# Competitor Product Price & Stock Watchlist (`feeng/competitor-product-price-watchlist`) Actor 💸 Monitor selected competitor product URLs for price changes, sales, stock moves, and pricing gaps. Get history, alerts, and a visual report without another Actor or API key. - **URL**: https://apify.com/feeng/competitor-product-price-watchlist.md - **Developed by:** [Daniel S.](https://apify.com/feeng) (community) - **Categories:** E-commerce, Automation, Business - **Stats:** 2 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $5.00 / 1,000 successful product snapshots This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Competitor Product Price & Stock Watchlist Monitor selected competitor product URLs for price changes, discounts, stock moves, and pricing gaps. 💸 Group equivalent products together, add your own price, and receive a clear recommendation instead of a raw page scrape. This self-contained Actor does not call another Actor and does not require a third-party API key. It combines Shopify product endpoints, JSON-LD, product metadata, optional CSS selectors, and a browser fallback to extract public product information reliably. ### Why e-commerce teams use it ✨ - **💰 Price tracking:** detect increases, drops, sale starts, and sale endings. - **📦 Stock monitoring:** see out-of-stock and back-in-stock movements. - **⚖️ Direct comparison:** compare your price with the cheapest and average monitored competitor. - **📈 Price history:** keep up to 365 snapshots per URL and view inline trend charts. - **🚨 Actionable alerts:** ignore tiny movements with a configurable percentage threshold. - **🔎 Confidence signals:** every result explains how the price was extracted and whether JavaScript rendering was needed. ### Best use cases 🎯 - Competitor price monitoring for DTC and retail teams - MAP and reseller price compliance - Promotion and discount tracking - Supplier price and stock monitoring - Bedding, fashion, electronics, beauty, home goods, and niche e-commerce comparisons - Daily price intelligence delivered through Apify schedules, webhooks, Make, n8n, or Zapier ### Input Add one row per URL. Rows sharing the same `group` are treated as equivalent products. ```json { "watchlist": [ { "group": "Cotton bedding 140x200", "role": "own", "label": "My store", "url": "https://my-store.example/products/cotton-bedding", "referencePrice": 89.9, "expectedCurrency": "EUR" }, { "group": "Cotton bedding 140x200", "role": "competitor", "label": "Competitor A", "url": "https://competitor.example/product/cotton-bedding" } ], "compareWithPrevious": true, "saveHistory": true, "alertThresholdPercent": 2, "browserFallback": true } ```` For unusual websites, add `priceSelector` or `stockSelector` to the affected row. Keep the same `monitorId` and `stateStoreName` across scheduled runs so history remains connected. ### Output 📊 Each successful URL produces one dataset row with flat alert and market-comparison columns plus complete nested evidence. Use the `overview`, `alerts`, `marketComparison`, `history`, and `allData` views. - current and original price - detected currency and stock state - extraction method and confidence - previous snapshot and price difference - change type and alert decision - retained price history - cheapest competitor, average competitor price, price gap, and recommended action for the group The run also saves `OUTPUT.json`, `OUTPUT.csv`, `RUN_SUMMARY.json`, `ERRORS.json`, and a self-contained `REPORT.html` with price sparklines. ### Change types `baseline`, `unchanged`, `price-drop`, `price-increase`, `sale-started`, `sale-ended`, `out-of-stock`, and `back-in-stock`. ### Schedule automatic monitoring 🔁 1. Run once to establish the baseline. 2. Save the input as an Apify Task. 3. Schedule it daily or hourly with the same monitor ID. 4. Connect run-success or dataset webhooks to email, Slack, Make, Zapier, n8n, or your own system. ### Pricing 💵 Store model: Pay per event at **$0.001 per run plus $0.005 per successful product snapshot**. Failed URLs are written to `ERRORS.json` and are not placed in the paid dataset. This remains accessible for small watchlists while covering lightweight extraction, occasional browser rendering, storage, and proxy risk. Examples: - 10 products checked daily: about $1.53/month - 25 products checked daily: about $3.78/month - 100 products checked daily: about $15.03/month Optional residential proxy transfer is more expensive, so direct extraction remains the default and the browser starts only when needed. ### SEO positioning 🚀 **Store title:** Competitor Product Price & Stock Watchlist **SEO title:** Competitor Price Tracker & Product Stock Monitor **SEO description:** Monitor competitor product prices, discounts, and stock across Shopify, WooCommerce, and public e-commerce pages. Get history, price-change alerts, and comparison reports. **Keywords:** competitor price tracker, price monitoring, product price scraper, stock monitor, price drop alert, ecommerce price intelligence, Shopify price tracker, WooCommerce price monitor, MAP monitoring, competitor pricing tool. ### Reliability and limitations - Product pages must be public and