Competitive Intelligence for Ecommerce Brands
Know which competitors' ads, offers, products, messaging and positioning win. Answer with the right launch, price or promotion to win shoppers back. The complete guide for ecommerce founders, marketers and marketplace sellers.
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- 5.9bn
- low-cost parcels reached EU shoppers in 2025, over 90% of them from China European Commission, 2026
Definition
What is competitive intelligence for ecommerce brands?
An ecommerce brand's competitive intelligence covers any company your shoppers could buy from instead: brands like yours, marketplace sellers and the giant platforms. It follows their ads, prices, promotions, reviews, launches and shipping terms, most of which are public. Use it to choose your next promotion, product launch and ad budget.
On your own direct-to-consumer (DTC) store, you compete for attention: the brands bidding on the same searches and filling the same social feeds. On Amazon, you compete on one results page with sellers you may never have heard of, and with Amazon's own brands.
The competitors many brands now fear are Temu and Shein. Temu counted about 124 million monthly users in the EU in the first half of 2026, and Shein 127.9 million from February to July. Both opened their EU marketplaces in 2023.
Amazon answered in November 2024 with Haul, a store where every item costs $20 or less. A year later, Haul also served shoppers in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan and Australia.
Skincare brand Remedy found copies of its $38 serum on Temu for as little as $2.69 in 2024. "I was surprised at how quickly they were able to identify the demand for a new brand," its founder, Muneeb Shah, told Modern Retail.
Use cases
How ecommerce brands use competitive intelligence
Shoppers can compare you with any competitor in two clicks, so a gap between your offer and theirs shows up fast in conversion and reviews. Competitive intelligence tells you where that gap is.
Reading competitors' ads
Public ad libraries show every ad a competitor runs, and in the EU how many people saw it. Ads that keep running for months are usually the ones that sell.
Mining competitors' reviews
Read the one-star competitor reviews on the best sellers in your category. Sizes that run small, slow delivery or a weak battery tell you what to fix and promise.
Following marketplace rankings
Amazon's Best Sellers and Movers & Shakers lists show which products are rising in your category. A newcomer that climbs fast deserves a look at its price, offer and first reviews.
Timing promotions
Note when each competitor discounts, how deep and for how long, from launch week to Black Friday. Then choose the sales you will answer, and the ones you will sit out.
Spotting launches early
A trademark filing for a new name, a teaser ad or a waiting-list page often shows a launch weeks or months ahead. Check it against your own range plan before launch week.
Catching copies
Copies of a successful product can appear on Amazon, Temu or TikTok Shop within weeks. Search them for your best sellers monthly, and report copies that use your brand.
In practice
Competitive intelligence examples for ecommerce brands
These moves show up within days on a policy page, in an ad library, on a best-seller list or in a register. Copying the move is rarely the right answer.
Illustrative examples · CompetitorX is a fictional competitor
The competitor move
CompetitorX lowers its free-delivery threshold from €60 to €40.
Your move
Check its prices first: a lower threshold often comes with higher prices or a new delivery fee. Test your own threshold on part of your traffic before you match it, and watch your conversion rate.
Within two weeks.
The competitor move
CompetitorX starts its Black Friday discounts two weeks earlier than last year.
Your move
Decide whether your shoppers will wait for your sale or buy from CompetitorX now. Protect your best sellers with a gift or a bundle rather than a deeper discount.
Before your promotion calendar is locked.
The competitor move
CompetitorX lists a copy of your best seller on Amazon and Temu at a quarter of your price.
Your move
Check whether it uses your brand name, photos or design. Report it through each marketplace's infringement form, and show shoppers on your own pages how to recognise the original.
The week you find it.
The competitor move
CompetitorX files a trademark for a new name in the skincare class.
Your move
Read the goods listed in the filing: serums, sun care, men's grooming. Compare them with your range plan, then decide whether to launch first or position against it.
Before your next range review.
The competitor move
CompetitorX climbs into the top 10 of your Amazon category with a new product.
Your move
Read its listing, price and first reviews, and check how many come from Amazon's Vine programme of free products. Answer with an ad on your own listing, a bundle or a new variant.
Within the week.
The competitor move
CompetitorX starts charging €3.95 for returns.
Your move
Some of its shoppers will now compare returns before they buy. If your returns stay free, say so on product pages and in ads. If you charge too, watch your return rate and reviews.
Within the month.
