Choose the shelf you are comparing
A competitor’s entire store is rarely the most useful starting unit. Choose a category, intended customer, use case, or price band that connects to a decision. Define which stores and markets are in scope before collecting their visible listings.
A visible assortment does not establish sales volume or customer demand. This guide describes a research framework, not a study of a particular retailer. Use a gap to identify something to investigate, rather than treating it as proof that your own catalog should expand.
Make category definitions comparable
Stores group products differently. Map their visible categories to a small set of definitions you can explain. Keep the original store category alongside the mapped one so another reviewer can inspect the decision.
Count at a consistent level: product family, variant, or purchasable offer. A store with many color variants can appear broader if one side of a comparison counts variants and the other counts families. Record that choice with every total.
| Observation | What it can support | What it cannot prove |
|---|---|---|
| Visible listing | An observed catalog presence | Actual sales |
| Unavailable offer | A status at one observation time | Permanent discontinuation |
| Repeated category presence | A pattern in your sample | Market-wide demand |
| Unmatched product | A possible comparison gap | An automatic buying decision |
Keep missing and unavailable separate
A collection failure, an item absent from a category page, and an offer marked out of stock are different observations. Preserve an unknown state when the evidence does not establish availability.
Schema.org represents availability as an offer property, separate from the product description. That separation is useful in your own records: product identity can remain stable while an observed offer changes. Keep the observation time and source with the status.
Turn the gap into a research brief
For each candidate gap, write the evidence, a possible explanation, and the next check. A competitor may serve a different audience, use a different supplier model, or retain listings that are no longer commercially important. Your brief should leave those explanations open.
Combine the visible assortment with evidence you are authorized to use, such as your own search queries, customer requests, or support themes. State the limits of each source. The result should be a ranked set of questions your team can investigate, not a manufactured estimate of a competitor’s revenue.
Sources & further reading
This is a practical framework. Numerical examples are illustrative, not observations of a named retailer. Check current platform documentation before applying product-specific requirements.
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