How to Find Information About Your Competitors: Part 6 Pricing, tech and leadership
Here is part 6 of our series on finding information about your competitors. Links to the other parts of the series are below. All about how to find information about your competitors pricing, tech and leadership.
41. Evaluate Their Ecosystem
Many companies operate within an ecosystem of partners, suppliers, and vendors. Understanding these relationships can give you a broader view of their business:
- Research partnerships they depend on for distribution or production.
- Look for mutual customers who may have insights into their workflows.
- Study their supply chain for vulnerabilities you can exploit or improve upon.
42. Analyse Their Technology Stack
Competitors’ technology choices reveal a lot about their priorities, scalability, and operational strategy. Knowing what tools they rely on can help you understand:
- Are they investing in automation or sticking with manual processes?
- What CRM, chatbots, or personalisation tools do they use to enhance engagement?
- Are they creating a seamless ecosystem or lack interoperability in their solutions?
Use tools like BuiltWith or Wappalyzer to find their website’s platforms, plugins, and software. For instance, using advanced data analytics tools might indicate a focus on personalised customer journeys or real-time decision-making.
43. Look Into Their Recruitment Practices
Beyond job postings, delve deeper into how your competitors attract talent. Visit their “Careers” page, read Glassdoor reviews, or follow their LinkedIn company page. Pay attention to:
- Company culture. Are they emphasising innovation, speed, or customer focus?
- Team structure. Do they prioritise hiring for specific departments?
- Employee satisfaction. What do their employees value, and where do they complain?
- This intel shows their internal priorities. It can reveal gaps in their ability to execute strategies.
44. Understand Their Distribution Channels
Where and how your competitors sell their products is a direct reflection of their market strategy. Analyse their presence across:
- E-commerce platforms
- Are they using Amazon, Shopify, or DTC strategies?
- Retail partnerships
- What physical stores stock their products?
- Geographical reach
- Are they heavily localised, or are they expanding internationally?
If they’re missing key distribution channels or markets, those could be opportunities for you to exploit.
45. Evaluate Their Pricing Strategy
Pricing is often one of the clearest indicators of a competitor’s positioning. Do they aim for premium, value-based, or undercutting the competition? Research their:
- Do they offer discounts for packages or cross-selling opportunities?
- Are they frequently running sales or incentives?
- How do they justify their pricing relative to yours?
You can often infer how they perceive their own value and where they might be vulnerable, such as over-reliance on discounts or failing to deliver value at premium pricing tiers.
46. Dissect Their Customer Retention Strategies
Attracting customers is one thing, but retaining them is another. How do your competitors keep their customers loyal? Look at:
- Are they rewarding repeat purchases or offering exclusive perks? Loyalty programs.
- Retention messaging. What does their email marketing or re-engagement strategy look like?
- Renewal processes. How do subscription-based competitors handle renewals or prevent churn?
This analysis will reveal how sticky their products are and give you ideas to enhance your retention strategies.
47. Track Their Leadership and Strategy
Leadership drives strategy. Follow your competitors’ leaders on LinkedIn, Twitter, or other sites where they share insights. Pay attention to:
- What initiatives or priorities do their leaders emphasise publicly?
- Are they actively shaping industry conversations or staying in the background?
- Frequent leadership changes can signal instability or shifting priorities.
Understanding their leadership dynamics helps you predict strategic moves before they happen.
48. Conduct Surveys and Focus Groups
Sometimes, the most direct way to learn about your competitors is to ask your target audience. Surveys and focus groups can reveal:
- How do customers perceive your competitors?
- Why do they choose a competitor over your business?
- What unmet needs or frustrations do they experience?
For example, you might learn that a competitor’s product is seen as too complex or overpriced. You can use these insights to refine your offering.
49. Use Mystery Shopping
In a B2C environment, mystery shopping is a top way to gain firsthand insights. Test your competitors’ purchasing process, customer service, and after-sales support. Take note of:
The buying journey. Is it seamless or full of friction?
Customer support quality. How do they handle inquiries, complaints, or technical support?
Packaging and delivery. Are they excelling in areas like speed or sustainability?
This approach helps you identify gaps and benchmarks in the customer experience.
50. Use Trade Publications and Industry Reports
Niche industries often have trade publications. And analyst reports or paid research sites, like Gartner, IBISWorld, and Statista. These sources provide:
• Market share data. (old)
• Industry benchmarks. (old)
• Future trends competitors may be aligning with.
These reports can be expensive. But, they give a high-level overview of your competitors’ market positions. And these reports are written for a reason (people buy them) and they will get as many people as possible to buy them. Including your competitors.
That was How to Find Information About Your Competitors: Part 6 Pricing, tech and leadership
Here are the other parts in this series.
- How to Find Information About Your Competitors: part 1
- Finding Information About Your Competitors: Part 2
- How to Find Information About Your Competitors: Part 3
- How to Find Information About Your Competitors: Part 4
- How to Find Information About Your Competitors: Part 5
We are Octopus. The Global People-Powered Competitive Intelligence Agency.
Outsmart your competition. Make the unknown known. Octopus helps you gain clarity in complex markets. With clients and tentacles around the world, we deliver sharp, actionable competitive intelligence through a blend of deep primary (HUMINT) and secondary research. If you’re looking to make smarter decisions, beat the competition, and reduce uncertainty, we’re the partner you want on your side.
