Are you curious about how your competitors are faring? Spying on Shopify sales of other stores can give you insights into what they are doing right and wrong. A Shopify sales spy tool can help you out a lot with this. You get real-time data, reliable estimates, and indicators that help you understand market trends and competitive positioning.

All successful e-commerce strategies will ultimately depend on getting to know your customers' needs and creating distinctive value for them rather than just copying your competitors' tactics blindly. You want to build your unique brand identity, steal something from them, and make it your own so that your products turn out to be superior and you deliver better results.

We will tell you how to spy on Shopify stores legally and ethically in this blog. By the end of it, whatever you learn, it will help you boost your own sales.

Why Use Dropshiptool to Spy on Shopify Sales?

Dropshiptool has a sales tracker that can help you track up to 3 million Shopify stores' revenue with one click. You get real-time access to our Shopify stores' product offerings and revenue data. It can help you find and identify winning products while minimizing the risk of selling low-performing items. You can also discover winning dropshipping products through viral ads. 

See what's trending, what's converting, and get inspired by winning ad creatives that drive sales. Dropshiptool also has other powerful research tools like the product database that can help you explore millions of products and see what top stores are selling. The Product Portfolio has specialists that do research for you for up to 40 winning products, which are delivered to you weekly.

Competitor research helps searchers millions of product listings to instantly discover which stores are selling the products you are researching. You can also find top-performing products fast out of millions of trending products and push them to your store in one click only with Dropshiptool. You'll also get a fresh drop of hot selling products for you every week via weekly drops, which is pretty cool.

How Traffic Analysis Can Reveal Shopify Sales Potential?

Traffic data offers a window into how well a Shopify store converts visitors into paying customers. When evaluating competitor performance, traffic metrics help estimate revenue potential and identify winning strategies. Understanding traffic patterns reveals which marketing channels drive the most valuable visitors and which product pages convert best.​

A Shopify sales spy tool starts with examining where traffic originates. Search traffic often brings high-intent buyers, while social media traffic shows brand awareness efforts. Direct traffic indicates customer loyalty and repeat purchases. Analyzing these sources helps pinpoint which channels competitors prioritize and where they invest their marketing budget.​

Quality Metrics Predict Success

Traffic volume alone doesn't tell the complete story. Conversion rate matters more than raw visitor numbers. A store receiving 10,000 monthly visitors with a 3% conversion rate generates 300 orders, while another with 5,000 visitors and a 5% rate produces 250 orders. The second store operates more efficiently despite lower traffic.​

Session duration and bounce rate provide insight into user experience quality. Stores with high bounce rates or short session times struggle to engage visitors. This friction often stems from slow load speeds, poor mobile optimization, or unclear value propositions. Competitors with longer sessions and lower bounce rates have refined their customer journey.​

Estimating Competitor Revenue

Using tools like SimilarWeb or Google Analytics, merchants can track competitor traffic sources and estimate monthly visits. Combine this data with visible product offerings and pricing to calculate potential revenue. If a competitor gets 50,000 monthly visits with an estimated 2% conversion rate and $80 average order value, their monthly revenue likely approaches $80,000.​

How to Use Shopify Sales Spy Tools Effectively

Shopify sales spy tools transform competitor research from guesswork into strategic intelligence. These platforms reveal the apps competitors use, their best-selling products, traffic sources, and estimated revenue. Here is how you use Shopify sales spy tools effectively:​

Finding the Right Technology Stack Behind Competitors

Start by installing browser extensions like Koala Inspector. Visit competitor stores and examine their installed apps. Payment processors, email marketing tools, and review apps show which technology supports their operations. Stores using advanced analytics platforms likely prioritize data-driven decisions. Those with extensive social proof apps emphasize trust-building.​

Track Sales and Revenue Patterns

Revenue tracking features estimate competitor sales based on order numbers and product movements. While not 100% accurate, these estimates help gauge market performance. Track specific stores over several weeks to identify sales patterns, seasonal fluctuations, and promotional impacts. This historical view reveals when competitors experience peak demand.​

