It is clear that having an edge over the competition can help a business thrive in highly saturated markets. Due to increased competition in eCommerce, potential customers have tons of online shopping choices.

Imagine millions of websites are competing to take your place and dominate the market. Because of this, it is so important to know whether your competitors have related products with you or not. Then, you can design a price strategy that hits the sweet spot best. Discover why knowing competitors’ catalogues is fundamental to eCommerce.

1. The importance of competitors’ catalogues

A catalogue, by definition, is a list of items arranged in some systematic way. Over the years, you might have noticed that catalogues have evolved. They are more functional and detailed. 

The method for tracking products also has evolved. It has gone from logging millions of entries manually into ledgers to typing into thousands of Excel spreadsheet cells to out-of-the-box software platforms. Today, having access to the right tools, you can immediately extract a vast amount of inventory data from your competitors.

In eCommerce, having this type of organizing has been fundamental and beneficial to sell, and it certainly will remain that way in the next few years.

2. Price insights

Although the price was not always the deciding factor when making a purchase, now it is a king again. Inflation influences prices like never before, lowering your sales power. In fact, online inflation remains high and shows no signs of slowing down. 

No one can deny that price is a highly conditioning factor at that moment. So, establishing competitive prices is harder but unavoidable to keep your business in a pretty shape. Analyzing the pricing history and complete inventory of your competitors will give you an insight into who you are going up against in the market. 

In turn, this will improve your pricing strategy. You will be the first to know what products your competitors have added and be able to act quickly.

3. Finding weak spots to win the pot

Having an assortment of products that is attractive to the consumer gives a great challenge for retailers. Knowing the catalogue of your competition will not only help you identify which products are in demand, creating a competitive and profitable catalogue. It will also allow you to identify weaknesses and transform them into your eCommerce advantage.

For instance, if a competitor runs out of stock for a product under high demand, you will be able to adapt your strategy best for that particular item. Using tech solutions like Digital Shelf Monitoring will allow you to set alerts that warn when a competitor is closer to an “out of stock” condition. 

4. Up-to-date and detailed catalogues

Creating, maintaining, and improving the descriptions of your products can be a difficult task. But, when you monitor competitors’ products, you can obtain game-changing information such as SKUs, UPCs, EANs, MPNs, descriptions, images, specifications, and more that might appear on the eCommerce websites you selected. Then, finding a selling edge is much easier.

So, ideal catalogue management and price intelligence should give you in-depth knowledge of your competitors’ complete catalogues and availability. It should also have up-to-date, valid, accurate, and reliable data with configurable alerts according to your needs. Not otherwise!

In short, a customer who clicks away from your site and visits one of your competitors might never return. On a B2C level, losing a customer can be a substantial loss. Using tech solutions, which automates this process, will undoubtedly help you avoid such risks. 

Poor catalogue management vs. lack of knowledge? It results in sales loss and a customer’s hesitation to purchase. It also could mean more product returns, which lead to slowing and reversing revenue streams damaging brand loyalty. 

You can push your eCommerce business forward by knowing competitors’ catalogues, making well-informed decisions, and achieving expected outcomes.