Most sellers "check out the competition" once, at launch, and never look again. Meanwhile the sellers actually taking their market share are running competitor analysis every month — tracking who moved up, who dropped price, who added a new keyword to their backend, and who just launched a variation that's about to eat their category. Competitor analysis isn't a one-off task. It's a recurring input into your PPC bids, your listing edits, and your pricing decisions.
At StoreStride we build competitor tracking into every account we manage, because the single biggest driver of a stalled listing is usually not something wrong with the listing — it's something a competitor did that the seller never noticed. This guide gives you a practical, repeatable process for analysing your Amazon competitors and turning what you find into action.
The goal isn't to copy competitors. It's to find the gaps between what they're doing and what you're doing — keyword gaps, pricing gaps, content gaps, review gaps — and decide which ones are worth closing.
Step 1: Identify Who You're Actually Competing Against
Sellers often assume their competitor is whoever ranks #1 for their main keyword. That's a starting point, but not the full picture. You need three categories:
Direct competitors
Same product type, similar price point, targeting the same core keywords. These are who you're fighting for Buy Box and ad placements against every day.
Category leaders
The top 3–5 best sellers in your category, regardless of how similar their product is. They set the review and pricing benchmark the whole category gets judged against.
Rising threats
New listings gaining review velocity fast, or established sellers who've just launched a variation into your space. These are easy to miss because they don't show up in a static top-10 search.
Build a tracking list of 5–8 ASINs across these three categories. More than that and the analysis becomes noise; fewer and you'll miss the competitor who actually moves against you.
Step 2: Run a Keyword Gap Analysis
This is the highest-value part of competitor analysis for PPC. Pull each competitor ASIN through a reverse-ASIN tool (Helium 10 Cerebro, Jungle Scout Keyword Scout, or similar) and compare the keyword lists side by side against your own.
Pull reverse-ASIN data for each competitor
Export the full keyword list each competitor ranks for organically and shows up on via PPC, including estimated search volume and their organic rank position.
Isolate keywords they rank for that you don't
These are your gap keywords. Sort by search volume. High-volume keywords a competitor ranks well for but you don't appear on at all are your priority additions — both in listing copy and as new PPC targets.
Check where the keyword lives on their listing
Is it in their title, bullets, or only backend search terms? If a competitor is ranking organically for a keyword that isn't visible anywhere in their front-end copy, it's probably in their backend search terms — a strong signal that keyword converts even though customers never see it in the copy.
Flag keywords you rank for that they don't
These are your defensible positions. Make sure your PPC budget protects them — don't let a competitor gap-analyse you and take them.
Step 3: Check Where They're Actually Showing Up in PPC
Search your top 15–20 keywords manually (or use a rank tracker) and note, for each one:
- Which competitors appear in the top 3 Sponsored Products slots
- Which competitors run Sponsored Brand video or banner placements at the top of the page
- Whether a competitor is bidding on your brand name or your exact ASIN (check the search results page for your own branded searches)
- How their ad creative and pricing compares to what you're showing in the same slot
If a competitor is bidding on your brand name, you have two options: defend with your own brand-defence campaign (usually the cheaper, more effective route since you'll have the highest relevance score for your own brand terms), or, if it's a trademark violation involving your logo or brand assets in their ad creative, report it through Brand Registry.
Step 4: Audit Their Listing Content
Open each competitor's listing side by side with yours and compare systematically rather than just skimming:
Every gap you find here is a content fix you can make without spending a penny more on ads — and it usually improves conversion rate faster than any bid change.
Step 5: Track Pricing and Review Velocity
Price and reviews are the two factors customers weigh most heavily when several similar listings appear on the same search page. Track both over time, not just as a snapshot:
- Price history: Use a tool like Keepa to see each competitor's price over the last 90 days. A competitor who discounts heavily around specific dates is telling you when they run promotions — useful for planning your own seasonal PPC pushes around or against theirs.
- Review count and velocity: Track how many new reviews a competitor gains per week. A sudden spike usually means a Vine enrolment, a review-generation push, or a large sales spike from an external promotion.
- Star rating trend: A competitor whose rating is slipping is vulnerable — often a sign of a quality control or fulfilment issue you can outcompete on without touching price.
- Buy Box stability: Are they consistently winning their own Buy Box, or does it fluctuate between sellers (a sign of a hijacker or multiple resellers on their ASIN)?
Build a simple tracking sheet. One row per competitor ASIN, columns for price, star rating, review count, and top 3 ranking keywords, updated weekly or monthly. Six months of this data turns "this competitor seems to be doing well" into an actual trend line you can act on with confidence.
Step 6: Turn Findings Into Actions
Analysis that doesn't change anything is a wasted afternoon. For every competitor insight, assign it to one of three buckets:
- Listing fix — a keyword to add, a bullet to rewrite, an image or A+ module to create.
- PPC action — a new keyword or ASIN to target, a bid to adjust, a brand-defence campaign to launch, a placement to compete on.
- Strategic decision — something bigger, like a price change, a new variation, a packaging update to address a quality complaint pattern you spotted in a competitor's reviews (a good proxy for what customers want in the category generally).
Review this list monthly alongside your PPC performance data. The two should inform each other: a keyword gap you close in your listing should show up as new organic impressions within a few weeks, and a competitor ASIN you start targeting in PPC should be watched for whether it's converting.
Tools Worth Using
- Helium 10 (Cerebro, Keyword Tracker, Alerts): Reverse-ASIN keyword research, rank tracking, and listing-change alerts for tracked competitors.
- Jungle Scout: Similar keyword and competitor tracking functionality, useful as a cross-check against Helium 10 data.
- Keepa: Historical price, Buy Box, and sales rank charts — essential for spotting promotional patterns.
- Amazon Brand Analytics: If you're Brand Registered, the Market Basket and Search Query Performance reports show which ASINs customers view and purchase alongside yours — a direct view into who Amazon itself considers your competition.
Want a competitor analysis built into your account management?
StoreStride runs ongoing competitor tracking as part of full-funnel PPC management — keyword gaps, pricing shifts, and listing changes get flagged and actioned before they cost you rank. Book a free audit and we'll show you exactly where your competitors are beating you.
Book a Free Call →Common Questions About Amazon Competitor Analysis
How often should I run competitor analysis?
A light check — price, reviews, Buy Box status on your tracked ASINs — should happen weekly. A full keyword gap and listing content audit is worth doing monthly, or immediately after you notice a ranking or conversion rate drop with no obvious internal cause.
How many competitors should I track?
Five to eight ASINs is the practical range: enough to cover direct competitors, category leaders, and rising threats, without the tracking sheet becoming unmanageable. Add or drop ASINs as the competitive set shifts.
Is it worth copying a competitor's exact keyword strategy?
No — use their keyword list as a discovery source, not a template. A keyword that converts well for a competitor with different reviews, pricing, and images may not convert for you. Test gap keywords in your own campaigns and judge them on your own conversion data.
What if a competitor is clearly using black-hat tactics (fake reviews, review manipulation)?
Document it with screenshots and dates, then report it to Amazon through the "Report Abuse" option on the listing or via Seller Support. Do not attempt to retaliate with fake negative reviews or similar tactics — this risks your own account and rarely resolves the underlying issue.