How to Do Ecommerce Competitor Analysis Step by Step

How to Do Ecommerce Competitor Analysis Step by Step

Ecommerce today is a data-driven game. The brands that win aren’t just lucky — they understand their competitors inside out. Knowing what your competitors are doing is like finding a cheat code for your own store. In this guide, we’ll give you a full step-by-step playbook, complete with templates, checklists, and tools you can use immediately to track, analyze, and act on competitor data.

By the end of this guide, you’ll be able to:

• Identify your real ecommerce competitors
• Analyze their pricing, products, ads, keywords, and UX
• Document findings in a structured template for repeatable analysis
• Turn insights into actionable strategies that grow your store

Competitor Analysis Checklist for Ecommerce Stores

Before diving into tools or spreadsheets, you need a clear checklist. This ensures you don’t miss critical insights. Here’s what to focus on:

Pro Tip: Download this checklist as a Google Sheet to track multiple competitors in one place. Check items off as you analyze each competitor to stay organized.

Ecommerce Competitor Analysis Template Spreadsheet

Once you know what to check, you need a way to organize your findings. A structured spreadsheet helps you compare competitors side by side and spot patterns fast. Here’s how to set it up:

Pro Tip: Make this spreadsheet dynamic — add columns for new findings, like email capture popups, influencer partnerships, or affiliate strategies. The goal is to build a living document that grows with your research.

📄 Download a ready-to-use Ecommerce Competitor Analysis Template to start documenting competitors today. Fill in each row as you work through your checklist from the previous section.

Ecommerce Competitive Analysis Tools and Playbook

To truly understand your competitors and stay ahead, you need a repeatable workflow that covers SEO, ads, pricing, UX, and tech stack. Here’s a step-by-step playbook with tools, exact actions, and tips you can implement today.

Step 1: Identify Your Key Competitors

Start by listing your main competitors. Don’t just think direct competitors — include stores targeting the same audience with similar products.

• Tip: Use Google search for your main product + location keywords.
• Tip: Check marketplaces like Amazon, Jumia, or local ecommerce platforms.
• Tip: Use SimilarWeb to find competitors your audience visits.

Step 2: Analyze SEO and Organic Traffic

Tools: Ahrefs, SEMrush, Ubersuggest

Workflow:

1. Enter competitor domain into Ahrefs > Site Explorer.
2. Go to Top Pages report to see highest-traffic pages.
3. Filter pages by monthly traffic > 100 visits (adjust for niche).
4. Export top pages and their keywords into a spreadsheet:

Tip: Highlight keywords competitors rank for but you don’t. These are your “quick wins.”

Step 3: Analyze Paid Ads and Creatives

Tools: Facebook Ad Library, TikTok Creative Center, SpyFu

1. Search competitor name in Facebook Ad Library.
2. Note ad creatives, headlines, CTAs, and product angles.
3. Check frequency — repeated patterns indicate what’s working.
4. Create your own “ad swipe file” spreadsheet:

Step 4: Monitor Pricing and Promotions

Tools: Prisync, Price2Spy, Manual Google Sheets Tracker

1. List competitor SKUs and current prices in a spreadsheet.
2. Track price changes weekly or daily (automated if possible).
3. Highlight patterns like flash sales, bundles, or threshold discounts.
4. Use insights to experiment with your own pricing and promotions.

Step 5: UX, Tech Stack, and Site Analysis

Tools: BuiltWith, Wappalyzer, Hotjar

1. Check what CMS, e-commerce platform, and tracking tools competitors use.
2. Analyze user experience: navigation, checkout flow, mobile optimization.
3. Look for friction points your store can improve upon.

Step 6: Create a Repeatable Workflow

Once you collect data, turn it into a routine:

1. Weekly: Check pricing, ads, and top performing content.
2. Monthly: Export SEO data, update your content gap analysis.
3. Quarterly: Review entire competitor landscape and adjust strategy.

Tip: Combine all insights into one master spreadsheet. Columns can include:

• Competitor Name
• Top Pages / Products
• SEO Keywords
• Ads / Promotions / Copy Patterns
• Pricing Trends
• UX Notes / Tech Stack
• Opportunities / Action Items

With this playbook, your analysis isn’t just data collection — it becomes a **growth engine**. Every insight is actionable, and you can track results over time to constantly improve.

