A recent LinkedIn poll by a CMO of an international company reveals that:

  • 30% of businesses track their competitor’s moves and pricing once a week.
  • 16% track a few times per week
  • 18% track it once a month
  • 24% track it every day and
  • 12% hardly track it

The sum it up, around 76% of people DO NOT monitor their competitor’s prices on a daily basis.

In case you didn’t know, the e-commerce industry is growing at a steady rate of 23% every year, which means the competition, is steadily rising day by day. Every day the reputed brands are branching out and new entrants are moving up the ladder. If you think competitor price monitoring is irrelevant because you have an effective business strategy to sell your products and services then you are wrong!

Everyone in the market follows the same pricing model and analytics to compete against the entrenched market leader. Therefore, ‘pricing’ must guide even the best business strategy. This is precisely why you need to monitor competitor prices in real time. It will help you accomplish major goals—squelch competitive threats and maximize your sales.

Why should you Monitor Competitor Prices in Real Time

  1. Regular price monitoring helps you understand how prices are changing over time, what are the latest trends and how are your competitors reacting to it!
  2. In certain verticals (such as air ticketing, electronics, etc.) prices frequently change throughout the day. If you track the pricing trends daily, you would realize that as soon as a powerful challenger changes price, your competitors would soon follow.
  3. With an increased visibility of the market trends, you’ll be able to develop a better pricing strategy.
  4. You’ll be able to fight automated pricing systems like Amazon that constantly try to price lower than the established brands.
  5. Today’s buyers make shopping decisions based on brand value, credibility, user experience, product pricing, promotional offers, special features and ease of usage. Daily monitoring your competitor’s website will help you keep your buyers interested in your offerings.

You just have to do some basic market research and find the best monitoring tool that suits your business goals. It will ensure that you are ahead of your competitors all the time.