Filter Products by Niche and Performance

Product databases within Shopify sales spy platforms let merchants filter by niche, price range, or trending status. Rather than browsing randomly, set specific criteria matching your business goals. If targeting budget-conscious buyers, filter for products under $30 with high order volumes. For premium positioning, examine stores selling higher-priced items with strong social proof.​

Learn from Competitor Ad Strategies

Ad library features show competitor Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok advertisements. Analyze ad creative elements, messaging angles, and engagement metrics. Successful ads typically solve specific customer problems or highlight unique benefits. Note which products competitors advertise most heavily—these represent their confidence in conversion potential.​

Theme and design analysis reveals UX patterns. High-performing stores often share common elements: clear navigation, prominent calls-to-action, and streamlined checkout processes. Use these observations to audit your own store against competitor standards.​

How to Find Top-Performing Products?

You can identify best-selling products by understanding market demand and customer preferences. Shopify stores organize products by sales performance, though many hide this information from casual browsers. Several methods reveal these hidden insights for competitive analysis.:

Using Shopify's URL Structure to Your Advantage

The URL modification technique offers the simplest approach. Add /collections/all?sort_by=best-selling to any Shopify store's domain. This displays all products sorted by sales volume, with top sellers appearing first. The method works because Shopify's core URL structure remains consistent across stores, even when merchants customize their storefronts.​​

Checking Your Own Store Performance

For your own store, Shopify's built-in analytics provides detailed sales reports. Navigate to Analytics > Reports > Sales > Sales by Product to view performance data. This report shows units sold, revenue generated, and trend information over custom date ranges. The top product in this list represents your best seller during the selected period.​

Use Third-Party Tools 

Third-party product research tools offer additional discovery methods. Platforms like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Dropshiptool identify which products drive organic search traffic to competitor stores. Products ranking for high-volume keywords indicate strong customer demand and effective SEO optimization.​

Monitor social proof indicators on product pages. Items with hundreds or thousands of reviews typically sell well. Real-time purchase notifications, "trending now" badges, and low stock warnings signal popular products. Some stores display exact purchase counts or "X people viewing this now" messages that confirm high demand.​

Check Ad Spends

Analyze competitor ad campaigns to identify promoted products. Stores invest advertising budgets in products that convert profitably. If a competitor runs sustained ad campaigns for specific items over several months, those products likely generate consistent returns.​

What is the Sequential Order Estimation Method?

Sequential order estimation calculates approximate sales volume by analyzing Shopify's order numbering system. Shopify assigns consecutive order numbers starting from #1001, incrementing by one for each new order. This predictable pattern enables merchants to estimate competitor order frequency and revenue.​

The method works by placing test orders or identifying visible order numbers through purchase confirmations, customer reviews, or social media posts. Record the order number and date, then check again after a specific period. The difference between order numbers indicates total orders placed during that timeframe.​

The Math Behind Revenue Estimation

For example, if a competitor's order number reaches #15,000 on January 1 and #18,500 on January 31, they processed approximately 3,500 orders that month. Multiply by estimated average order value to calculate revenue. If their AOV appears to be $75 based on product prices, monthly revenue approximates $262,500.​

Several factors affect accuracy. Some stores customize order numbers with prefixes, suffixes, or random elements to obscure their volume. Others start numbering from high numbers like #857,463 rather than #1001 to appear more established. Multiple storefronts or sales channels create number gaps if they share a unified order system.​

How to Use It

Merchants also cancel orders, process refunds, or experience abandoned checkouts that increment the counter without completing sales. This means sequential numbers represent total checkout attempts, not just successful purchases. Actual completed orders typically run 10-20% lower than the raw number suggests.​

Despite limitations, sequential order estimation provides valuable directional insights. Track competitors monthly to identify growth trends rather than focusing on exact figures. Rising order volumes indicate successful scaling, while stagnant or declining numbers suggest market challenges.​

How to Use Social Proof to Find Indicators of Success?

