Shopify store owners have to offer customers on-trend and in-demand products to succeed in a competitive market. If you don't know what those products are, a competitive analysis can provide the insight your business needs to get ahead.
Competitive analysis, in a nutshell, is an assessment used to gauge a company’s strengths, weaknesses, and market presence. It brings your attention to specific characteristics that set competing brands apart. With that knowledge, your business can sell products that align with market trends and a target audience and analyze data that speaks to what has and hasn’t worked in the past.
To make the most of competitive analysis and use it toward selling the best products on the market, first:
1. Identify Your Audience and Top Competitors
To sell the right product, first understand your target audience, their buying products, and which companies offer those products. You can then use competitor analysis to assess essential metrics, customer base, and marketing. Your top competitors will vary depending on the type of product you sell, and knowing who they are is key to navigating the industry you're in.
2. Analyze Market Trends
Market trends communicate customer preferences, and the data provides insight into the products and services people most want and need. Shopify offers many reporting tools that spotlight the highest and lowest selling products. You can use keyword data and other metrics to determine popular products and how consumers search for them.
3. Properly Implementing Your Analysis into Marketing and Sales Funnels
Competitive analysis provides essential information on how successful your competition is in marketing its services and products. You can implement that knowledge into your marketing plan to increase awareness of your business and encourage customers to prioritize purchasing from you.
After identifying which trends are most popular and what works for other businesses, test new concepts against your current marketing campaigns to see which is more effective. You should also test out new layouts on your website, or find new ways to engage with potential customers based on what's working or isn't working for competitors.
The real key here is properly tracking and monitoring your changes. Split testing can give you deeper insights into the best ways to reach your audience. And advertising platforms like Google Ads and Facebook allow you to test multiple ad copies. Take the information you've learned from your analysis and find the best combination for your offerings.
4. Use Spy Tools To Get An Edge
Competitive analysis spy tools provide business owners insight into top competitors. Gone are the days of manually researching and assembling data, as spy tools do the leg work by finding competitor insights like their brand theme, product variations, platform traffic, and go-to product vendors. Spy tools also allow you to learn from competitors' mistakes and successes to implicate robust solutions that work for your business.
Our CommerceInspector spy tool is one of the best on the market, allowing business owners to track Shopify store's product launches, best sellers, traffic, sales, ad campaigns, apps, and more. CommerceInspector provides you with powerful insights about your Shopify store that help you increase sales, understand visitors' behavior, and identify new opportunities.
We offer plans for any size business ranging from free to $299/month. Whether you have a store or 30, they have a plan to fit your needs! With over 100,000 users, they're a proven software.
Final Thoughts
Now that you've learned how to use competitive analysis, it's time to put these strategies into practice. Start by determining who purchases products and services like yours. You can also find valuable insights into effective marketing plans. Analyzing market trends with the help of Shopify reporting tools or Amazon customer data is a great place to start. You can then implement this information into your marketing campaigns. Be sure to properly track these changes to find what works the best for your business.
Skip the manual labor of competitive analysis and use CommerceInspector to get an edge on top competitors in your industry. For real-time Shopify competitor intelligence, CommerceInspector offers market insights that no other platform can provide and will help you discover what your competitors are doing, which keywords they're targeting, and how to improve your marketing strategies.
Ideal for both small and large businesses, CommerceInspector provides easy-to-understand reports with a comprehensive overview of competitor data you need to succeed online.