How to Find Competitors’ Top Organic Keywords (Ecommerce SEO Intelligence)

Knowing which keywords your competitors rank for is like holding a map to hidden treasure. This section walks you through a complete, step-by-step process to uncover high-value keywords and content gaps you can exploit today.

Step 1: Identify Your SEO Competitors

Not every competitor you sell against is an SEO competitor. Focus on sites ranking for the keywords you want.

• Search Google for your main product keywords and note the top 10-20 domains.
• Check “People Also Ask” and related searches — these often reveal competitors you didn’t consider.
• Tip: Use Ahrefs > Competing Domains to find sites targeting the same keywords.

Step 2: Gather Competitor Keyword Data

Tools: Ahrefs, SEMrush, Ubersuggest

Workflow:

1. Enter a competitor’s domain into Ahrefs Site Explorer.
2. Go to the “Organic Keywords” report.
3. Filter by: Top 100 keywords by traffic or by relevant product category.
4. Export data to a spreadsheet:

Step 3: Identify Content Gaps

Content gaps are keywords your competitors rank for but you don’t. These are immediate opportunities for traffic and conversions.

1. Use Ahrefs > Content Gap tool: enter your domain + competitors’ domains.
2. Filter by traffic > 100 visits/month (adjust for niche).
3. Export list and prioritize by:

• High traffic, low difficulty keywords
• Keywords aligned with your product categories
• Questions or how-tos your audience searches for

Step 4: Organize Your Findings

Create a master keyword spreadsheet with actionable columns:

• Keyword
• Competitor Ranking
• Search Volume
• Keyword Difficulty
• Content Type (blog, product page, category page)
• Content Gap Notes / Opportunity
• Action Plan (e.g., write new blog, optimize product page)

Step 5: Turn Keywords Into Content & SEO Strategy

Once you have your keyword map:

1. Group similar keywords into clusters (by intent: informational, commercial, transactional).
2. Create a content calendar targeting high-value gaps first.
3. Optimize existing pages for secondary keywords to capture extra traffic.
4. Use internal linking to boost authority for new pages.

Step 6: Track Results & Iterate

SEO isn’t static. Track performance monthly:

• Monitor rankings with Ahrefs or SEMrush
• Measure traffic increases for targeted keywords
• Update content and add new keywords from ongoing competitor analysis

Tip: The real power comes from turning this data into repeated actions. Every month, repeat Steps 1–6 and you’ll consistently uncover new growth opportunities your competitors can’t touch.

How to Analyze Competitors’ Ads and Creatives for Ecommerce

Studying your competitors’ ads isn’t spying — it’s learning what works so you can avoid costly mistakes and spot hidden opportunities. This section shows you exactly how to analyze ad creatives, copy, offers, and patterns, so you can create ads that convert.

Step 1: Identify Key Competitors Running Ads

Not all competitors advertise everywhere. Focus on the platforms where your target audience spends time.

• Facebook/Instagram: Use the Facebook Ad Library. Search by competitor brand or product keywords.
• TikTok: Use TikTok Creative Center for trending ads in your niche.
• Google Search/Display: Use SEMRush Ads Research or SpyFu to see competitors’ paid keywords and ads.

Step 2: Collect Examples of Their Ads

Keep a swipe file of real ads. Include screenshots, videos, headlines, copy, and offers.

• Save the landing page link for each ad to analyze funnel and CTA.
• Include ad type (carousel, single image, video, story, etc.)
• Tip: Categorize by campaign goal — traffic, conversion, retargeting.

Step 3: Break Down Ad Elements

Analyze every part of the ad for patterns and strategies:

• Headline: Note phrasing, urgency words, and emotional triggers.
• Copy: Look for pain points, benefits, social proof, storytelling style.
• Visuals: Colors, product placement, lifestyle images, branding consistency.
• CTA: Button text, urgency signals, offer emphasis (“Shop Now,” “Limited Time”).
• Landing page: Is it optimized for conversion? How is the product presented?

Step 4: Spot Patterns & Insights

Look across multiple ads for recurring elements. This is where the real intelligence comes from.

• Are they emphasizing discounts, scarcity, or product benefits?
• Which formats get repeated (carousel vs video)?
• Are testimonials or user-generated content featured?
• Note any seasonal or trending messaging they lean on repeatedly.