accessible without login. - Currency comparisons are only calculated when currencies match or an expected currency is supplied. - Personalized, member-only, cart-only, or location-dependent prices may differ from the public page. - Protected marketplaces may require an Apify residential proxy; proxy cost is separate platform usage. - Use collected data responsibly and comply with applicable terms and laws. This Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with any monitored store, Shopify, WooCommerce, or marketplace. # Actor input Schema ## `watchlist` (type: `array`): One row per product page. Use the same group for equivalent products. Add one own row with role=own and competitor rows with role=competitor. ## `compareWithPrevious` (type: `boolean`): Detect price, sale, and stock changes against the saved baseline. ## `saveHistory` (type: `boolean`): Persist snapshots for scheduled monitoring and visual price history. ## `historyPoints` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of chronological price and stock snapshots retained for each URL. ## `alertThresholdPercent` (type: `number`): Price changes smaller than this remain in history but are not marked as alerts. ## `browserFallback` (type: `boolean`): Render JavaScript pages only when lightweight structured extraction cannot find a reliable price. ## `includeHtmlReport` (type: `boolean`): Save a self-contained HTML report with group comparisons and price sparklines. ## `requestTimeoutSecs` (type: `integer`): Maximum duration of one HTTP or browser page request. ## `retryCount` (type: `integer`): Number of retries for transient HTTP failures. ## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`): Maximum product URLs processed at the same time. ## `monitorId` (type: `string`): Stable identifier that keeps separate watchlists from sharing history. ## `stateStoreName` (type: `string`): Named Apify key-value store that retains baselines between scheduled runs. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Optional Apify Proxy. Direct extraction is the low-cost default; enable proxy for protected stores. ## Actor input object example ```json { "watchlist": [ { "group": "A Light in the Attic", "role": "own", "label": "My store", "url": "https://books.toscrape.com/catalogue/tipping-the-velvet_999/index.html", "referencePrice": 55, "expectedCurrency": "GBP" }, { "group": "A Light in the Attic", "role": "competitor", "label": "Competitor", "url": "https://books.toscrape.com/catalogue/a-light-in-the-attic_1000/index.html", "expectedCurrency": "GBP", "priceSelector": ".price_color" } ], "compareWithPrevious": true, "saveHistory": true, "historyPoints": 90, "alertThresholdPercent": 1, "browserFallback": true, "includeHtmlReport": true, "requestTimeoutSecs": 30, "retryCount": 2, "maxConcurrency": 3, "monitorId": "default", "stateStoreName": "competitor-product-price-history", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `watchlist` (type: `string`): No description ## `alerts` (type: `string`): No description ## `marketComparison` (type: `string`): No description ## `history` (type: `string`): No description ## `allData` (type: `string`): No description ## `htmlReport` (type: `string`): No description ## `csvExport` (type: `string`): No description ## `jsonExport` (type: `string`): No description ## `runSummary` (type: `string`): No description ## `errors` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "watchlist": [ { "group": "A Light in the Attic", "role": "own", "label": "My store", "url": "https://books.toscrape.com/catalogue/tipping-the-velvet_999/index.html", "referencePrice": 55, "expectedCurrency": "GBP" }, { "group": "A Light in the Attic", "role": "competitor", "label": "Competitor", "url": "https://books.toscrape.com/catalogue/a-light-in-the-attic_1000/index.html", "expectedCurrency": "GBP", "priceSelector": ".price_color" } ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("feeng/competitor-product-price-watchlist").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "watchlist": [ { "group": "A Light in the Attic", "role": "own", "label": "My store", "url": "https://books.toscrape.com/catalogue/tipping-the-velvet_999/index.html", "referencePrice": 55, "expectedCurrency": "GBP", }, { "group": "A Light in the Attic", "role": "competitor", "label": "Competitor", "url": "https://books.toscrape.com/catalogue/a-light-in-the-attic_1000/index.html", "expectedCurrency": "GBP", "priceSelector": ".price_color", }, ] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("feeng/competitor-product-price-watchlist").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "watchlist": [ { "group": "A Light in the Attic", "role": "own", "label": "My store", "url": "https://books.toscrape.com/catalogue/tipping-the-velvet_999/index.html", "referencePrice": 55, "expectedCurrency": "GBP" }, { "group": "A Light in the Attic", "role": "competitor", "label": "Competitor", "url": "https://books.toscrape.com/catalogue/a-light-in-the-attic_1000/index.html", "expectedCurrency": "GBP", "priceSelector": ".price_color" } ] }' | apify call feeng/competitor-product-price-watchlist --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=feeng/competitor-product-price-watchlist", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Competitor Product Price & Stock Watchlist", "description": "💸 Monitor selected competitor product URLs for price changes, sales, stock moves, and pricing gaps. Get history, alerts, and a visual report without another Actor or API key.