What to know
What to know about each competing brand
You can fill most of this from a competitor's own site and a few public pages in an afternoon. Its launch plans take a season of watching.
Range and products
- Which products are its best sellers, on its site and on each marketplace?
- Which new products, colours or sizes did it add this season?
- Which trademarks has it filed recently?
Prices and offers
- What are its usual prices, and how often does it discount?
- Where does free delivery start, and what do returns cost?
- Which bundles, gifts or subscriptions does it push?
Ads and channels
- Which ads has it run longest, and with what promise?
- Where does it sell: its own store, Amazon, TikTok Shop, Zalando?
- How does its search interest compare with yours?
Reviews and service
- What do its one-star reviews complain about?
- How fast does it deliver, and how easy are its returns?
- How does it answer bad reviews?
Sources
Where ecommerce brands find competitive intelligence
Ecommerce is unusually open: ads, prices, policies and reviews all sit in public view. Your own business adds the part no one publishes, which is why shoppers chose a competitor over you.
What you already hear
- Customer service
- Shoppers ask in chats and emails why a competitor is cheaper or delivers faster. Tag each mention with the competitor's name, and read the totals monthly.
- Post-purchase surveys
- Ask new customers which other brands they considered before buying. One question after checkout tells you who you really compete with, product by product.
- Your ad accounts
- Google Ads' auction insights show which competitors bid on the same searches as you, and how often they appear above you. It is the closest you get to measuring competitor ad spend.
- Merchant Center
- If you list products on Google, Merchant Center's Competitors report names the stores shown next to yours. Its Pricing report compares your prices with theirs on the same products, for your own use only.
What competitors publish
- Meta, TikTok and Google ad libraries
- Meta's Ad Library shows every active ad. For ads shown in the EU, it adds dates, targeting and reach: Gymshark's French ad offering free delivery from €59 reached 1.87 million accounts. TikTok's and Google's libraries do the same for Europe.
- Amazon's EU ad library
- Amazon publishes the ads shown in its EU stores over the past year, with dates and an impressions range. One power bank ad ran from June to October 2026 and earned 54,000 to 55,000 impressions in Germany. The US and UK stores have no such library.
- Best-seller lists
- Amazon's Best Sellers, New Releases and Movers & Shakers lists change through the day, category by category. Read them as a shopper would, and note new entries and fast climbers.
- Marketplace product pages
- A product page shows the rating, the review count, a "bought in past month" badge and, on some US pages, an AI summary of what buyers say. In the EU, the page also names the company behind each seller.
- Review sites
- Trustpilot shows how many of a brand's reviews it invited and how many came unprompted. Google's store ratings, at google.com/storepages, give each shop's score per country, from at least 100 reviews.
- Policy and price pages
- Save competitors' shipping, returns and price pages with the date you checked them. Web archives keep older versions. In the EU, a "was" price must be the lowest of the previous 30 days, so you can check a discount claim.
- Trademark filings
- The USPTO, EUIPO, UK IPO and WIPO registers show new names a competitor has filed, often months before launch. Search by company name, read the goods listed, and treat each filing as an early sign of its product roadmap.
- Search interest
- Google Trends compares interest in your brand name and competitors' over time, country by country. Small brands get noisy figures, so compare months rather than days.
- Social media and newsletters
- A competitor's social media accounts show its launches, creators and comments. Subscribe to competitors' emails and text messages under your own name to see each promotion the day it starts.
- Safety and customs records
- The EU's Safety Gate and the UK's product safety database list unsafe products, often with the origin and the marketplace listing removed. US vessel manifests are public too, unless the importer asks for confidentiality.
- Company filings
- Listed brands describe their competition in SEC filings: Warby Parker's lists "low priced, online-only players like Zenni Optical". UK companies file accounts too, and Shein's UK company reported £2.05 billion of revenue for 2024.
Stay on the right side of the line
Never write, buy or suppress reviews, and never ask anyone to review a competitor's product. Don't collect listings or prices from Amazon: its terms forbid it. Never agree on prices or promotions with another brand.
Signal vs noise
Which competitor moves an ecommerce brand should answer
Ecommerce makes more noise than most markets: new ads every day, flash sales, viral products. Act on what changes what your shoppers see, pay or receive.
