Competitor Price Tracking: How To Monitor Your Competitors
Competitor price tracking – everyone in the business knows what it is, but the question is how to perform it.
As a business, and especially an eCommerce one, the biggest struggle is to outperform your competitors. Having a great product or service is only the first step. The next, and equally important one, is to understand what pricing strategy are your competitors relying on. One of the best ways to do so is by constantly monitoring your competitors. Now, we already know that this brings negative context, but that’s not correct. To spy on your competitors doesn’t mean anything illegal, but more of a sneak peek if you prefer it that way.
Let’s put things into another perspective. For instance, your new employee was previously working for your competitor. With him coming on board, you’ll find out more about your competitors’ strategy.
Well, price monitoring tools work similarly.
Why Spy On Your Competitors – And Is It Wrong To Do So?
The current eCommerce environment has never been more multi-dimensional. New competitors are entering the race all the time and you need a way to keep an eye on their activities. You might say – well, I’m running in my tracks, why would I need to pay attention to others? Let everyone do their best. A few years, or maybe even a decade ago, you would be characterized as a fair player, but today this answer would earn you a pretty different adjective.
You need to be aware of your competition – are they outperforming you, and most importantly, to understand the reason behind it. One of the most common ways of running this battle is by using the power that lies in the prices. Whenever one market player changes its prices, the others will follow which creates the imperative of real-time competitor price tracking.
In the past, competitor price tracking could be done manually by using Excel. Today, however, that approach comes with a high risk of making mistakes. That’s why in today’s world competitor price tracking is almost unimaginable without using a price monitoring tool. It will allow you to automate the process of price monitoring.
As you can see, spying on the competition was always present – price monitoring tools are just allowing you to do it in a more sophisticated and error-free way.
Truth be told, your competitors are most likely spying on you too. The better your market position is, the bigger the chances of you being spied on. Therefore, it’s not about stealing someone’s secrets, but more about understanding their strategy.
Competitor Price Tracking In Every Day’s eCommerce Battle
The basics are explained, but let us show you some practical examples.
Dynamic pricing systems such as Amazon, eBay, or similar marketplaces are changing prices a few times a day. There is no other way to compete effectively if you’re not aware of those price changes.
If you are just starting your eCommerce journey, and you’re not sure whether to use marketplaces or to create an eCommerce store – here are a few tips.
Maybe you’ve heard about the LinkedIn Group – Competitive Pricing for Online Retail. Members were asked how often they perform competitor price tracking. The results showed that 75% of retailers don’t track their competitors’ prices every day! Yes, some businesses indeed don’t need to perform competitor price tracking every day, but 75% is still a huge number.
Do you understand the meaning of this?
Even if you haven’t been active with competitor price tracking so far, it’s still not too late! As you can see, you’ll have a huge advantage over your competitors! Remember, it’s not just about being the cheapest but offering the right price at the right time.
All you have to do is investigate what options are available and you’re all set!
Accelerate Your Price Changes
Using a competitor price tracking software means that you’ll have the pricing information at your fingertips. And no, don’t worry, your competitors can not find out that they are being monitored by you.
The main benefit of competitor price tracking is that you’ll be able to accelerate your price changes. Some price changes should happen regularly, others seasonally, discounts have their moments as well, and not all products can have the same price during their life cycle. Much important decision that can not be made based on your hint. You need precise information so that you can make accurate decisions.
Trying to manage all this by yourself is impossible. Price monitoring software is here to help you save time, so let it do the hard work. It’s more effective and accurate and it will provide you with a budget that can be spent on other business aspects.
Don’t Waste A Great Chance For Success
Competitor price tracking became a necessity – without using it, you don’t stand a chance in an overcrowded market. To keep up, retailers and brands need to have real-time information. You can call it spying, monitoring, or gathering information, but the end goal is the same – making effective pricing decisions. Therefore, you shouldn’t be scared of using the opportunities that you have.
As we explained, competitors can not know that you’re the one who is monitoring them. It’s almost certain that they are monitoring you too, as well as some other players are monitoring them as well. Therefore, it’s a whole circle and there is no point in staying out of it.
If you want to see by yourself how this works, we recommend you try Price2Spy for free for the next 30 days.