Step 5: Apply Insights to Your Own Campaigns

Don’t copy — adapt. Turn competitor patterns into your own ideas:

• Create ad variations inspired by recurring high-performing elements.
• Test multiple CTAs, headlines, and visual styles.
• Repurpose content across platforms for maximum reach.
• Tip: Build your own swipe file in a spreadsheet or Notion with columns like:

Step 6: Test, Optimize, Repeat

The point of competitive analysis is actionable improvement. Your workflow should be:

1. Create 3–5 ad variations based on insights.
2. Test them on the platform your audience uses most.
3. Measure CTR, conversion, ROAS, and engagement.
4. Refine creatives and copy based on performance data.
5. Repeat competitor research every 4–6 weeks to stay ahead.

Remember, your goal isn’t to copy competitors — it’s to discover what resonates, uncover gaps, and innovate your ads so they outperform.

Pricing Spy Tactics for Ecommerce Stores — How to Track Price Changes

Knowing your competitors’ prices is not about undercutting blindly — it’s about understanding their strategy, spotting trends, and making data-driven pricing decisions. This section walks you through practical tactics, tools, and workflows to monitor pricing efficiently.

Step 1: Identify Key Products to Monitor

Start by selecting the products that matter most for competitive intelligence:

• Best-sellers in your niche
• Products similar to yours in price and features
• High-margin items that influence brand perception

Tip: Create a spreadsheet with columns for product name, SKU, competitor, and platform.

Step 2: Manual Price Tracking

Manual tracking is simple but time-consuming — useful if you’re just starting or monitoring a few items.

• Visit competitor websites weekly.
• Record prices, discounts, and promotions in a spreadsheet.
• Note patterns: Are they running flash sales, bundles, or loyalty offers?
• Optional: Use conditional formatting in Google Sheets to highlight price changes.

Step 3: Automated Price Monitoring Tools

For scaling, automated tools save time and ensure you never miss changes. Here are top options:

• Prisync: Tracks product prices, stock levels, and promotions across multiple competitors.
• Price2Spy: Offers daily or real-time updates, alerts on price changes, and historical data analytics.
• Datafeedr or custom Google Sheets scrapers: For advanced users who want automated monitoring without a full SaaS tool.

Step 4: Detect Pricing Strategy Shifts

Tracking prices is only useful if you understand what the changes mean. Look for:

• Regular discounts — Are they seasonal or permanent?
• Bundled offers — Free shipping thresholds, “buy one get one” deals
• Promotional timing — Days of the week, holidays, end-of-month discounts
• Psychological pricing — $49.99 vs $50, or rounding strategies

Step 5: Analyze and Apply Findings

Turn collected data into actionable insights:

• Identify gaps: Are there price points competitors ignore? Opportunity to capture market share.
• Experiment: Test strategic pricing changes on products where your margins allow.
• Optimize: Adjust bundles, discounts, or shipping thresholds to match customer expectations and stay competitive.
• Document: Keep a running record of competitors’ strategies to refine your own pricing roadmap.

Step 6: Integrate into a Repeatable Workflow

Consistency is key. Create a workflow your team can follow:

1. Weekly check-ins on top products using your tracking spreadsheet or tool.
2. Monthly analysis to detect trends and strategy shifts.
3. Quarterly review to adjust pricing, promotions, and product positioning.
4. Link to marketing campaigns — use insights to improve ad copy, offers, and messaging.

💡 Pro Tip: Pair pricing insights with ad analysis. If a competitor drops prices while increasing ad spend, it’s a strong signal about their promotion strategy. Use this to plan your campaigns strategically rather than reactively.

With this approach, your audience can not only track prices but interpret what competitors are doing, predict moves, and make pricing decisions backed by data — giving them a competitive edge.

Turning Insights into a Growth Plan

Collecting competitor data is powerful — but only if you turn it into action. This section shows how to interpret findings from your research and create a repeatable, data-driven growth plan for your ecommerce store.

Step 1: Identify Patterns and Opportunities

Start by reviewing all your collected insights: SEO, ads, pricing, UX, and product offerings.

• Highlight repeated strategies competitors use successfully.
• Spot gaps where competitors are weak or ignoring certain customer needs.
• Look for trends over time — pricing shifts, ad campaigns, content focus.

Step 2: Prioritize Based on Impact vs Effort

Not every insight is worth acting on immediately. Use a simple matrix:

• High impact, low effort → Execute first
• High impact, high effort → Plan strategically
• Low impact, low effort → Quick wins
• Low impact, high effort → Ignore for now

This ensures resources focus on moves that actually grow revenue and visibility.

