5 Steps You Must Follow to Conduct An eCommerce Competitor Analysis

Solid competitor analysis is essential if you own an eCommerce company. It will allow you to better understand the goals and strategies of your competitors. This will help you make informed and better decisions about your pricing strategies and advertising campaigns.

Due to the fast-changing nature of online retail operations and marketing communicationsADVERTISEMENT, for eCommerce businesses, it is crucial to gather competitor information and be flexible to react in time to the market changes.

This post will highlight some simple steps that can help eCommerce businesses large and small, to conduct successful competitor analysis without spending a lot of money.

1. Identify Your Main Competitors

Although it may seem obvious to business owners, it is crucial to identify your eCommerce competitors in order to do a proper analysis. Your competitor may not be the same product seller like you.

You need to think more broadly about your competitors when running an online 100% business. How can you identify your eCommerce competitors? Ask yourself or your team the following questions.

Who can address the same problem with a different product solution, but they all have to be addressed?

It would be better if you could have a clear understanding of why customers buy from you. If your products are intended to be gifts for men, then you should start looking at your competition as other eCommerce sites that sell similar products.

Who’s targeting the same geographical market?

You will need to be aware of global competitors if you plan on selling products internationally. If you are focusing on a particular country, you can narrow your search to sellers that cover the same area.

What other keywords are ranking high in search results?

Not only will you see other eCommerce and direct competition ranking, but also resellers and more prominent marketplaces. You will need to identify which competitors are getting the organic visibility that you desire for your business.

Which products rank highest on Google Shopping and other shopping engines?

Customers don’t restrict their search to Google when they are searching for a product. Think about the possibility that your potential customers might also be searching on Amazon, eBay and Google Shopping, Bing Shopping, or Yahoo Shopping.

2. Narrow Down The List

You may now realize that there are more eCommerce competitors than you thought. What’s the best way to narrow down this list?

You might want to keep 3 direct competitors. They are those who sell the same products to the exact same buyers and demographics. There are also two to three indirect competitors. These are those that offer a slightly different product or service in other areas but target the exact same buyer persona.

The insights they provide can be used as inspiration for your marketing strategies and offers.

3. Automate The Data Collection Process

Your team and you will both save time and money by automating the process of compiling information to analyze eCommerce competitors.

Automating this process will also allow you to monitor the moves of your competitors and keep evidence of both before and after scenarios.

A website detection tool such as Visualping can be used to track changes on competitors’ websites and social channels. This competitive intelligence tool can be used to monitor price changes, marketing communications, new product launches, announcements about new funding rounds, and job openings.

These insights will help you to better understand their next move and better prepare you to respond.

4. Analyze The Strengths and Weaknesses of Your Competitors

You will need the following information to start an eCommerce business:

1. What is their USP and how do you communicate it? Visit their homepage to find this information.
2. Have they made any price adjustments? Be sure to check their product pages. Also, keep an eye on shipping costs and other fees that could affect the final retail price.
3. Compare their products to yours. Find out if they offer the exact same items or provide additional value to customers.
4. What are their positioning strategies in the market? Pay particular attention to their branding elements and image.
5. What are their customers saying about them? Your online reputation can also be valuable.

Once you have this information, you can create a matrix that reflects your strengths and weaknesses. You can also look for market gaps to help you position your eCommerce business better.

5. Keep an Eye on Their Communications

It is important to monitor your competitors’ social media profiles to see how they interact with each other and be the first to know when they are running promotions.

Sprout Social can be used to listen to social media. This social media management solution provides competitor reports that will give you a deeper insight into your industry, which topics resonate with your audience, and where you should adjust your strategy to stand apart from the rest.

It is important to keep track of your competitors’ organic and paid Google search rankings. This is particularly important for competitors ranking for keywords you are trying to rank for. It also helps to identify other keywords that your target audience might be searching for.

To improve your search visibility and increase your search visibility, you should keep an eye out for keywords that your competitors are bidding on. This will give you an idea of the cost per Click for each market you wish to target.

Spyfu is a great tool to automate this process. This online service can be used to examine the SEO and PPC strategies of your competitors. This tool will allow you to determine which keywords your competitors rank for and what keywords they are bidding on Google Ads.

It is important to incorporate these five steps into your team’s monthly routine for eCommerce competitor analysis. Automating the gathering of information will allow you and your team more time to review the data and respond to market changes.