Every player in the ecommerce world is vying for one thing \u2013 more customers. This calls for competition, which is the base for the existence of customers. Competition shouldn\u2019t make you feel scared anymore, rather happy and reassured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because your competition helps you formulate innovative strategies (indirectly, of course) and quickly reach an increased number of prospects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping up with competitors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
No matter how different an idea inspired you to have your own ecommerce store; several companies would already be doing the same business, selling out the same products as you do. To keep up with and outdo those businesses, you need to know what gets them customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once you know the strategies that they follow and the tactics they use to sell their products and services, you are prepared to use it against them for your own benefit. Focusing alone on customers is a dire mistake. While you might be avoiding stalking your competitors, they are still spying on you. Even if you choose to leave the opportunity to rout them, you cannot expect them to return the favor, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping an eye on your competition is your chance to fetch new ideas, learn about trending products, be familiar with important and buzzing keywords, and analyze promotions and pricing. This research helps you a great deal in mitigating your risks when introducing a new product, identifying your weaknesses and acquiring new customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Determining competitors\u2019 strengths and weaknesses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
To determine your business rivals\u2019 fortes and failings, you must be able to answer the following questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- What is making people buy from them?<\/span><\/li>
- Are they offering products at relatively lower prices or do they follow a standard, dynamic or distinguished pricing strategy?<\/span><\/li>
- How do they handle payments, shipping and returns?<\/span><\/li>
- How do they deal with their customer queries or complaints?<\/span><\/li>
- How frequently do they promote their products?<\/span><\/li>
- How often do they update their website, blog or social content?<\/span><\/li>
- How friendly and responsive is their website\u2019s or app\u2019s user interface?<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Accumulating this valuable information, you can build a pioneering sales strategy for your online marketplace. Your analysis should be based majorly on your direct competitors. Categorizing your competitors is, therefore, an essential step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Segregating your competitors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Depending upon their objectives and offerings, you can categorize your competitors into three groups:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Direct Competitors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Ecommerce businesses dealing in similar products and services as yours are your direct competitors. They target the same audience that you do and sell their products via the same channels. This is why you consider them as your primary competitors when analyzing your competition. Direct competition calls for efforts and strategies to reach your prospects first.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
An example of direct competition is Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, all of which offer video streaming service to their target audience and create their own content too.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indirect Competitors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Your indirect or secondary competition has a different marketing focus altogether. They may target the same audience as yours, but for selling out different products and services using separate media to serve a different goal.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
TV channels and cinemas are indirect or secondary competitors of video streaming companies like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Substitute\/Replacement Competitors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Targeting the audience you want to reach, these competitors may offer a completely different product as a substitute for what you offer. The sad part here is you can hardly predict how they are going to replace your product or service. Besides, you can do the least to divert your audience from switching to the replacement.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
For instance, people may choose to substitute their time spent on Netflix with that on social media. Because clearly, Netflix provides entertainment but doesn\u2019t let them be social. On social media, they can watch videos, play games and share their experiences with friends.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now the question is how to go about tracking your competition. Basically, it is all about gathering different data such as their website metrics, keywords they use, social following and pricing techniques that you can analyze and use to your advantage. We\u2019ve listed below the best techniques and tools that help you analyze and learn from your competition with ease.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tactics and tools to keep an eye on your business rivals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Study their website<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
First things first. Consider painstakingly going through their website. It shouldn\u2019t simply mean noticing their latest product on sale. Rather, deep dive into the website, observing everything from the landing page to layout design and from content to product categorization, variety and pricing.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at their traffic sources and volumes, bounce rate, and engagement rate. What is something distinguishing on their website that possibly lures their prospects? What is it that you didn\u2019t like? <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Incorporate the good while jettisoning the bad.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Case Study<\/b> – Paperstone knew that lower prices against its competition were its strength. Therefore, the brand displayed their and competitors\u2019 pricing on their homepage in the form of a comparison table.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
This simple move resulted in 10.67% increase in sales for Paperstone.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Case Study<\/b> – ModCloth wanted to sell retro-inspired women\u2019s clothing. To attract and engage the audience, they created and launched a user-generated content platform \u201cStyle Gallery\u201d in 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The innovative strategy resulted in 2.75 million Pinterest followers along with a million Facebook followers. It brought the company over $100 million in revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Preferred Tool<\/b> – SimilarWeb is one of the best tools to study your competitor\u2019s website traffic and its sources. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"1\"](\"https:\/\/www.yo-kart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/1.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nUsing the tool, you can identify where exactly your brand presence matters. Also, a paid version allows you to gain deeper insights and act upon these to enhance your results, if required.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Use reverse image search<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"2\"](\"https:\/\/www.yo-kart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/2.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDiscover your competitors\u2019 latest activities using this simple hack. Save your competitor\u2019s logo from their website. Take, for instance, Adidas\u2019s logo and open Google Images.<\/span>
<\/p>\n\n\n\nUpload the logo using the \u201cUpload an image\u201d option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"3\"](\"https:\/\/www.yo-kart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/3.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nFind the logo in the search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"4\"](\"https:\/\/www.yo-kart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/4.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThis way you can determine the review websites where the particular company is being talked about, the sites where they have their backlinks and the platforms they use. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consequently, you can sell on or secure a link on these websites with high domain authority, if you do not already.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note:<\/i><\/b> You can also go for a popular product\u2019s image instead of the logo to find its sellers and prices. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"5\"](\"https:\/\/www.yo-kart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/5.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nPreferred Tool – <\/b>Keeping a check on all your competitors\u2019 mentions, whether a social media or PR mention or in a blog comment, is easy with Mention. <\/span>
<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe tool alerts you every time your brand or a competitor\u2019s brand is mentioned somewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"6\"](\"https:\/\/www.yo-kart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/6.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nTherefore, you can monitor their engagement strategies, while also looking at their influencer partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To observe your ecommerce business rivals\u2019 backlinks, Ahrefs is an effective tool that lets you gather information on their domain authority, referring domains, backlinks and URL rating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"7\"](\"https:\/\/www.yo-kart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/7.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nYou can even keep track of new referring domains that helps you see how often your rivals are acquiring new links.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further, use Wappalyzer or BuiltWith to learn which platforms, apps or tech tools your opponents are using, including CMSs, advertising tools, plugins, and hosting providers. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Keep a note of customer\u2019s incentives<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
See what kinds of incentive programs your business rivals have for their customers. These programs influence a customer\u2019s behavior and buying decision. A positive reward in return for an action provides a positive customer experience.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a value exchange offer that keeps the customer coming back to their website. Outpacing your competition on these grounds, you can earn an increased number of customers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
What kinds of incentives can you offer?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Are they offering products at relatively lower prices or do they follow a standard, dynamic or distinguished pricing strategy?<\/span><\/li>
![\"8\"](\"https:\/\/www.yo-kart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/8.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"9\"](\"https:\/\/www.yo-kart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/9.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"10\"](\"https:\/\/www.yo-kart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/10.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"12\"](\"https:\/\/www.yo-kart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/12.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"13\"](\"https:\/\/www.yo-kart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/13.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"14\"](\"https:\/\/www.yo-kart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/14.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"16\"](\"https:\/\/www.yo-kart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/16.png\")
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