Market research is integral to eCommerce success. It lets you know which gaps exist in the market and the best way to position your business and products in the chosen marketplace.
Immersing yourself in a new niche without researching it first can be costly. That’s why, as a store owner, it is important to continually familiarize yourself with the basics, such as the competition. With this, you can grow and maintain your position.
This guide will show you how to conduct market research and find Shopify stores in your niche —for inspiration or competition research.
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Why Should You Find Other Shopify Stores?
It is important to always look through other Shopify stores to understand how other Shopify store owners run their businesses and what they do differently, for inspiration for store design, product photography, description, marketing, etc.
Beyond serving as inspiration, finding other Shopify stores in your niche can help you make better business decisions on the following and other elements of owning a Shopify store:
#: It can help you choose the best pricing strategy
By looking through other Shopify stores in your niche, you can know how much people are willing to pay for a product. You do not need to have your products priced lower than everyone else’s if that cuts on your profit. You can always find ways to sell at the same price while still making a good profit —either by selling sets or using different branding styles.
#: You can use other Shopify Stores for inspiration
By looking through your competitor’s stores, you can see what aspects of their stores would work for yours. You do not need to copy everything because it can work against your brand; however, getting an idea of how to make your store stand out is enough.
Courtesy: Philanthropy
Looking at the store from a shopper’s point of view can help you to decide what additional features would be helpful.
#: Check the level of niche saturation
A saturated market can end up frustrating you in terms of sales, especially if the market has better-established stores that have fostered trust with their customers. In such a situation, it’s best to find another more suitable niche.
#: Keyword research
One way to advertise your shop is through Ads. By looking through other Shopify stores, you can identify which keywords they use to generate more traffic to their shops.
Courtesy: Search Engine Land, On What Google Thinks of Keyword Relevance
You can then use the keywords in your store and product descriptions for better SEO results and couple those keywords with your in-house content marketing plan to create better, keyword-targeted, and successful ad campaigns.
This knowledge of the competition can prove very beneficial because running PPC ads that don’t generate enough sales to cover the cost is how you end up out of business.
#: Understanding your competition
The point of assessing your competition is understanding what they have to offer the target market and how it matches up to your offerings.
Some well-established stores stay relevant because they are mindful of the products they sell and how they relate with customers. This research can help you understand which suppliers to work with and how best to present your store’s image and products to attract the most customers.
How Can I Find My Shopify Competition Stores in My Niche?
Here are strategic ways to find Shopify stores in your niche —whether you want inspiration, competition/keyword research, etc.
Method 1: Use the “site:myshopify.com” search string
Using the word “site” limits your search to a specific domain, and adding the search string “myshopify.com” gives you an extra layer of filter to the expected results.
For example, to search for a specific store, you need to use keywords and end it with the search string “site: myshopify.com” to narrow down your search by far.
For example, suppose you are searching for reusable coffee pods.
Type “reusable coffee pods site: myshopify.com” on the Google search bar.
Running this search string gives you a view of all your competitors under this specific keyword.
Method 2: Using the “inurl” command to search
This search string returns every URL that contains the used keywords. The unfortunate thing about this string is that it does not limit itself to Shopify stores, and you must use other tools and approaches to clean up and verify the results.
Here is an example of this method in use, using “inurl: reusable coffee pods” as the search string:
Method 3: Using BuiltWith Code
This approach to finding Shopify stores in your niche offers you more detailed information on your competitor’s store. You get various tools to help you determine the software used on a website, the platform used to create it, and the popular keywords used on that specific website/platform.
With this tool and method, the fundamental thing you need to do to find Shopify stores in your niche is to enter the URL of the website. From the results, you will tell if the store is Shopify-based; you will also learn a lot about the competitor’s website/platform.
One added advantage of this tool is that it offers a Google Chrome Extension, making it easier to use at no added cost.
Method 4: Using the IP
All Shopify stores use the same IP address for categories; you can use this IP address —23.227.32.0-23.227.63.255— and an IP lookup tool such as myip.ms to find stores in your niche.
The only challenge to using the IP method to find Shopify stores in your niche is that you will have to go through all the records, deliberately looking for domain names that seem like they could be in your niche, which can be cumbersome and time-consuming.
Method 5: Powered by Shopify
To find Shopify stores in your niche using this method, you must scroll down to the bottom of the Shopify store, where you shall find the ‘powered by Shopify’ icon. Clicking on this will automatically redirect you.
However, some store owners prefer to remain anonymous and hide that part of their store, making it harder for competitors to use their information. The disadvantage of this is that you get fewer clicks from clients.
Method 6: Use Myip.ms
Finding Shopify stores in your niche with this approach is similar to method 5 because it uses the IP address to trace the IP location and the average visits to the site in a day. It lets you see the platform used to create a store/website. In this case, you can tell if a store is Shopify-based or created on Shopify.
The myip.ms tool lets you see all the sites in the specific IP range.
