A Guide to Competitor Product Research for Online Sellers

Before customers click “Buy Now,” they’ve likely compared prices, specs, and reviews across at least three other sellers. In fact, 81% of retail shoppers conduct online research before making a purchase, according to a GE Capital Retail Bank study. But when was the last time you took a deep dive into your competitors’ assortments?

If you’re selling online, competitor product research isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential. From pricing and positioning to assortment and promotions, understanding what your competitors are offering can be the difference between leading your niche and being left behind.

This guide breaks down the what, why, and how of product research, showing you how to extract meaningful insights from competitor data and use them to make smarter pricing and assortment decisions.

What is Product Research in eCommerce?

Product research involves gathering and analyzing information about products offered in the market—yours and your competitors’—to make informed decisions about pricing, inventory, marketing, and more. It goes far beyond checking prices. It includes examining:

• Product titles and descriptions
• SKUs and brand affiliations
• Variations and bundles
• Product availability and promotions
• Customer reviews and seller ratings

Most importantly, sellers need to know how competitors position and price those products.

Why Competitor Product Research Matters

Competitor product research is a cornerstone of competitive intelligence. It gives you a clear view of:

• Market saturation – are your competitors flooding the category or missing key opportunities?
• Pricing strategy alignment – are you overpricing, underpricing, or hitting the sweet spot?
• Assortment gaps – are there products your competitors carry that you don’t, and vice versa?

Without accurate product data, benchmarking your performance or optimizing your pricing strategy is impossible. You can’t effectively track competitors unless you know exactly what they’re selling and how it’s positioned.

This becomes even more important if you’re operating in a crowded marketplace like Amazon, Walmart, or Zalando, where dozens of sellers offer similar or identical products with subtle variations.

Step-by-Step: How to Conduct Competitor Product Research

1. Identify Your True Competitors

Start by defining who your real competitors are. These could be:

• Direct competitors – Selling the same or similar products to the same customer base
• Indirect competitors – Offering alternatives that fulfill the same need

Use search engines, marketplaces, social media, and niche-specific directories to build your list. Don’t forget to consider international competitors if you sell cross-border.

2. Define the Scope of Research

You likely won’t have the time or resources to research every product or seller out there. Prioritize by:

• High-margin or best-selling products
• Items with frequent price changes
• Categories where you face the most competition

Decide which product attributes are most important to track: SKU, brand, size, color, packaging, specs, images, etc.

3. Analyze Competitor Product Assortments

Understanding what your competitors sell (and don’t sell) can be just as insightful as knowing their prices.

• Are they focusing on a wide assortment or a narrow niche?
• Have they recently added or removed any products?
• Do they offer exclusive or private-label items?
• How often do they update their inventory?

By tracking assortment trends, you can identify market opportunities or assortment gaps—products you might add to your own lineup or remove if they’re no longer competitive.

This also ties directly into pricing strategy. For example, if you’re the only one offering a specific product in your niche, you may be able to apply a premium pricing strategy. But if low-cost alternatives surround your product, you might need to rethink your positioning.

4. Match Products Accurately

Here’s where things can get tricky: Competitors don’t always label their products the same way you do. Product titles may vary, SKUs might not match, and descriptions can be vague.

To conduct a meaningful analysis, you need to match equivalent products across multiple sellers. That involves:

• Comparing brand names and product identifiers
• Checking model numbers or variant info (size, color, bundle)
• Reviewing product images and feature lists

Accurate product matching is essential for apples-to-apples comparisons. Otherwise, you might end up benchmarking your pricing against a completely different product, skewing your strategy.

5. Monitor Key Data Points Over Time

Once your products are matched, keep an eye on:

• Pricing – Regular price, discounts, and dynamic price fluctuations
• Availability – In stock, out of stock, backorders
• Promotions – Limited-time deals, bundles, volume pricing
• Ratings & Reviews – Quality and sentiment signals

Tracking these data points helps you anticipate competitor moves, spot emerging trends, and react quickly to changes in the market.

Common Challenges in Product Research

Even with a clear process in place, competitor product research comes with its own set of challenges. Understanding them—and finding ways to overcome them—can significantly improve your accuracy and efficiency.

1. Inconsistent Product Naming

Example: One seller lists a product as “Wireless Bluetooth Noise-Cancelling Headphones – Black”, while another lists the exact same item as “Model X100B ANC Over-Ear Headphones”. Without a consistent naming convention or identifier (like a UPC or SKU), it’s easy to miss the match and draw inaccurate conclusions about pricing or availability.

This inconsistency is especially common across marketplaces or international stores where product descriptions are translated or localized. Relying on product titles alone is risky; matching based on multiple attributes (brand, model number, images, specs) is a more reliable approach.

2. Frequent Catalog Updates

Product assortments are dynamic, especially in seasonal industries like fashion or electronics. A competitor might drop an item this week and add three new ones the next. If you’re not monitoring changes regularly, you could miss out on critical shifts in the market.

Example: Let’s say a competitor starts selling a new version of a product you offer, but at a lower price point. If you miss that update, you risk being overpriced and losing visibility or sales to better-positioned competitors.

Having a system that tracks not just prices but also assortment changes is key to staying competitive.

3. Manual Tracking Limitations

Tracking product data manually is time-consuming and error-prone, especially if you’re dealing with dozens or hundreds of competitors. Data entry mistakes, outdated spreadsheets, or inconsistent update schedules can lead to decisions based on flawed information.

Example: A seller who tracks pricing weekly in a spreadsheet may miss a 24-hour flash sale or a short-lived stockout, both of which are important pricing signals. These missed insights can lead to misaligned pricing decisions that either undercut margins or drive customers away.

As your catalog and competition grow, automation becomes essential—not just for efficiency but for survival.

How Product Research Shapes Your Business Strategy

Beyond overcoming these challenges, effective product research lays the foundation for smarter, data-backed business decisions.

• Pricing strategy – Knowing what your competitors are charging—and for what exactly—allows you to adopt a more strategic pricing model, whether it’s competitive matching, value-based pricing, or premium positioning.
• Assortment planning – If you see that competitors frequently sell bundles or new variations, that could inform your own catalog decisions. Conversely, identifying products they don’t offer opens up whitespace opportunities.
• Customer expectations – Competitor research reveals the level of detail and transparency others provide. This can shape how you present your own listings—images, specs, titles—to build trust and conversion.

Ultimately, the goal isn’t just to copy what others are doing. It’s to understand the playing field so you can outsmart the competition.