used) | N |
| Product Categories | N |
| Is A Bundle? (E.g. mutliple products) | N |
| Sale Price | N |
| Currency | N |

If the retailer Website does not meet the requirements above, it can not be included in the Where to Buy solution.

Most modern eCommerce websites meet all of these criteria, however; the most common disqualifier is the lack of structured _product key_ data. Some retailer Websites will display only an internally known product ID without displaying the manufacturer part number, UPC or an externally known SKU, which makes [product matching](https://support.metalocator.com/en/articles/1653745-product-matching) difficult or impossible.