Social proof signals reveal how customers interact with competitor stores and products. These trust indicators influence purchasing decisions and provide measurable benchmarks for competitive analysis:

Review Volume and Ratings 

Customer review volume and ratings offer the most direct success indicator. Products with hundreds of positive reviews demonstrate consistent sales and customer satisfaction. Pay attention to review recency—active products accumulate new reviews weekly or monthly. Stagnant review counts suggest declining sales or interest.​

User-Generated Content Shows Real Engagement

User-generated content shows authentic customer engagement. Stores featuring customer photos, videos, and testimonials throughout their site invest in building community trust. High-performing brands encourage and showcase this content because it converts effectively. Count how many customer photos appear in product galleries and social media feeds to gauge engagement levels.​

Real-Time Notifications Reveal Purchase Frequency

Real-time purchase notifications create urgency while revealing sales frequency. Pop-ups stating "Someone in Boston just bought this" indicate active transactions. Observe notification frequency during your site visit. Notifications appearing every few minutes suggest strong sales velocity, while infrequent alerts signal slower movement.​

Social Metrics Show Brand Awareness

Social media follower counts and engagement rates measure brand awareness. Divide average post engagement (likes, comments, shares) by follower count to calculate engagement rate. Rates above 3% indicate highly engaged audiences. Cross-reference social following with estimated store traffic to understand how effectively competitors convert social audiences into buyers.​

Stock Warnings and Scarcity Tactics

Stock level warnings and "selling fast" badges communicate scarcity. These elements appear strategically on popular items to drive conversion through FOMO. Competitors displaying these messages understand psychological triggers that increase urgency.​

Star Ratings as Quick Credibility Check

Star ratings provide quick visual credibility assessment. Products maintaining 4.5+ star averages with large review samples outperform lower-rated alternatives. Track rating distribution—predominantly 5-star reviews with few critical reviews indicate strong product-market fit.​

How to Find Sales Order Volumes

Estimating competitor sales order volumes requires combining multiple data sources since Shopify doesn't publicly disclose exact figures. A Shopify sales spy tool triangulates traffic data, conversion benchmarks, and visible indicators to calculate reasonable estimates.​ Here is how to find sales order volumes:

Using Traffic Estimation Tools

Start with traffic estimation tools to determine monthly visitor counts. These platforms analyze web traffic patterns and provide estimated session numbers. While not perfectly accurate, they offer directional guidance for volume calculations.​

Apply Conversion Rate Benchmarks

Apply industry-standard conversion rates to traffic estimates. Shopify stores average 1.3-2.5% conversion rates depending on niche, traffic quality, and optimization level. Conservative estimates use 1.5%, while well-optimized stores might achieve 3% or higher. Multiply monthly visitors by estimated conversion rate to calculate order volume.​

For example, a competitor receiving 100,000 monthly visitors with an assumed 2% conversion rate generates approximately 2,000 orders monthly. This calculation provides a baseline for revenue estimation when combined with average order value.​

Determine Average Order Value

Average order value estimation requires analyzing competitor pricing. Review their product catalog and note price ranges. Calculate a weighted average based on which products appear most prominently or show signs of popularity. Shopify stores globally average $85-92 per order, though this varies significantly by industry.​

Sequential order number tracking offers another volume indicator when visible. Some stores expose order numbers in order confirmation pages, shipping notifications, or customer service interactions. Track these numbers over time to measure order velocity, though remember this method has limitations due to cancellations and customization.​

Automated Tracking via Spy Tools

Sales tracker features in dedicated Shopify sales spy tools provide automated volume estimates. These platforms monitor stores continuously and calculate sales based on product movement, inventory changes, and order pattern analysis. While requiring subscriptions, they save manual tracking time.​

Best Practices for Doing Competitor Analysis

Here are the best practices for doing competitor analysis:

Know Your Research Goals First

Effective competitor analysis transforms raw data into strategic advantages. Following structured best practices ensures your research delivers actionable insights rather than overwhelming information. Define clear research objectives before starting. Decide whether you're analyzing pricing strategies, identifying product gaps, studying marketing tactics, or evaluating customer experience. Focused research questions prevent data overload and keep analysis relevant. Document specific metrics to track so you maintain consistency across competitor comparisons.​

