Competitor Analysis In Ecommerce

If you looked at last week’s performance and thought, “Wow, we were down…” dig deeper. It wasn’t just you. Amazon Prime Day shifted buyer behaviour across the board. Many brands felt the impact, lower traffic, slower conversions, and customers holding off for bigger deals elsewhere. Amazon is only growing its share of wallet and burying your head in the sand won’t fix it. So what can you do? 1. Re-evaluate your channel mix You don’t have to sell on Amazon (or maybe you should?) but you do need a strategy for how to compete with it. That might mean exploring marketplaces, refining your owned channels, or even testing Amazon as a top-of-funnel discovery tool (many brands use it for visibility, not margin). 2. Get proactive around retail events Map out key retail moments like Prime Day, Black Friday, and EOFY now. Run your own promos early, lean into loyalty campaigns, or promote “non-discount” value (bundles, GWP, exclusives) to avoid being drowned out. What about free express shipping? 3. Focus on lifetime value A one-week dip isn’t the problem, failing to build long-term customer relationships is. Invest in post-purchase journeys, community engagement, and email/SMS retention flows that outlive Amazon’s flash sales. 4. Strengthen your brand moat Amazon sells products. You sell a brand experience. Use it. Whether it’s through storytelling, content, or service, your brand equity should be doing the heavy lifting, especially when price isn’t your edge. 5. Don’t panic — plan Performance blips are part of the game. But if they keep catching you off guard, it’s time to shift from reactive to resilient. Understand the macro forces at play, and build a commercial calendar that supports consistency, not chaos.

The reality of working with #Amazon has changed dramatically for brands in 2024. The online retailer focuses on: 💵 Optimising margin structures 💵 Reducing headcount resources 💵 Automating repetitive processes The list goes on. 🚩 Yet, most suppliers continue with business as usual. They keep deploying the same investment principles as in offline channels. And they keep their teams locally organised, ignoring Amazon's regional (pan-EU) expansion focus. This creates a gap between the reality of brands and Amazon, where brands increasingly invest in staffing while Amazon dramatically reduces its headcount. So how can brands ensure they align their organisation with the new reality Amazon is creating in 2024 and beyond? ✅ By following a simple 3-step approach: 𝟭. 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗽 Amazon's retail workforce is in decline. Layoffs and Automation have made many Vendor Managers redundant. As a result, Amazon has begun to focus its buyer resources at a regional EU level. Instead of 9 Vendor Managers covering each European marketplace, one Vendor Manager manages the EU9 trade relationship today. This requires brands to adjust their organisational structure to navigate the online retailer effectively. Brands that maintain a localised approach risk losing access to a dedicated Vendor Manager in 2024. 𝟮. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 Aligning teams at a regional level can help brands achieve significant economies of scale. Centralising resources can help avoid duplication of work when it comes to negotiation or reporting processes, while the virtual shelf and shopper activation management can be maintained at a local level. Brands that successfully shape their business relationship with Amazon in 2024 will excel in realigning existing workflows at a regional level while meeting and considering the demands of local markets. 𝟯. 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲 With Amazon increasing its efforts to offshore and automate tasks in its retail business, brands have to shoulder more tasks that Vendor Managers and Brand Specialists previously owned. This means that offshoring and automation must become a top priority for 1P suppliers themselves if they want to avoid a significant increase in their cost to serve. It's good practice for brands to start capturing repetitive workflows currently done manually and either outsource them to cost-efficient service providers or automate them completely. After all, the size and complexity of Amazon's business will only increase in the years to come. --- How are you adapting your organisation to Amazon's automation and offshoring focus in 2024? Let me know in the comments! #amazonvendor #amazonstrategy