Track
Act within a week
- A new product among your category's best sellers
- A change to a competitor's shipping or returns terms
- A copy of one of your products
- A trademark filing in your product class
- An early start to a competitor's big sale
Skim
Monthly roll-up
- Creator and influencer deals
- Follower counts
- New payment options
- Website redesigns
- Pop-up shops and events
Ignore
Unless it repeats
- Sales estimates without a method
- Ad counts read as budgets
- One-day price drops
- Viral posts about a competitor
- Brands your shoppers never compare
Ad counts mislead most. A brand running 40 ads may be testing small changes to a handful of ideas, not outspending you. Watch which ads keep running instead.
Treat one-day price drops the same way. They often clear old stock or a single size, and the usual price returns the next week.
Catch each ecommerce competitor's new offers and ads
Every new promotion, shipping offer and ad from competing brands reaches you the day it appears.
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Distribution
Who hears about competing brands, and who acts on it
Customer service hears about competitors daily, and marketing meets them in the ad auctions. The people who plan ranges and promotions need both before they commit stock.
What comes in
Customer service
Which competitors shoppers mention, and for what offer.
Performance marketing
Who bids on your searches, and what your ads now cost.
Marketplace team
New sellers, copies and rank moves in your categories.
Sourcing
Factory news, materials and lead times that hit competitors too.
What goes out
MarketingCampaign plan
Competitors' offers, ads and messages to answer.
MerchandisingRange review
Competitors' new products, best sellers and gaps.
EcommercePromo calendar
Last year's competitor sale dates and discounts.
ProductLaunch plan
Competitors' trademarks, launches and review themes.
LeadershipWeekly update
The two or three moves that need a decision.
Before a peak sale, put last year's competitor dates, discounts and delivery promises next to your own plan. Competitors often repeat their calendar from one year to the next.
Marketing teams already use most of these sources, from ad libraries to search interest. At a young brand, founders usually read them in a spare hour each week, and product managers turn review themes into the next version.
The deliverable
The competitor brand profile your team works from
Before a range review or a peak sale, your team should see each competing brand laid out the same way, with the date you checked each line. Prices and offers change weekly, so date those lines most carefully.
01Best sellers
Top products on its site and marketplaces, with ranks and dates.
02Range
New products, sizes and colours, and recent trademark filings.
03Prices and offers
Usual prices, discount depth and timing, bundles and gifts.
04Delivery and returns
Free-delivery threshold, delivery times and return fees.
05Ads
Its longest-running ads, their promise and the channels used.
06Reviews
Rating, review count and the top three complaints.
07Channels
Its own store, marketplaces and social shops, by country.
08Our answer
What you promise instead, and where you say it.
To take apart a competitor's product page, checkout and offer step by step, use a competitor teardown.
To set two products side by side on size, materials, price and reviews, a product comparison template keeps every line on the same terms.
The ecommerce calendar
Peak sales and launch dates across the ecommerce year
Shoppers buy on a calendar of gifts, seasons and sales events, and most competitors plan to the same dates. Last year's moves are the best guide to this year's.
- 1
Winter sales and new fees
January- Winter sales clear stock, and Amazon's new US seller fees usually take effect in mid-January.
- Note which competitors raise prices or leave a marketplace after the change.
- 2
Chinese New Year
January to February- Many factories in China slow down around the new year, which falls on 6 February in 2027.
- Competitors that source there may run short of stock or launch later.
- 3
Spring gifting
March to May- Mothering Sunday falls on 7 March 2027 in the UK, and Mother's Day on 9 May in the US.
- Record which competitors launch gift sets and bundles, and at what price.
- 4
Prime Day and summer sales
June to July- Amazon held Prime Day on 23–26 June in 2026, in 22 countries.
- Other marketplaces and brands time their own sales against it.
- 5
Autumn launches
September to October- New collections land, and Amazon ran a second Prime sale on 6–7 October 2026.
- Amazon announces next year's US seller fees in October or November.
- 6
Singles' Day to Cyber Monday
November- Singles' Day falls on 11 November, Black Friday on 27 November 2026 and Cyber Monday on 30 November.
- Record each competitor's start date, discount depth and free-shipping offer.
- 7
Christmas delivery and returns
December- Last delivery dates and longer return windows become selling points.
- Note who promises delivery latest, and who extends returns into January.
Routine
A weekly and seasonal competitor routine for ecommerce teams
Ads and best-seller lists change daily, policies every few weeks and ranges each season. Match each check to that pace, and add one before every peak sale.
