eCommerce brands need to have tunnel vision for their success. However, conducting a thorough competitive analysis is imperative for understanding the industry. Knowing who you're up against, what they're doing well, and where they're falling short can give you the edge you need to refine your strategy and win more customers.
In this post, we’ll walk through how to conduct an effective competitive analysis, including the difference between direct and aspirational competitors, which metrics really matter, how often you should analyze the competition, and how to turn insights into action.
Understanding Your Competitors
Before diving into the numbers, it’s important to understand who your competitors are as well as the differences between them.
We’ve defined two levels of competitors: Direct and Aspirational. When conducting a competitive analysis, you generally want to keep 3-5 in each category. Having too few won’t give you an accurate depiction of the competitive landscape, but having too many is likely to overwhelm you.
Direct Competitors
These are the companies offering similar products (or services) to the same target audience. They likely sell through similar channels, compete on price, and share many of your customers.
Tracking direct competitors helps you:
- Stay competitive with pricing and promotions
- Understand what products are resonating
- Identify gaps in customer experience
Aspirational Competitors
Aspirational competitors are brands you admire or aim to emulate. For the sake of competition, they’re selling something similar to your product offering, but may have been around longer. They may be market leaders in your niche.
Example: If you’re growing your pottery brand, you may have Farmhouse Pottery as an aspirational competitor.
Watching aspirational competitors allows you to:
- Benchmark your brand experience
- Find inspiration in how they engage and retain customers
- Stay ahead of broader trends in design, user experience, or messaging
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Key Data and Metrics to Track
A competitive analysis is only as good as the data behind it. You can get bogged down in watching every piece of what your competitors are up to, so it’s important to focus on what matters most to your brand. If you’re watching it for your success, watch it for theirs too.
1. Product & Pricing Strategy
Now, everyone sources their products differently, runs with different overheads, advertises differently…you get it. This leads to the probability of pricing differences in an effort to remain profitable. However, if you see a direct competitor listing a similar product for $10 less than yours, that’s something to keep an eye on.
Additionally, keep an eye on your competitors’ reviews and listings. Is there something you can proactively include in your description to increase likelihood of a sale? A question a lot of buyers have?
Metrics to Watch:
- Product range and depth (SKUs, variants)
- Pricing tiers and promotional strategies
- Subscription or bundling models
2. Website & User Experience
For starters, do your competitors even have a website? If they’ve developed a DTC presence and subsequent community, that’s a big thing. While you can get away with not having one, it builds trust with consumers if they’re able to find records of your brand beyond eCommerce marketplaces.
Now, if your competitors don’t have a DTC website, you can also check out product detail pages, Storefronts, and other brand-building assets available on the marketplace.
Metrics to Watch:
- Site speed and mobile responsiveness
- Navigation and search functionality
- Product detail page quality (images, descriptions, FAQs)
- Checkout process (ease, payment options, upsells)
3. Marketing Channels & Campaigns
How are your competitors getting the word out? You likely share an ideal customer, so seeing the level of engagement on ads, social media, or even eCommerce promotions can help influence marketing decisions you might make for your brand.
Metrics to Watch:
- SEO performance (keywords, backlinks)
- Paid ads (search, social, display)
- Email frequency, tone, and CTAs
- Social media presence and engagement
4. Customer Sentiment & Reviews
Reviews, social media comments, UGC…these are all great places to get natural feedback from your target audience, regardless of whether they purchased from you or not. This should be pulled into product listings, used for feature improvements, and even marketing campaigns.
Metrics to Watch:
- Star ratings across platforms (Amazon, Trustpilot, Google)
- Common praise or complaints in customer reviews
- Social media mentions and feedback
5. Brand Positioning & Messaging
This is really where brand differences come out. For example, Mrs. Meyers, Equate (Walmart’s brand), and Morroccanoil all sell hand soap, but have very different brand positioning and messaging.
You want to balance the ability to resonate with your audience with standing out against the competition.
Metrics to Watch:
- Unique selling proposition (USP)
- Brand tone and visual identity
- Storytelling, values, and emotional appeal
6. Performance Metrics
This is the hardest set of metrics to watch when it comes to your competitive analysis. There are platforms out there that can help estimate some of these numbers, but we always recommend using them directionally, not as a source of truth.
You can also do some “napkin math” with data available from Trellis’ Chrome Extension or even the resources available on Amazon or Walmart listings.
Metrics to Watch:
- Estimated monthly traffic
- Conversion rates (if publicly shared)
- Average order value (AOV)
- Return or churn rates
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How Often Should You Analyze Competitors?
With Amazon or Walmart, competitors enter the market every day. However, it’s not sustainable to always be looking over your shoulder for the latest players to enter the market. Set up some reminders to do maintenance analysis.
- Monthly: Quick check-ins on pricing, product launches, ad campaigns.
- Quarterly: In-depth review of website updates, SEO changes, and content strategy.
- Annually: Full SWOT analysis. Benchmark against both direct and aspirational competitors. Refresh your strategy based on findings.
Turn Insights Into Action
One of your greatest assets in a scalable competitive analysis is Amazon Marketing Cloud. With access to in-depth shopper analytics, user behaviors, and more, it's a tool you can't afford to leave out of your strategy.
Once you’ve gathered your data, the most important step is acting on it. Ask:
- Can we refine our pricing to stay competitive?
- Are there features or content we’re missing?
- How can we improve our messaging to stand out?
- Should we double down on a channel that’s working for others?
Example: If a competitor sees success from influencer campaigns on TikTok, that might be your signal to explore short-form video content or micro-influencers.
However, you can’t do it all. Focus on individual tests to see how your audience will react, and if these tests will have the desired impact on your bottom line.
Stay on Top of Your Competitive Analysis
A well-run competitive analysis can open your eyes to new opportunities, sharpen your marketing strategy, and help you better serve your customers. Start by identifying one direct and one aspirational competitor. Monitor them regularly, measure what matters, and use those insights to make smarter business decisions.
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