Being someone's "regular brand" on Alexa just became the most defensible position on Amazon. Buried in the Alexa for Shopping launch: shoppers can now say things like "add my regular dog treats" or "add my favorite protein bars to my cart." Alexa pulls from their purchase history. The brand they bought repeatedly becomes the default. That's a quiet shift in where competitive advantage lives on Amazon. The old most-defensible position: ranking #1 organic for the category keyword. → Keeps competitors out of the top result → Captures the search-driven buyer → Holds until someone outranks you The new most-defensible position: being the named SKU in a shopper's Alexa flow. → No search to compete in → No Sponsored Product can dislodge it → Built passively from purchase history A few things change because of this: → The first repeat purchase becomes the most valuable conversion event in your funnel. The shopper who buys twice is the shopper Alexa starts encoding as "regular." → Subscribe & Save gets new strategic value. It builds the repeat habit that encodes "regular brand" status. → Out-of-stock events get more dangerous. A shopper who can't reorder you might set "regular brand" to a competitor before you restock. → New entrants in established categories face a moat that wasn't there last week. Search rank can be bought. "Regular brand" status takes purchase history. Shoppers don't need to set this up. The behavior builds from purchase history Alexa already has. Your repeat purchase rate today is your Alexa position next year.

🌍 The 🇺🇸 E-Commerce Battle: Temu + SHEIN + AliExpress Now Surpass Amazon in Web Traffic According to Similarweb (compiled by Juozas Kaziukėnas), the combined web traffic of Temu, Shein and AliExpress has officially overtaken Amazon.com. This marks a significant turning point in US‘ e-commerce dynamics. 🔹 What’s happening? • Temu has seen explosive growth in just the past two years, fueled by aggressive marketing, gamified shopping experiences and ultra-low pricing. • Shein continues to dominate in fast fashion with its data-driven supply chain and rapid trend adoption. • AliExpress, while more mature, remains a crucial player in global cross-border e-commerce, serving millions of value-driven customers. • Amazon, once untouchable, is now facing a serious challenge, not from a single competitor, but from a coalition of platforms redefining consumer expectations. 📊 The Numbers (August ’25) • Temu + Shein + AliExpress combined traffic: nearly 3 billion visits • Amazon.com traffic: around 2.5 billion visits This isn’t just about clicks. It represents a shift in consumer behavior: ✅ Price sensitivity and discounts are pulling traffic away from Amazon. ✅ Mobile-first, gamified and social-driven shopping experiences are engaging younger demographics. ✅ Supply chain agility (Shein’s “real-time fashion” model) is proving to be a strong differentiator. ⚠️ But here’s the big question: Will this translate into revenue, loyalty and sustainable dominance? • Many Temu and Shein customers are driven by low prices, but will they stay if shipping times, product quality, or regulations change? • Amazon still holds the advantage in Prime membership, logistics, customer trust and repeat purchases. • Regulators in the U.S. and Europe are increasingly scrutinizing 🇨🇳Chinese e-commerce platforms, which may reshape the playing field. 💡 Key takeaway: The days of Amazon’s uncontested dominance are not over, but the loneliness on top is ending. The rise of Temu, Shein and AliExpress shows that global competition is intensifying and the future of e-commerce will be multipolar, fragmented and consumer-driven. 👉 Do you believe these challengers will build long-term market share or is Amazon still too strong to be dethroned? #Ecommerce #DigitalTrends #Amazon #Temu #Shein #AliExpress #GlobalTrade #RetailInnovation

Quick Commerce in India: The Battle is Just Getting Started 🚀 India’s quick commerce industry has now evolved into a fierce battleground with six major players emerging strongly. What started as a convenience experiment has now become a race for speed, scale, profitability, and customer trust. Here’s how I see the current landscape shaping up: 1. Blinkit – Setting the Benchmark Blinkit is clearly leading the race today. Their express delivery model has become the benchmark for the industry, and unlike many competitors, they are also showing signs of a more sorted path toward profitability. They have successfully positioned themselves as the default quick-commerce app for many urban consumers. 2. Instamart – Strong Presence, Heavy Burn Swiggy Instamart holds the second position comfortably in terms of market presence. However, the business continues to spiral in losses while aggressively competing for market share. The challenge for Swiggy will be balancing growth with sustainable economics. Survival in this market is no longer just about discounts and speed. 3. Zepto – Fast Growth, Big Questions Zepto deserves credit for building a strong brand and scaling rapidly in a highly competitive market. But the biggest question still remains: Can Zepto truly become profitable in the long run? The company has captured attention, but investors and customers alike will eventually look beyond growth numbers toward business sustainability. 4. bigbasket – The Veteran Losing Ground bigbasket was one of the earliest organized grocery delivery players in India. But in the quick-commerce race, they seem to have lost momentum against aggressive players like Blinkit and Instamart. Being first in the market does not always guarantee leadership when consumer expectations evolve this fast. 5. Flipkart Minutes – The Dark Horse Flipkart Minutes is quietly becoming very interesting. They are somehow managing to offer cheaper products, lower platform fees, and competitive delivery timelines. If they continue executing well, I believe they could soon challenge players like Instamart and Zepto much more aggressively. This is one player many people are currently underestimating. 6. Amazon Fresh – Falling Behind Expectations In my personal experience, Amazon Fresh has been the weakest among all major players. Product freshness, delivery quality, and customer support have not matched the standards expected from Amazon. I’ve personally experienced old and poor-quality products, and the refund/return experience has also been disappointing. At times, it feels less like “Amazon Quick Fresh” and more like “Amazon Unfresh.” Given Amazon’s scale and operational excellence globally, this is one area where they still have significant room for improvement in India. The market is still evolving, and while Blinkit currently appears ahead, this race is far from over. One thing is certain — India’s consumers are the biggest winners in this competition.