By following the following steps, you can check your competitors’ status.
Start by visiting myip.ms
Enter the Shopify IP address on the search bar
After clicking on the search icon, you should get some search results displaying information concerning the store. This will include the IP location, the Range, and the reverse DNS, which allows you to see the domain linked to the IP.
You can view the details of all the stores on the IP by simply clicking on the ‘other sites on IP’
Next, look for Shopify site records right down the page. The records provide you with the top stores that can act as a guide in developing yours.
Since you get a wide range of stores to go through, you can use advanced tools like Dropispy to find winning products and discover which Facebook Ads bring in more traffic.
Method 7: Checking the source code with your browser
This method of finding Shopify stores in your niche allows you to do a general search on the intended products from a store. The results you get are not exclusively related to Shopify stores. To find the source codes, click on the page and select “view page source.”
This brings up the source code, which can be confusing for non-techies.
To simplify your search, hit ‘CTRL + F, then type the product keyword.
This highlights only references to that, making it easier for you to look through the searches.
Method 8: Using a data provider to get an email list of Shopify stores (Instagram data provider)
Finding a good Instagram email provider can be difficult, and if you use scrapping tools, you often end up with spam traps and fake accounts.
If you decide to use this approach, working with validated accounts is your best bet because not all email lists are 100% guaranteed to be in line with your niche.
To get the best lists, you should consider:
- Getting emails from people that follow your competitors
- Look through hashtags used by your target audience
- Mentions from influencers that relate to what your audience like
Method 9: Facebook
The Facebook method is one of the best ways to find Shopify stores in your niche.
On the Facebook search box, enter “just pay shipping+keywords, free shipping+keywords.” There will be a lot of Shopify stores.
Facebook Ads are one of the best ways to find your competitors. It lets you see which keywords they use for their ads and what works for their stores.
To do this, follow these simple steps:
- From Google search, open the Facebook Ad library.
- On the search bar, you can use keywords like “free shipping” or “just pay shipping.” You can narrow your search results by using a few extra keywords related to your niche.
- From your results, analyze which stores are doing well and the products they sell. Ensure you look at Shopify stores instead of custom-built eCommerce stores.
- Pick Shopify stores in your niche that meet your expectations, then run them through Facebook Ad Library again.
- Doing this will give you more information on the store, including the other products they have and the Ad campaigns they run.
Method 10: Use A Tool Checker
We can use tools like the Woorank tool checker that offers SEO solutions for your store.
This one relies on the technology you have been using. You get the added advantage of looking up stores based on their country.
To find Shopify stores in your niche using this method, follow these steps:
- Start by creating an account and signing in. The platform will ask you to start a project.
- Here, enter the domain name you want to research. You can use individual store addresses —if you know a few competitors in your space— but in this case, we could use Shopify.
- Here you get to choose between two options: to track competition or start a new project.
- Create a new project and enter the domain name to get results.
- This option will redirect you to a page where you can choose what you want to have synced to your results.
- You can add competitors and sign up to get notifications from Woorank.
Because choosing your niche is very important to conducting competition research, let’s briefly discuss how to choose a winning niche —you can then use the methods we’ve discussed to find stores in your niche:
How To Choose A Winning Niche
To ensure that you choose a winning niche, ensure that:
#: Identify your interest and passions
Any business can become overwhelming, which can make you want to quit. Picking a niche that aligns with your passions can push you to hold out for better days and put in the work.
When you are passionate about something, even new trends interest you. That means you can stay relevant in the market and maximize your profits.
#: Identify a problem and offer a solution for it
Start by listing down some of the problems your audience has. From your list, identify where you can afford to offer innovative solutions —to create a profitable business, your customers need to see the importance of your items in their lives.
#: Latest trends
Although some trends can be short-lived, finding products that are popular in the market at a point can be a profit booster. While considering trendy products, please find out how on-demand they are with your customer base because trends serve different audiences at different times.
#: Competition
Everyone would like to take advantage of a good opportunity. If profits are good, the competition will eventually be as big. Before settling on a niche, determine how huge the competition pull is.
As a new seller, this helps you avoid getting into a niche space that will result in minimal or no sales. Also, looking through competition can help you know how to differentiate your products to get the attention they deserve.
As the chart below shows, there is a constant increase in Shopify users as years go by, which means more competition.
#: Target market
It’s important to understand the people you intend to sell to. Knowing what they like to spend money on can help you decide on products to have in your shop.
You can figure this out through research by looking through their social media or researching keywords— and other Shopify stores in your niche using the eleven methods discussed earlier.
Conclusion
Spying on competitors is a sure way to stay competitive in the Shopify marketplace. Even if you have an already-established store, keeping yourself updated on what the competition is doing is integral to your continued success in the ever-competitive and ever-changing eCommerce market.
You can use any of the methods we have discussed in this guide to find Shopify stores in your niche to find inspiration and conduct competition and market research
