Shopify competitor intelligence research

90.76%

of price changes are noise

The overwhelming majority of detected price changes move the price by less than 1%, artifacts of currency rounding and feed syncs rather than real repricing decisions.

55.1% / 44.9%

price increases vs decreases

Across every price change tracked, increases outnumber decreases by a meaningful margin, the opposite of what most merchants assume competitors are doing.

99%

of price changes are automated

Nearly all price changes come from repricing rules and feed syncs, not a person deciding to change a number.

23.42%

of products carry a permanent compare-at-price

Almost a quarter of tracked products show a was-price that never resets, a markdown that functions as the real price.

1 in 14

product launches get pulled within weeks

A meaningful share of new product listings disappear again shortly after launch, a signal worth tracking separately from price moves.

Under 24 hours

average sale duration

Competitor sales run shorter than most merchants plan around, which changes how fast a response needs to be to matter.

46% / 18%

of DTC brands never discount, or never stop

Discounting behavior splits into two camps with little middle ground: brands that hold price and brands that are functionally always on sale.

65.67%

of price changes happen Wednesday and Thursday

Price-change activity is heavily concentrated midweek, with Saturday and Sunday combined accounting for barely more than 1% of all changes.

22 hours

median restock time

Half of out-of-stock products come back within about a day, but the average climbs to 45 hours once the slow-restock tail is included.

6 to 1

homepage copy changes vs layout changes

When a competitor homepage changes, it is far more often a copy edit than a layout or design overhaul.

39.01%

of apparel products are on sale

Apparel and fashion competitors discount deep and often, averaging a 53.00% discount depth on the products that carry a compare-at-price.

9.04%

of skincare products are on sale

Skincare and beauty competitors discount roughly a quarter as often as apparel, and shallower too, averaging a 24.01% discount depth.

5.32%

of competitor events are flagged high-significance

The AI classifier marks only about 1 in 19 detected events as high-significance. Most changes are routine and do not warrant an immediate reaction.