Step 3: Craft Testable Experiments

Turn each insight into a measurable experiment:

• Pricing insights → Run A/B tests on different price points or bundles
• Ad insights → Test new creative angles, headlines, or CTAs
• Keyword/content insights → Create optimized content targeting gaps your competitors miss
• UX insights → Test checkout improvements, navigation tweaks, or product page layouts

Step 4: Implement, Measure, Iterate

Use a simple loop to continuously improve:

1. Implement experiments on small scale
2. Measure performance using metrics like conversion rate, traffic, ROAS
3. Analyze results and iterate — double down on what works, adjust what doesn’t

Step 5: Document and Build a Knowledge Base

Every insight, test, and result should be recorded. This helps:

• Keep your team aligned and aware of past decisions
• Prevent repeating mistakes
• Speed up future analysis by using historical patterns as a reference

Step 6: Integrate Into Overall Growth Strategy

Competitor research shouldn’t exist in a silo. Integrate findings into:

• Marketing campaigns — adjust messaging, targeting, and budget
• Product strategy — refine product offerings, bundles, or launches
• Pricing strategy — ensure alignment with market trends and customer perception
• Content strategy — focus on gaps competitors miss to dominate niche topics

💡 Pro Tip: Use the framework Identify → Analyze → Test → Iterate as a recurring cycle. This keeps your store agile, proactive, and ahead of competitors.

Following this playbook, your audience will have a clear path from raw competitor data to tangible business actions. Every step is actionable, measurable, and repeatable — exactly what ecommerce owners need to grow strategically.

FAQ: Ecommerce Competitor Analysis Step by Step

1. Why is competitor analysis essential for ecommerce?

Competitor analysis shows you what’s working in your niche, highlights opportunities competitors are missing, and helps you avoid costly mistakes. It’s like having a cheat sheet for growth, helping you make smarter product, pricing, and marketing decisions.

2. How often should I perform competitor analysis?

For active ecommerce stores, a quarterly deep-dive is ideal, with light monitoring monthly. This ensures you stay updated on pricing changes, ad campaigns, SEO moves, and product launches without getting overwhelmed.

3. What are the most critical elements to track?

Track these key areas:

• Products: inventory, variations, bundles, and unique offerings
• Pricing: base prices, discounts, free shipping thresholds
• Ads & creatives: platforms, messaging, visuals, CTAs
• SEO & keywords: top-ranking pages, content gaps, backlink profiles
• User experience: site speed, navigation, checkout flow, mobile experience
• Reviews & social proof: customer feedback and sentiment
• Tech stack: tools and integrations powering their site

4. Which tools should I use for ecommerce competitor analysis?

Some essential tools include:

• SEO & keywords: Ahrefs, SEMrush
• Traffic monitoring: SimilarWeb
• Ads & creatives: Facebook Ad Library, TikTok Creative Center, SpyFu
• Pricing monitoring: Prisync, Price2Spy
• Tech stack insights: BuiltWith, Wappalyzer

5. Can I automate competitor analysis?

Yes, many tools allow automated tracking for pricing, keywords, and traffic. However, qualitative insights — like ad angles, UX patterns, and messaging — require manual observation to fully understand context and nuance.

6. How do I turn competitor insights into actionable strategies?

Follow this workflow:

1. Identify patterns and gaps in competitors’ offerings
2. Prioritize opportunities based on impact vs effort
3. Design testable experiments (pricing, content, ads, UX)
4. Measure, iterate, and optimize
5. Document everything for future reference

7. What common mistakes should I avoid?

• Focusing too much on competitors and ignoring your own brand identity
• Tracking too many metrics without actionable context
• Not testing or iterating on insights
• Failing to integrate findings into overall growth strategy

8. Can this approach work for small ecommerce stores?

Absolutely. The playbook is scalable. Small stores can start with manual tracking and free tools, then gradually incorporate automation and advanced analytics as they grow.

9. How do I keep this process repeatable and sustainable?

Create a structured workflow and document everything. Use recurring tasks for monitoring key metrics, schedule quarterly deep-dives, and always test before implementing big changes. This turns competitor analysis into a reliable growth engine.

10. Where can I find templates and checklists?

Throughout the article, you’ll find links to:

• Competitor analysis checklists
• Ecommerce competitor analysis spreadsheet templates
• Ad swipe file setup guides

These resources make executing this playbook faster and simpler, ensuring you don’t miss critical steps. Next, you have to craft your unique selling proposition to really shine.