Yes, ‘tis the season for holiday shopping, and more shopping than ever is being done online. Cyber Monday has come and gone, but that’s not slowing down the online shoppers. Three online discount shopping finder sites are gaining in popularity: Frucall.com, Freecycle.org, and Keycode.com. Many people are turning to these sites to find deep online shopping discounts.

Frucall offers a website and a free phone number (888-DO-FRUCALL) to call to help you find the best prices in your locale – through your cell phone, you can ask Frucall to check the price of the item you’re looking at and tell you if it’s cheaper anywhere else in your area. Freecycle, or the Freecycle Network, is a community-based network of millions of members who help each other give and get free items in their own towns. Keycode helps you find free online coupon codes that you can enter for discounts on items when shopping at online stores.

As you can imagine, these sites can greatly benefit consumers, saving them considerable money on their purchases. Are these sites good for the business community? How can traditional brick & mortar stores compete?

Fair competition is always good for the business community – it helps businesses stay sharp, up-to-date, and efficient. Online coupons and online discount sites are a product of the totally capitalistic, free-wheeling, and competitive economy of the Internet. They are a necessary byproduct and are healthy for the system. If traditional businesses want to continue to compete, they need to either 1) join in the discount couponing fray, or 2) provide consumers with a compelling reason to buy from their store despite the lack of a discount.

Joining the discounting fray may require a serious hard look at a business’s cost structure in order to lower costs so that it can afford to provide discounts. Most businesses will find unnecessary costs they can lop off. The potential problem with discounting is the perception of devaluing your product or service. Most every consumer understands season discounting but permanent discounting can easily damage the perceived higher value of a store or service. A business must be careful. Regardless, traditional brick & mortar stores must establish an online presence with their own online store, even if it is small and rudimentary; in the long run, they just won’t be able to compete unless they have an online store presence.

Look to Nordstrom as a great example of a store that provides an excellent reason for consumers to go nowhere else. Yes, they discount seasonally, but they offer superior customer service, product selection and quality, a great in-store experience, and also an excellent online store. They are an example that a quality brand and service offering can compete with the online discounting trend.