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "gvcdAB8EOcLbl3DbP" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/feeng~competitor-product-price-watchlist/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-feeng-competitor-product-price-watchlist", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/feeng~competitor-product-price-watchlist/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-feeng-competitor-product-price-watchlist", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/feeng~competitor-product-price-watchlist/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-feeng-competitor-product-price-watchlist", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "watchlist" ], "properties": { "watchlist": { "title": "Product watchlist", "type": "array", "description": "One row per product page. Use the same group for equivalent products. Add one own row with role=own and competitor rows with role=competitor.", "items": { "type": "object", "properties": { "group": { "type": "string", "title": "Equivalent product group", "description": "Shared name used to compare equivalent own and competitor products." }, "role": { "type": "string", "title": "Role", "description": "Choose whether this URL is your product or a competitor product.", "enum": [ "own", "competitor" ], "enumTitles": [ "My product", "Competitor" ] }, "label": { "type": "string", "title": "Store label", "description": "Human-readable store or competitor name shown in reports." }, "url": { "type": "string", "title": "Product URL", "description": "Public product detail page to monitor.", "editor": "textfield" }, "referencePrice": { "type": "number", "title": "Optional reference price", "description": "Manual own price used when comparing competitors or validating extraction.", "minimum": 0 }, "expectedCurrency": { "type": "string", "title": "Expected currency code", "description": "Three-letter currency such as USD, EUR, GBP, or CZK." }, "priceSelector": { "type": "string", "title": "Optional CSS price selector", "description": "CSS selector used when automatic price extraction is not suitable." }, "stockSelector": { "type": "string", "title": "Optional CSS stock selector", "description": "CSS selector used to read a store-specific availability message." } }, "required": [ "group", "url" ] } }, "compareWithPrevious": { "title": "Compare with previous run", "type": "boolean", "description": "Detect price, sale, and stock changes against the saved baseline.", "default": true }, "saveHistory": { "title": "Save history", "type": "boolean", "description": "Persist snapshots for scheduled monitoring and visual price history.", "default": true }, "historyPoints": { "title": "History points per product", "minimum": 2, "maximum": 365, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of chronological price and stock snapshots retained for each URL.", "default": 90 }, "alertThresholdPercent": { "title": "Minimum price change alert (%)", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 100, "type": "number", "description": "Price changes smaller than this remain in history but are not marked as alerts.", "default": 1 }, "browserFallback": { "title": "Use browser fallback", "type": "boolean", "description": "Render JavaScript pages only when lightweight structured extraction cannot find a reliable price.", "default": true }, "includeHtmlReport": { "title": "Generate visual report", "type": "boolean", "description": "Save a self-contained HTML report with group comparisons and price sparklines.", "default": true }, "requestTimeoutSecs": { "title": "Request timeout", "minimum": 5, "maximum": 120, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum duration of one HTTP or browser page request.", "default": 30 }, "retryCount": { "title": "Retries", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 5, "type": "integer", "description": "Number of retries for transient HTTP failures.", "default": 2 }, "maxConcurrency": { "title": "Maximum concurrency", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 10, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum product URLs processed at the same time.", "default": 3 }, "monitorId": { "title": "Monitor ID", "type": "string", "description": "Stable identifier that keeps separate watchlists from sharing history.", "default": "default" }, "stateStoreName": { "title": "History store name", "type": "string", "description": "Named Apify key-value store that retains baselines between scheduled runs.", "default": "competitor-product-price-history" }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Optional Apify Proxy. Direct extraction is the low-cost default; enable proxy for protected stores.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": false } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```