Kidson Talks | The E-commerce Chemist

On-line retailing is competitive. New start up businesses or bricks and mortar businesses will look at competitors in their field and see what they are up too. It is only natural.

Many retailers (eBayers are the most prolific for this) think that simply copying their competitors will achieve results. So here is a list of considerations before you become a carbon copy of your favourite competitor:

- The element you are copying – does your competitor publish results on its effectiveness?
- Has your competitor analysed the behaviour of your customer base and applied it to that element?
- Is your competitor just ‘guessing’?
- Does your competitor monitor their data and evolve overtime? Or are you copying an archaic element that they keep meaning to change?

Most retailers like to keep this kind of information close to their chest, so in reality you will probably not be able to make decisions based on accurate, tried and tested methods. You are just hoping that what you competitor does, is correct.

But lets turn it on its head a little – why do you have to look at your competitors? Retailers outside your category would have exhibited great ideas too and methods that could be changed/modified to apply to your category.

Let pull this to some examples – Sainsbury’s *feed your family for a fiver* campaign – sales went through the roof and Sainsbury’s did very well out of it. Marks and Spencer’s *Two dine in for* promotions – still compete with Sainsbury’s but this promotion suits the M&S food buyers. Same rough idea – two applications – two different markets.

Now, Somerfield/Co-op are trying to feed four for £4 – which on checking out this deal it is in fact a poor copy of the Sainsbury’s idea – trying to coat tail off the campaign success but just no banana!

So before you just become that carbon copy, remember that on the net we are striving for personalisation in many aspects – so don’t just be content to imitate!

Competitors will always be inspiration, but be that one on-line store that really speaks to its customers, because you have strived to collect the data and listened. You might end up with the same results as a competitor, but at least you will know why they do what they do!