Price Tracking Actor

A powerful Apify actor for monitoring product prices across multiple e-commerce platforms including Amazon, Walmart, Target, and more. This actor automatically tracks price changes, availability updates, and sends notifications via Slack and email when significant changes are detected.

Ready to use on the Apify platform - no coding required!

Features

• Multi-Platform Support: Works with Amazon, Walmart, Target, and other e-commerce sites
• Dual Scraping Methods: Uses Cheerio for fast scraping with Puppeteer fallback for dynamic content
• Price Change Detection: Configurable threshold-based price change alerts
• Availability Monitoring: Tracks stock status changes
• Smart Notifications: Slack webhook and email notifications for price/availability changes
• Data Export: Automatic export to Google Sheets for historical tracking
• Robust Error Handling: Retry logic and graceful fallbacks
• Rate Limiting: Configurable delays to avoid being blocked

Supported Platforms

• Amazon - Product titles, prices, and availability
• Walmart - Product information and stock status
• Target - Product details and shipping information
• Generic Sites - Fallback selectors for other e-commerce platforms

Input Configuration

Required Parameters

• products (array) - List of product URLs to monitor

Optional Parameters

• notifySlackWebhook (string) - Slack webhook URL for notifications
• spreadsheetId (string) - Google Sheets ID for data export
• googleServiceAccountKey (string) - Google Service Account JSON for Sheets API
• priceChangeThreshold (integer) - Minimum percentage change to trigger alerts (default: 5%)
• checkAvailabilityOnly (boolean) - Only monitor stock changes, ignore prices (default: false)
• userAgent (string) - Custom User-Agent string
• maxRetries (integer) - Maximum retry attempts (default: 3)
• requestDelay (integer) - Delay between requests in seconds (default: 2)
• usePuppeteerFallback (boolean) - Enable Puppeteer for dynamic pages (default: true)
• debugMode (boolean) - Enable detailed logging (default: false)

Email Notifications (Advanced)

To enable email notifications, add the following to your input:

{
  "emailNotifications": {
    "smtpHost": "smtp.gmail.com",
    "smtpPort": 587,
    "smtpUser": "your-email@gmail.com",
    "smtpPass": "your-app-password",
    "fromEmail": "your-email@gmail.com",
    "toEmails": ["recipient@example.com"]
  }
}

Example Input

{
  "products": [
    "https://www.amazon.com/Venum-Contender-2-0-BJJ-Gi/dp/B01J4MMOQC/",
    "https://www.walmart.com/ip/EVERCROSS-Electric-Scooter-for-Kids/667977396"
  ],
  "priceChangeThreshold": 5,
  "notifySlackWebhook": "https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/SLACK/WEBHOOK",
  "spreadsheetId": "1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms",
  "requestDelay": 2,
  "debugMode": true
}

Output Data

The actor outputs detailed information for each product:

{
  "url": "https://www.amazon.com/product-url",
  "domain": "amazon.com",
  "productId": "abc123def456",
  "title": "Product Name",
  "price": 29.99,
  "availability": true,
  "scrapedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
  "method": "Cheerio",
  "priceChange": {
    "old": 34.99,
    "new": 29.99,
    "difference": -5.00,
    "percentage": 14.3
  },
  "availabilityChange": {
    "old": false,
    "new": true
  },
  "hasChanges": true
}

Getting Started

1. Run the Actor

1. Click "Start" to run the actor
2. Configure your input parameters (see Input Configuration below)
3. Click "Start" to begin monitoring

2. Slack Notifications

1. Create a Slack app in your workspace
2. Enable Incoming Webhooks
3. Create a webhook URL
4. Add the webhook URL to your actor input

3. Google Sheets Integration

1. Create a Google Cloud Project
2. Enable Google Sheets API
3. Create a Service Account
4. Download the JSON key file
5. Share your Google Sheet with the service account email
6. Add the JSON key content to googleServiceAccountKey

4. Schedule Regular Runs

1. In the Apify console, go to your actor's "Schedules" tab
2. Create a new schedule (e.g., every hour or daily)
3. Set your input configuration
4. Save the schedule to automatically monitor your products

How It Works

1. Input Processing: Actor receives your product URLs and configuration
2. Smart Scraping: Automatically detects the best method for each website
3. Data Extraction: Extracts product title, price, and availability status
4. Change Detection: Compares current data with previous runs to detect changes
5. Notifications: Sends alerts via Slack/email when significant changes occur
6. Data Export: Automatically saves data to Google Sheets for tracking
7. Results: Provides detailed summary of all monitored products

Smart Scraping Technology

• Adaptive Methods: Automatically chooses the best scraping approach for each site
• Platform Optimization: Specialized handling for Amazon, Walmart, Target, and others
• Reliability: Built-in retry logic and error handling
• Respectful: Configurable delays to avoid overwhelming websites

Monitoring and Alerts

The actor tracks:

• Price Changes: Percentage-based threshold alerts
• Stock Status: Availability changes (in stock/out of stock)
• Scraping Success: Failed vs successful extractions
• Data Quality: Method used (Cheerio/Puppeteer/Failed)

Best Practices

1. Start Small: Begin with a few products to test the setup
2. Set Reasonable Delays: Use 2-5 second delays to avoid being blocked
3. Enable Notifications: Set up Slack/email alerts for important changes
4. Regular Scheduling: Run the actor on a schedule (hourly/daily) for continuous monitoring
5. Data Backup: Use Google Sheets export for historical tracking
6. Monitor Results: Check the actor's output to ensure it's working correctly

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

• Blocked Requests: Increase the requestDelay setting or change the userAgent
• Missing Data: Enable usePuppeteerFallback for dynamic sites that require JavaScript
• Failed Notifications: Check that your Slack webhook URL and email credentials are correct
• Sheets Export Issues: Verify your Google Service Account has proper permissions

Getting Help

• Check the actor's logs in the Apify console for detailed error messages
• Enable debugMode: true in your input for more detailed logging
• Test with a single product URL first to isolate issues
• Verify all webhook URLs and credentials are working

Pricing

This actor runs on the Apify platform. Pricing is based on:

• Compute Units: Amount of processing time used
• Data Transfer: Data downloaded and uploaded
• Storage: Data stored in datasets and key-value stores

Check the Apify pricing page for current rates.

Support

For issues and questions:

• Check the actor's logs in the Apify console
• Enable debugMode: true for detailed logging
• Test with a single product URL first
• Verify all credentials and webhook URLs are correct
• Contact support through the Apify platform

Terms of Use

This actor is designed to respect website terms of service. Please:

• Use reasonable delays between requests
• Avoid excessive monitoring frequency
• Respect robots.txt files
• Use the actor responsibly and ethically

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Ready to start tracking prices? Simply add your product URLs and run the actor on the Apify platform!