3 ways to track a competitor's Shopify store

Introduction

Let's face it, at some point in time, we've all tried to track a competitor's Shopify store to check what's new.

At times, we check if they've added new product or removed one.
On other occasions, we're just checking how they're driving traffic or if something's out of stock.

Knowing what your competitors are up to can be a smart strategy.

It gives you a sense of what's working for them and what you can do better.

In this blog, we will be covering the following topics

1. Should you track your competitor's store?

2. What to look out for when tracking a competitor.

3. How frequently should you be tracking competitors.

4. How you can set up competitor tracking

Should you track your competitor's store?

The answer here is a YES.

If you're competing with another store, it always makes sense to be aware of what they're doing.

The most simple way of doing this is by looking at what products they're adding or removing.
This gives you a sense of what categories are working for them and what aren't.

Products or categories that are working the most see the most amount of changes.
If your competitor is taking a bet on a product or category, they will always want to fine tune the product listing.

This will prompt them to constantly play around with descriptions, images and pricing.
Tracking this is a solid way of knowing what products and categories you competitor is optimistic about.

What to look out for when tracking a competitor.

Like we explained in the last section.
Here's what you should be looking out for

• How and where they're driving traffic from

• What new products are they adding

• What old products are they getting rid of

• What products are they modifying frequently (descriptions, pricing, listing)

• Pricing changes on new/existing products

How frequently should you be tracking competitors?

Very frankly, not a lot.

Remember, comparison is the thief of joy.

A healthy strategy is to not always be on the lookout for changes competitors make, but to figure out a way to receive insights when changes happen.

How you can set up competitor tracking

There are tons of tools out there which can help you track competition.

It all depends on what you want to track.
As we mentioned here, all the tools promising to tell you exactly how much a store is making are mostly lying.

They're taking a guess, at best.

To track product & pricing level changes, we recommend checking out Snoopie.

You can start tracking competitors in 3 easy steps

1. Install Snoopie on your Shopify store

2. Tell Snoopie who your competitors are

3. Tell Snoopie where to email you when it sees activity from competiors

That's all there is to it.
Snoopie will be on the lookout for you at every step and will email you whenever it sees a change from a competitor.

Conclusion

• Tracking competitors is a smart way to be aware of what's working in your category and what isn't

• When looking at a competitor, check for new products they're adding, also check for products where they're making optimisations most frequently

• Track competitors smartly, but don't do it too much. Find a way to allow insights to reach you rather than you putting in effort to track things

• You can use tools that notify you whenever a competitor store makes changes to their Shopify store