You’ve done your research, you’ve set your prices, your customers are rolling in and they love you. Everything is going great …
But could it be better?
There is the old advice to ignore what your competition is doing and focus instead on growing your own business. It might be a time saver, but what if paying attention to your competitors actually made your business more profitable?
Keeping an eye on your rivals is an incredibly effective way to develop marketing strategies, enhance your products and create a better user experience.
All of which drive profits.
So let’s take a look at why you should keep an eye on your rivals.
We live in a fast-paced world
In an ideal world you would be miles ahead of your competition, kicking up dust in their face and watching them recede into the distance.
But reality is, the world is fast-moving with technology driving change at a record pace. You’re a part of that drive but it’s easy to get left behind. Or worse, become the copycat of that app that everyone has and uses, even though you were in the business first.
There is a limited market share and one innovative idea can quickly spiral into a runaway success, and a lot of failed competitors.
When you understand your rivals you can either undercut them or offer more value at a higher price point. Or you can introduce that feature your rivals’ customers have been crying out for. Or provide a better customer experience.
The right strategies will depend on where you sit in the market and will change over time.
Keeping an eye on your direct competition means you can react to market changes before they do, or respond in a more innovative way.
Everyone makes mistakes
There is a lot to be learnt from the successes and failures of others. Your competitors have advantages and disadvantages just like you. They’ve made mistakes just like you.
Maybe it was a pricing structure that was too cheap, or too expensive. Or the introduction of features their customers didn’t need. Or a miscalculation in providing adequate customer support.
When you understand your competitors advantages and disadvantages you can enhance your offering to fill market gaps and outperform them.
Keeping an eye on your rivals performance over time can help you implement the strategies that worked and avoid the ones that didn’t.
But you don’t have the time
Your resources are limited, and obsessing over the competition is time not spent growing your business.
Obsession is never healthy, but when competitors are vying for the same customers it does pay to be aware of them.
Which is where competitor monitoring apps like SaaS Insights come in.
Find your competitors and track their ranking in the Shopify App Store. Follow their reviews and what keywords they are ranking for and how well they are doing over time.
Growing your business into what your customers want should always be your top priority.
But with a competitor monitoring app, when your rivals act, you’ll have it covered.