Weekly
45 minutes- Look through the ad libraries for competitors' latest ads.
- Scan your category's best-seller lists for new entries.
- Read new one-star reviews on their best sellers.
Monthly
90 minutes- Check competitors' shipping, returns and price pages.
- Search trademark registers and marketplaces for copies.
- Compare your search interest with theirs.
Each season
3 hours- Update each competitor brand profile.
- Compare last season's promotions with yours.
- Share the three biggest changes with leadership.
Before a peak sale
4 hours- List last year's dates, discounts and shipping offers.
- Agree on which offers you will answer.
- Tell customer service about competitors' offers.
When a competitor launches a big campaign, an ad copy analysis prompt sorts its ads by promise and offer, so you see the few ideas behind dozens of versions.
Freshness
How long each fact about a competing brand stays true
During a sale, a fact about a competitor can be wrong within hours. Note when you checked each line, and look again when its trigger appears.
| What you track | Goes stale in | Update it when |
|---|---|---|
| Ads running | Days | A new campaign or a sale |
| Best-seller ranks | Hours | A sale, a launch or a stock-out |
| Prices and promotions | A week | A sale starting or ending |
| Delivery and returns terms | A season | A change on the policy page |
| Range | A season | A new collection or trademark filing |
| Ratings and review counts | A month | A launch or a burst of reviews |
| Review complaints | One product version | A new version or supplier |
| Channels and countries | Months | A launch on a new marketplace |
| Marketplace fees | A year | Amazon's yearly fee announcement |
| Customs and duties | Until the rules change | A new duty or exemption decision |
In November, check prices and promotions daily. A competitor's Black Friday offer can change several times during the sale.
Metrics
Measuring your position against competing brands
Ecommerce teams already watch conversion, average order value (AOV) and return rates. Add three numbers that compare you with competitors.
Share of search
your branded search volume ÷ total category branded search volume
Compare searches for your brand name with competitors' in each country. It tends to move before sales do, so read it monthly and judge it over a year.
Market share
your revenue ÷ total market revenue, same period and same market definition
Where retail panels measure your category, use them. On marketplaces, totals are estimates, so read the trend rather than the figure.
Competitive pricing index
your price ÷ median competitor price for a matched configuration × 100
Your products and theirs rarely share a barcode, so match comparable ones: same size, materials and pack. Track the index on your best sellers.
Your post-purchase survey adds a fourth view: which competitors new customers considered, and how that list changes over a year.
Pitfalls
Competitor mistakes that cost ecommerce brands margin
The expensive mistakes come from copying a competitor's offer without knowing what it costs them, or what it will cost you.
Matching every discount
Each matched discount teaches shoppers to wait for the next one. Answer with bundles, gifts or faster delivery.
Watching only DTC brands like yours
Shoppers also compare you with Amazon's own brands, Temu listings and TikTok sellers. Put them on the list.
Reading rank as sales
BSR moves with recent sales and means little across categories. Compare ranks within one, over weeks.
Finding copies through your reviews
When a shopper complains about a fake, it has sold for weeks. Search marketplaces for your products monthly.
Copying a delivery threshold
A threshold that suits a competitor's basket can cut your conversion. Test it on your own traffic first.
Fighting copies on price
You will not beat a $3 copy on price. Win on quality, speed, returns and reviews you can show.
Automation
How to automate competitive intelligence for ecommerce brands
Competing brands change something on their sites every day: a price, a delivery promise, a new product, a sale banner. In a small team, nobody has time to reopen ten stores each morning, so you hear about most changes from shoppers.
Keeping that watch is the job of competitive intelligence platforms. Flares follows competing brands' websites, product and price pages, promotions, ads, reviews and messaging, then points out the changes that touch your categories. It does not read marketplace best-seller lists, trademark registers or customs records, so add them to your monthly checks.
Competitor alerts
New products, prices and promotions on competitors' sites, flagged the day they appear.
Weekly competitive digest
On Mondays, seven days of changes at competing brands, sorted by product category.
AI competitive analysis reports
The range, offers and messaging of a competing brand, analysed in a report for your next range review.
Answer ecommerce competitors before your next peak sale
With Flares, each promotion plan starts from what competing brands changed this week: prices, offers and ads.
14-day free trial · 30-second setup
FAQ
Ecommerce competitive intelligence FAQ
How do ecommerce brands use competitive intelligence?
