TL;DR
Automated price monitoring saves 92% of manual tracking time. Use web scrapers to track competitor prices daily. The price monitoring software market is projected to reach $2.17 billion by 2026. Start with Apify scrapers for common retailers.
Why Price Monitoring Matters
The global e-commerce market reached $3.9 trillion in 2024. It is expected to hit $4.4 trillion in 2025. Competition is intense. Prices change constantly.
Manual price tracking does not scale. A study by Price2Spy found that switching to automated monitoring saves 92% of labor costs while improving decision quality.
What to Track
| Data Point | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Current price | Know what competitors charge right now |
| Historical prices | Identify pricing patterns and trends |
| Stock status | Capitalize when competitors are out of stock |
| Shipping costs | Compare total landed cost, not just list price |
| Promotions | Track sales, coupons, and bundle deals |
| MAP violations | Monitor if resellers undercut minimum prices |
Building a Price Monitoring System
Option 1: Use Specialized Software
Enterprise price monitoring tools handle everything:
- Prisync: Starts at $49/month. Real-time tracking for 100+ products.
- Price2Spy: From $23.95/month. Supports multiple currencies and regions.
- Intelligence Node: Enterprise pricing. Refreshes every 10 seconds.
- Competera: AI-powered pricing optimization.
These tools are good for teams that want plug-and-play solutions with dashboards and alerts.
Option 2: Build with Apify Scrapers
For more control and lower costs at scale, use Apify scrapers:
| Retailer | Scraper | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon | Amazon Product Scraper | ~$0.004/product |
| Walmart | Walmart Scraper | ~$0.003/product |
| eBay | eBay Scraper | ~$0.003/product |
| Target | Target Scraper | ~$0.005/product |
| Any site | E-commerce Scraping Tool | Varies by site |
Setting Up Automated Monitoring
Step 1: Create Your Product List
Build a list of products to monitor:
- Your own products (track competitors selling the same items)
- Competitor products (track their pricing strategy)
- Category leaders (benchmark against top performers)
For each product, collect: Product URL, ASIN/SKU, product name, your current price.
Step 2: Set Up Scrapers
- Go to Apify and find the scraper for your target retailer
- Input your product URLs or ASINs
- Test with a small batch (10-20 products)
- Verify data accuracy in the output
Step 3: Schedule Regular Runs
Set up automated schedules:
- Daily: For fast-moving categories like electronics
- Weekly: For stable categories like furniture
- Hourly: During major sales events (Black Friday, Prime Day)
Step 4: Store and Analyze Data
Connect scrapers to storage:
- Google Sheets: Simple, visual, easy to share
- Database: PostgreSQL, MongoDB for large datasets
- Data warehouse: BigQuery, Snowflake for analytics
Cost Comparison
Monitoring 1,000 products daily across 3 retailers:
| Approach | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| Manual tracking (analyst) | $4,000+ (40+ hours/week) |
| Prisync/Price2Spy | $200-500/month |
| Apify scrapers | $50-150/month |
Dynamic Pricing Integration
Connect price data to repricing tools:
- Export data: Send scraped prices to your database
- Set rules: Define pricing logic (match lowest, undercut by 2%, etc.)
- Automate updates: Push new prices to your store via API
Popular repricing tools: RepricerExpress, Seller Snap, Informed.co
Key Metrics to Track
- Price position: Are you cheapest, most expensive, or middle?
- Price gap: How far are you from the market average?
- Price volatility: How often do competitors change prices?
- Win rate: How often are you the lowest-priced option?
Common Questions
Q: How often should I monitor prices?
A: It depends on your category. Electronics and fashion change daily. Furniture and appliances change weekly. During sales events, monitor hourly.
Q: Is price scraping legal?
A: Scraping publicly displayed prices is legal. However, using the data for price-fixing with competitors violates antitrust laws. Use data only for your own pricing decisions.
Q: What about MAP monitoring?
A: If you are a brand, use scraping to monitor if resellers violate Minimum Advertised Price policies. Document violations and enforce your MAP agreements.
Q: Can I track international prices?
A: Yes. Most scrapers support multiple regions. Run separate scrapes for each country. Handle currency conversion in your analysis.
Getting Started
- Start with 100-200 products across 2-3 competitors
- Run daily scrapes for 2 weeks to establish baselines
- Identify patterns (when do they change prices? by how much?)
- Expand to more products and competitors
- Connect to your pricing/repricing system
The data advantage compounds over time. The sooner you start, the more historical context you build.