Choose the Right Mix of Competitors

Select 7-10 key competitors representing different market positions. Include direct competitors selling similar products, indirect competitors solving the same problems differently, and aspirational brands you want to emulate. This diverse mix reveals various approaches to shared challenges.​

Build a Tracking System for Consistency

Create a centralized tracking system for organized data collection. Spreadsheets work well for smaller operations, while dedicated platforms suit agencies managing multiple clients. Your system should allow easy comparison across competitors and time periods, with sections for pricing, products, marketing channels, and technology stacks.​

Monitor Regularly, Not Just Once

Schedule regular monitoring rather than one-time research. Markets evolve constantly, and competitor strategies shift. Monthly check-ins capture pricing changes, new product launches, and marketing pivots. Quarterly deep dives assess broader strategic shifts and performance trends.​

Use Specialized Tools for Each Task

Use specialized tools for different analysis aspects. SEO tools like Ahrefs reveal keyword strategies and backlink profiles. Social media monitoring platforms like Sprout Social track engagement and posting frequency. Shopify sales spy extensions identify apps, themes, and products. Google Analytics for your own store provides performance benchmarks.​

Learn From Competitor Failures

Analyze both successes and failures. Competitor mistakes teach valuable lessons without the cost of experiencing them firsthand. When competitors face negative reviews or campaign backlash, study what went wrong and how they responded. These insights strengthen your own crisis management preparation.​

Document findings in shareable reports. Stakeholders need clear summaries showing key insights, opportunities identified, and recommended actions. Visual elements like comparison tables and trend graphs communicate complex information effectively.​

How to Transform Your Shopify Sales by Using Competitor Insights?

Here’s how: 

Identify Gaps Competitors Leave Open

Converting competitor research into revenue growth requires strategic implementation. Simply knowing what competitors do doesn't improve performance—applying those insights systematically drives transformation. Identify market gaps where competitors underserve customers. Analyze negative reviews on competitor products to find consistent complaints. These pain points represent opportunities to differentiate your offerings. If multiple competitors receive criticism about slow shipping, emphasize your fast fulfillment capabilities. When reviews mention confusing product information, invest in comprehensive descriptions and comparison guides.​

Refine Pricing Based on Market Position

Optimize pricing strategy based on competitive positioning. If competitors charge premium prices with strong branding, you can either match their positioning with similar quality emphasis or undercut them for price-sensitive buyers. Track promotional patterns—when do competitors run sales, how deep are discounts, and which products get marked down? Time your promotions strategically to capture customers shopping around.​

Build a Winning Product Mix

Refine your product mix by identifying trending items across multiple competitor stores. Products appearing in several successful stores indicate proven demand. Source similar items or create unique variations that improve on competitor offerings. Use competitor insights to eliminate slow-moving inventory that doesn't appear in top-performing stores.​

Learn From Better User Experience

Enhance your website experience by adopting proven UX patterns. If successful competitors emphasize customer reviews, trust badges, and live chat support, implement similar trust elements. Study their navigation structure, filtering options, and checkout flow to identify friction points you can avoid.​

Allocate Marketing Budget Strategically

Strengthen your marketing by analyzing which channels competitors prioritize. Heavy Instagram presence indicates visual products convert well through social commerce. Extensive blog content suggests SEO-driven organic traffic works in your niche. Allocate marketing budget to channels where competitors demonstrate consistent activity and engagement.​

Test Before You Scale

Test competitor-inspired strategies in controlled experiments. Rather than overhauling everything at once, run A/B tests comparing your current approach against competitor-inspired alternatives. Measure conversion rate, average order value, and customer acquisition cost to validate which tactics actually improve your performance.​

Conclusion

So, now you know how to use Shopify sales spy tools to uncover what competitors are doing right. Use traffic data, order tracking, and social proof to build a clear picture of what works in your market. You don't need to copy everything—look for the gaps and missed opportunities instead. Apply what you learn to your own store, test it, and keep adjusting. The goal isn't to become a replica; it's to find your edge and turn it into real revenue growth.