I just published the first study of transactional AI traffic based on over 7 million referral sessions from Similarweb: Top 5 insights: 1. AI chatbot referrals show higher engagement than Google: they stay 2.3 minutes longer on average (10.4 vs. 8.1 minutes) and view more pages (12.4 vs. 11.8 pages on average). 2. AI chatbots send significantly more traffic to homepages (22% average) compared to Google (10%) but still show higher engagement. 3. ChatGPT is growing rapidly AND sending better traffic. It seems better models qualify traffic even more before sending it to websites. 4. About 80% of transactional traffic goes to e-commerce sites, and the same players (Amazon, eBay, Walmart) dominate both in search and AI chatbots. 5. Copilot and Perplexity showed faster growth in page views (15% and 22%) compared to Google (5%). Of course, this study only looks at referral traffic and doesn't measure the impact of being mentioned in AI Chatbot answers. More details in my latest Memo.

While everyone watched Blinkit vs Zepto, JioMart quietly added 5.9 million customers in one quarter without anyone noticing. JioMart reached 1.6 million daily orders by December 2025, a 360% year-on-year jump, making it India's second-largest quick commerce player behind Blinkit's 2.4 million and ahead of Swiggy Instamart's 1.1 million. Here's what makes this different from the quick commerce war everyone's been watching: While Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart burn billions building dark stores from scratch, JioMart used 3,000 of its existing 19,979 retail stores as fulfillment points. No massive capex on warehouses. No race to sign expensive real estate leases. Just infrastructure leverage. The results in Q3 FY26: → Added 5.9 million new customers in one quarter  → Now serves 5,000+ pin codes across 1,000+ cities  → Quick commerce contributes 20% of total retail revenue(up from 18%)  → 53% quarter-on-quarter growth in daily orders The trade-off?   Margins slipped from 8.6% to 8% because of festive offers and quick commerce spending but Reliance can absorb it, since quick commerce is only one part of a retail business that brings in Rs 97,605 crore every quarter. This is classic Reliance strategy: don't build what you can repurpose. While competitors optimize for speed, Ambani optimizes for capital efficiency. The question isn't whether JioMart will catch Blinkit. It's whether this asset-light model proves more sustainable than the dark store arms race burning billions in venture capital. What's your take - does infrastructure advantage beat first-mover advantage in quick commerce?

The early signals are here. And they look familiar. We’re seeing the return of two major patterns on Amazon: 📉 Consumers are trading down 📦 Some categories are showing stockpiling behavior This moment reminds me of early COVID—lagging economic impact, real-time shifts in behavior, and executive teams urgently revisiting their assumptions. At Momentum Commerce, we analyzed the top products on Amazon and found that the 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 (𝐀𝐒𝐏) 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝟎.𝟖% 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫. But it’s not because brands are lowering prices. It’s because 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐲. 🔹 In 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬, historic top sellers (which have raised prices +6.0% YoY) are losing share to cheaper alternatives—today’s top sellers are down -3.9% in ASP. 🔹 In 𝐕𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐮𝐦𝐬 & 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞, ASPs for historic best sellers are up +14.4% YoY—consumers are shifting to more affordable models. 🔹 In 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬, we’re still seeing pricing resilience. These are the “affordable luxuries” consumers are holding onto—for now. 🔹 And in 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚, we just saw a 26x week-over-week unit sales spike. That’s a clear sign of stock-up behavior taking root. Brands are responding—fast. The smartest ones are running the playbook we saw work in 2020: 1️⃣ Renegotiating with suppliers 2️⃣ Raising prices selectively on inelastic SKUs 3️⃣ Accelerating shipments before tariffs hit harder 4️⃣ Tracking consumer behavior weekly, not quarterly And yes, this all reminds me of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The cover famously reads: “Don’t Panic.” For brands right now, it’s a useful mantra. But it only works if it’s followed by a plan. We’re helping our clients write that plan: ✅ Real-time category pricing trackers ✅ Trade-down indicators ✅ Margin risk diagnostics ✅ One-on-one strategy sessions and playbooks Our data tells the story. Our job is to help you write the next chapter.

𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰? 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽-𝗯𝘆-𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗨𝘀 𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 15𝗞+ 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 140+ 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 When organic search traffic becomes stagnant, the instinctive reaction is often to publish more content. However, before creating new content, it’s crucial to analyze existing pages and uncover optimization opportunities. Here’s the structured approach we followed to diagnose and fix the issue: 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 1: 𝗦𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝘀. 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 - Identify how much traffic brand-related pages contribute vs. non-brand pages. - Assess if non-brand pages are underperforming compared to brand pages. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 2: 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘇𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗴𝗲 (𝗢𝗹𝗱 𝘃𝘀. 𝗡𝗲𝘄) - Separate non-brand pages into old (pre-2022) and new (post-2022) pages. - Compare their impressions, clicks, and conversion contributions. - Identify if older pages are still generating meaningful traffic or need an update. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 3: 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 - Filter out pages with strong impression counts but low CTR (<1%)—these are opportunities for improvement. - Prioritize pages with significant search volume and ranking potential. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 4: 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 - Group pages into blogs, templates, landing pages, resource pages, etc. - Identify which content categories have the highest potential for optimization. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 5: 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗖𝗧𝗥 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 - Analyze title tags, meta descriptions, and search intent alignment to improve click-through rates. - Identify opportunities to enhance internal linking and on-page SEO elements. - Ensure pages have clear conversion paths to improve lead generation. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 6: 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘂𝘁 - Prioritize the most impactful pages first (high impressions, low CTR). - Implement optimizations in phases over a 45-day period to track improvements. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 7: 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 - Measure the impact of optimizations using CTR improvements, traffic growth, and conversion metrics. - If required, refine pages further based on ongoing performance data. 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: After conducting this audit, we discovered a key insight: By increasing the CTR of underperforming pages from 0.45% 𝘁𝗼 1%, we projected an additional 15𝗞 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 140 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵. Would love to hear—how do you identify underperforming pages in your SEO strategy? 👇 #seo #saasseo #contentmarketing #contentstrategy

🚨 Amazon is not “set it and forget it.” Launch it. Automate it. Walk away. That’s not a strategy. That’s abandonment. And Amazon punishes passivity. What actually works? A full-funnel strategy. 🔹 Start with content. If your images, copy, video, and A+ content are weak, ads just amplify failure. Amazon’s own data shows higher-quality listings convert materially better, lowering CPC over time. Content isn’t branding fluff—it’s a performance lever. 🔹 Buy awareness. You don’t earn visibility on Amazon. You rent it. Sponsored video, display, and category placements build recognition before intent exists. This is how you stop competing only on price. 🔹 Own the search terms. High-intent keywords are an auction. If you’re not spending behind them, your competitors are. Bidding isn’t just about conversion—it’s about teaching Amazon who should win the sale. 🔹 Move shoppers into consideration. Comparison charts. Reviews. Social proof. Clear differentiation. Most brands fail here because they assume the product speaks for itself. It doesn’t. 🔹 Close the purchase. Clean PDP. Fast load times. Strong offer. No friction. Even small conversion lifts compound hard at this stage. 💡 The uncomfortable truth: this only works if you’re willing to invest before you see return. Amazon is not a launch channel. It is a managed growth system. Counterpoint: yes, a few brands get lucky with organic traction. But those wins are usually driven by off-Amazon demand or temporary category gaps. They’re not repeatable. They’re not scalable. And they vanish the moment competition shows up. 👉 If your plan is to list, hope, and optimize later, Amazon will eat your margin and hand the category to someone who showed up with a real strategy.