Ecomm with No Content vs. Info Site

So - I've got a client that sells equipment. They've got an aged domain, good basic seo set up. lots of optimized content and some solid product pages - not ecomm. Out top 3 competition for search rank are all standard ecommerce stores with a few hundred words on the page. Backlinks are comparable. Is google really preferring straight "buy this" sites over info and education?