Ecommerce brands use it to plan promotions, set shipping and returns terms, choose which products to launch and decide where to spend on ads. Marketing teams read competitors' ads and search interest. Merchandisers watch best-seller lists and ranges, and customer service hears which offers shoppers compare.
How do you do a competitor analysis for an ecommerce brand?
List the brands and sellers your shoppers compare you with, on your store and on each marketplace. For each brand, record its best sellers, prices and promotions, shipping and returns terms, running ads, rating and top complaints, with the date you checked. Then pick the two or three differences you can act on before your next sale or launch.
How do you compete with Temu and Shein?
Compete where price matters less: delivery speed, easy returns, quality proven in reviews and a brand shoppers trust. A copy shipped from China will usually undercut you on price alone. Their costs are rising, though, as the US and the EU now charge duty on the cheap parcels that carry many of their orders.
What is Amazon Best Sellers Rank?
Best Sellers Rank (BSR) is a product's position in an Amazon category, based on its recent and past sales and updated frequently. Amazon itself says the rank doesn't always show how well an item sells compared with similar items. Compare ranks within one category only, and follow them over weeks rather than reading a single day.
How can you find out how much a competitor sells on Amazon?
You can only estimate it. Product pages show a "bought in past month" badge in bands such as 100+ or 1K+, and a review count that keeps climbing shows steady sales. Third-party sales estimates are models built on ranks, so treat them as ranges. For listed brands, annual reports give the real totals.
Can you track competitor prices on Amazon?
You can read them on any product page, as every shopper does. Amazon's conditions of use exclude collecting its listings, descriptions or prices, so don't build price tables from it. Follow competitor pricing on each brand's own website instead. Repricing software, which changes your own Amazon prices to follow the cheapest offer, does a different job.
Can you see a competitor's TikTok ads?
You can, if the ads ran in Europe. TikTok's Commercial Content Library lists each ad shown in the EU, with its dates, targeting and a band of how many people saw it. TikTok Creative Center's top ads work differently: they show only ads that advertisers agreed to feature, not a competitor's full set.
What does the end of de minimis mean for ecommerce brands?
De minimis was the US rule that let parcels worth $800 or less in without duty. It ended for all countries on 29 August 2025, after 1.36 billion such parcels in 2024. Competitors that shipped single orders from China lost part of their cost advantage in the US. The EU now charges €3 per item, and the UK plans to end its £135 relief by October 2028.
How do you find out when a competitor launches a new product?
Watch trademark registers first, because brands often file a name months ahead. The fashion brand Khy was filed as a US trademark in May 2023, about five and a half months before its launch was announced. Then watch new pages on the competitor's site, teaser ads in ad libraries and Amazon's New Releases list.
Are fake reviews illegal?
Yes, they are illegal in the US, the UK and the EU. Since October 2024, the FTC can seek fines from companies that write, buy or suppress reviews. The UK banned posting or commissioning fake reviews in April 2025, with fines of up to 10% of global turnover. EU law bans them too, and requires shops to say how they check their reviews.
How can you check whether a competitor's discount is real?
In the EU, a price cut must be measured from the lowest price of the previous 30 days. Save the competitor's product page before its sale, then compare its "was" price with what you saved. In May 2025, EU consumer authorities told Shein that some of its price reductions were not based on real prior prices.
Is it worth copying a competitor's free-shipping threshold?
Copy it only after testing it on your own shoppers. A competitor's threshold reflects its own basket size and margins, not yours. Change yours for part of your traffic, then compare conversion and AOV over a few weeks before you decide.
How do you deal with copies of your products on marketplaces?
Register your trademark and designs first, so each complaint can cite a registration. Search each marketplace for your best sellers every month, and report copies through its infringement form. Expect to repeat it: gum brand Underbrush took down about 350 to 400 knockoff accounts, its founder told Modern Retail in 2025.
Is competitive intelligence legal for ecommerce brands?
Yes, when you read what competitors publish and buy their products under your own name. Fake, bought or hidden reviews are illegal in the US, the UK and the EU, whoever they target. Never agree on prices or promotions with another brand. In comparison ads, stay accurate and never present your product as a copy of theirs.
What tools do ecommerce brands use for competitive intelligence?
The free sources cover a lot: ad libraries, marketplace best-seller lists, Google Trends, trademark registers and their own Merchant Center reports. Competitive intelligence software adds a daily check of competitors' own websites: new products, prices, promotions, ads and messaging.
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