Amidst the growth of online shopping, competition is becoming stiffer. So, how do you stay in the loop? By being informed about what your competitors are doing. With product competitive analysis, it is possible to keep track of their pricing and performance, as well as their strategies.
In this article, we will look into ways in which product competitive analysis can enable business owners to monitor their competition, modify their prices, and identify opportunities. To make things simpler for you, we will also explore how the Competitor Analysis Dashboard by 42Signals can minimize the amount of work you have to do.
Why Product Competitive Analysis is Crucial in eCommerce?
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Businesses have shifted to eCommerce platforms, and to make it, competitiveness is key. It is important to keep track of how your products perform in comparison to those offered by competitors. Product competitive analysis is powerful and can provide insights into a marketplace from which one can gain a lot. Here are some of its benefits:
1. Keeping Tabs On Competitors
If you are interested in the performance of your competition, you can monitor their sales, customer feedback, and social media engagement. Those factors could provide insight into what works for them, and even give you a chance to implement such strategies for your business.
2. Adjust Your Prices Accordingly
Consider this: pricing is perhaps one of the most crucial aspects when buying a product over the Internet. Setting prices too high or too low could mean that you miss out on customers. Monitoring your competitor’s pricing helps you know when to revise your prices to ensure that you do not lose sales.
3. Identify Market Gaps
Examining the competition makes it easy for you to identify some of the gaps that your competition may not be filling. It could be that they do not offer certain products or that they do not have products to meet certain customer needs. Identifying such gaps presents a good opportunity for you to be more innovative.
4. Know What’s Happening in the Market
The world of eCommerce is dynamic. What customers want keeps changing, and there are always new trends emerging. If you know what the competition is doing, you are likely to be on top of things. For instance, if most people are marketing sustainable products, then you might want to get in on that action.
How to Leverage Product Analytics for Smarter Competitive Decisions?
Understanding the competition is essential to any product’s success. This will enable an organization to analyze the activities of its rivals and strategize on how to beat them. Here’s how.
1. Share of Search
Your products need to be visible to customers. One of the important metrics is known as ‘share of search’ which informs you of the visibility that your product has in comparison to the products of your competitors. If such a figure is less than satisfactory, then it’s time to focus on optimizing your listings and advertisements.
2. Analyze Product Listings
When analyzing your rival’s products listings, pay special attention to the way they represent them. Moreover, has their product title been modified to something appealing? Does their description highlight the important aspects? It is always a possibility that their technique can be used to revise your listings to appeal to your customers.
3. Keep Track of Inventory
For effective competition, it is important to know what stock your rivals have. If they have low or no inventory, then that’s the perfect opportunity for your product to take some of their market share. Additionally, knowing their stock levels is a smart way to know how much stock of your product you should maintain.
Unlocking the Power of 42Signals’ Competitor Analysis Dashboard
One of the best ways to monitor your competitors is with a competitor analysis dashboard. 42Signals’ Competitor Analysis Dashboard makes it simple to track essential data on your competitors. Here’s how it can help:
1. Real-Time Pricing Updates
You’ll get real-time data on your competitors’ prices, so you can keep your pricing strategy on point and competitive. If they change prices, you’ll know immediately, so you can adjust yours accordingly.
2. Custom Alerts
Set up custom alerts to notify you when your competitors change their prices, launch new products, or run out of stock. This way, you’ll always be in the loop and ready to respond.
3. Monitor Product Catalogs
You can easily track everything your competitors are selling. This gives you insights into their product strategy and shows you if there’s anything they’re missing that you could offer.
4. Track Market Share
The dashboard also lets you track your share of search, so you can see how your visibility compares to your competitors. If you notice areas where you’re lagging, you can jump in and improve them.
How to Use Competitive Analysis to Drive Your Ecommerce Strategy?
Now that we understand the importance of conducting a competitive analysis, let us explore how it can be beneficial for your business:
1. Product Development
Competitive product analysis allows you to look at which of your competitor’s products are being purchased the most and determine what your target audience is seeking. Whether it’s modifying a current product or developing an entirely new one, competitive analysis gives you all the info needed to properly appeal to the clientele.
2. Marketing Plan Development
More importantly, the competition analysis enables you to know which techniques are in use by your competitors. It could be social media marketing, an increase in ads, or discounts. These can be effective if adjusted in such a way as to improve your marketing strategies.
3. Elevate Customer Service
Finally, if your competitors are providing better delivery services, customer care, or even a loyalty program, then take a page out of their books. Competitive analysis helps you identify areas where you need to up your game to maintain the clientele that you have worked so hard to acquire.
Conclusion
In eCommerce, staying one step ahead of the competition requires constant vigilance of business moves. Product competitive analysis provides key insights into competitor pricing, performance, and trends, allowing for crucial business decisions to be made.The 42Signals Competitor Analysis Dashboard gives you a complete overview of everything your competitors do on the web, making it easier to change your business approach before your competitors do. Changing your approach from constant “set-and-forget” to adjusting your strategy based on these real-time insights is the key to success in the current competitive eCommerce landscape. Schedule a demo today!