Keeping an eye on your competitors is crucial in the eCommerce sector. Having their price information and other data is vital for implementing pricing strategies. Or you can take advantage of their low stock in a particular product if you have that information. But starting with a competitor tracking plan is challenging because many people and companies do not know where to start. Today is your lucky day because we are explaining the steps to begin a competitor monitoring plan. 

1- Select your competitors     

The first step you need to make is to determine which are your competitors. If you have a few competitors, then you are ready for step two. But if you notice that you have plenty of competitors, you have to ask yourself the following question: which are your most relevant competitors?     

Let's explain the following with an example. If you are the owner of a large pharmacy, your competitors are also big pharmacies, not small ones, because they are not relevant to you. So, they are competitors but not relevant to you or your company.    

2- Organize your product data    

Now it is time to focus on your products. The items you sell must have the following information. You must include the URL, which is the page on which you sell your product. Also, they must have product identifiers, like their European Article Number (EAN) or Stock-Keeping Unit (SKU).     

Moreover, you must include both your selling price and purchase price. For both of them, make sure you add the Value Added Tax (VAT) and that the customer can see it on your website, especially for the selling price. 

3- Collect the data     

Here is where the no-fun part begins. Now you have to compare your prices with your competitors. We say this is the no-fun part because most of the companies choose to do this manually. That takes a lot of time and personnel. By the time you finish scrapping all of the sites, new price changes happen.      

Thankfully, there is software that facilitates this work. PriceTweakers will monitor all your competitors on all your products automatically. Thus, you can save time and improve your margins. This program will give your company more benefits.      

4- Analyze and decide    

With all the data collected, now it is time to review your results. Probably, you will encounter products that are underpriced and or overpriced. Additionally, you will have the data on which is the best-selling product and is the worst-selling one.    

Following that analysis, it is time to take action on your products. The undersold ones will have an increase in their prices to match them to your competitors. And to the overpriced ones, you can lower the value. With the best-selling products, you can decide if it is worth it to increase its price a little more, and with the worst-selling, choose your plan to increase its sales.    

5- Evaluation   

In the final step, you review the decisions you made in step #4. You analyze whether your pricing changes were the right moves. Of course, if they do not work, you go back to the step before and adjust your pricing strategy.     

Conclusion   

If you do not know how to start monitoring your competitors, this is a simple way to do so. Follow these steps, and you will achieve your goal. PriceTweakers offers your company an automated process software in price monitoring. It is your best option because it will give you the best insights regarding your competitors and the market. On top of that, we have an extensive range of reports that gives you the best information. Follow us for more information. 

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