Price comparison website on sale for six-figure sum

AN online price comparison site set up by two Cork women is up for sale for a six-figure sum.

Shoppingbill.com was set by Kinsale neighbours Gwenn Clayton and Una McIntosh a couple of years ago.

It started off allowing consumers to compare the prices of retail goods each week and the site now gets around 300,000 hits a month.

The founders are looking for a buyer to take the business on to the next level and turn a profit.

“We set the business up to help consumers find good value when they go out and do the weekly shopping,” said Alan Clayton, who along with his wife Gwenn spent several years working for British supermarket chain Asda.

“We are now getting 6,000-7,000 a week visiting the site. Since then we have added other series such as special reports and discounts from supermarkets.”

Mr Clayton said the business has plenty of revenue potential, including online advertising, the sale of its information reports and from its extensive database of prices.

Mr Clayton said Shoppingbill’s price comparison service has been used by many media organisations to highlight the rip-off Ireland phenomenon, and he believed that a tie-up with a major media company would be the best way for the business to make a profit.

Takeover talks with a Dublin magazine publisher got to an advanced stage late last year but did not come to a conclusion.

An early investor in Shoppingbill.com was EiRx Therapeutics founder Ian Hayes.

Mr Clayton added that he and the other founders of Shoppingbill were prepared to stay on with the company after a sale for some time to continue building the site up.