# Shopify Competitor Price, Stock & Launch Watcher (`hirepulse/shopify-competitor-watcher`) Actor

Track competitor Shopify stores daily: price drops, price increases, back-in-stock, out-of-stock, new and removed products. Built-in saved snapshots, so each run returns only what changed. No database, no browser.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/hirepulse/shopify-competitor-watcher.md
- **Developed by:** [HirePulse](https://apify.com/hirepulse) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce, Lead generation, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 store checkeds

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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Shopify Competitor Price, Stock & Launch Watcher

Watch up to 50 competitor Shopify stores and get **only what changed** since the last run:
price drops, price increases, items back in stock, items out of stock, new products and removed products.

The first run saves a snapshot of each store. Every later run with the same watch list name (`state_key`)
compares against that snapshot and returns a clean list of change events. You don't need a database,
a browser, or diff logic in n8n.

### What it tracks

| Event | When it fires |
|---|---|
| `price_dropped` | A variant's price went down by at least `min_price_change_pct` |
| `price_increased` | A variant's price went up by at least `min_price_change_pct` |
| `back_in_stock` | A variant changed from unavailable to available |
| `out_of_stock` | A variant changed from available to unavailable |
| `new_product` | A product appeared that was not in the last snapshot |
| `removed_product` | A product from the last snapshot is gone |

Each event includes the product and variant title, SKU, product URL, previous and current price,
the change in money and in percent, `compare_at_price`, and an `on_sale` flag (true when `compare_at_price` is above the price).

### Why not just scrape products.json?

| | Raw products.json scraper | This watcher |
|---|---|---|
| Output each day | The whole catalog (thousands of rows) | Only the changes |
| You pay for | Every product, every day | $0.005 per store checked, plus $0.001 per change |
| Comparing with yesterday | You build it (database, sheet or n8n code) | Built in (saved snapshots) |
| Store that blocks or fails | Often looks like "everything removed" | Reported as `blocked` or `partial_error`, snapshot kept, no charge |

### Quick start

1. Enter competitor domains, for example `allbirds.com`.
2. Run once. Each store returns `status: "baseline"` and its snapshot is saved.
3. Schedule the Actor (for example daily) with the **same** `state_key`. Later runs return `changed` or `unchanged`.

Input example:

```json
{
  "domains": ["allbirds.com", "gymshark.com"],
  "state_key": "footwear-competitors",
  "max_pages_per_store": 4,
  "min_price_change_pct": 1
}
```

### Output

One dataset row per store:

```json
{
  "domain": "allbirds.com",
  "status": "changed",
  "summary": {
    "products_monitored": 356,
    "variants_monitored": 4168,
    "total_events": 3,
    "new_products_count": 1,
    "removed_products_count": 0,
    "price_drops_count": 1,
    "price_increases_count": 0,
    "back_in_stock_count": 0,
    "out_of_stock_count": 1
  },
  "events": [
    {
      "event_type": "price_dropped",
      "product_id": 7340901859408,
      "variant_id": 42146889039952,
      "product_title": "Women's Allbirds Flip Flop - Dusty Pink",
      "variant_title": "5",
      "sku": "A12513W050",
      "product_url": "https://allbirds.com/products/womens-allbirds-flip-flop-dusty-pink",
      "previous_price": 62.5,
      "current_price": 50,
      "compare_at_price": null,
      "price_change_amount": -12.5,
      "price_change_pct": -20,
      "on_sale": false,
      "previous_available": false,
      "current_available": false
    }
  ],
  "charged": true,
  "error_message": null
}
```

(Real output from a cloud run on 31 Oct 2026. The change was produced by passing an edited `known_state` snapshot, so the $62.50 "previous price" is a test value; the current price and product fields are live from the store.)

Statuses: `baseline`, `changed`, `unchanged` (charged), and `not_shopify`, `endpoint_disabled`, `blocked`,
`partial_error`, `error` (never charged, previous snapshot kept, with a plain explanation in `error_message`).

The run also writes a `SUMMARY` record, plus a `STATE` record (domain -> snapshot) that you can pass back as
`known_state` if you prefer to keep state yourself.

### Pricing

Pay per event:

- **$0.005 per store checked** (baseline, changed or unchanged).
- **$0.001 per change event**, at most 50 charged per store per run (so at most $0.055 per store per run). The first baseline run has no change charges.
- Stores that are not Shopify, have closed their catalog, block the request or fail part-way are **not charged**.

Example: 10 competitors checked daily for 30 days, with about 500 changes in the month, comes to about $2.

### Use with n8n, Make or an AI agent

- **n8n:** Schedule Trigger → Apify node (run this Actor, get dataset items) → IF `status = changed` → Slack/Telegram/Email with the `events`.
- **API:**

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/hirepulse~shopify-competitor-watcher/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"domains": ["allbirds.com"], "state_key": "my-competitors"}'
```

- **MCP (Claude, Cursor and other agents):** `https://mcp.apify.com?tools=hirepulse/shopify-competitor-watcher`

### Limits, stated honestly

- It works on standard Shopify stores that expose the public `/products.json` catalog. Some large or headless stores close it. Those stores return `endpoint_disabled` and are not charged.
- Stock is tracked as available or unavailable per variant. Shopify's public catalog does not show exact stock counts.
- With the default of 4 pages, each store is read up to 1,000 products. For larger catalogs, price and stock changes are still tracked, but new and removed products are not reported, so a cut-off catalog never produces false "removed" alerts.
- The watcher reads public data only. It does not log in, use a browser or bypass protection.

### Related tools

- [Shopify to llms.txt Generator](https://apify.com/hirepulse/shopify-to-llms-generator) builds an AI-ready summary of a Shopify catalog.
- [AliExpress Search Scraper](https://apify.com/hirepulse/aliexpress-search-scraper) looks up supplier prices for products you find.
- [Website Tech Stack Detector](https://apify.com/hirepulse/website-tech-stack-detector) checks whether a competitor runs on Shopify before you add it.

# Actor input Schema

## `domains` (type: `array`):

Up to 50 competitor Shopify stores, e.g. allbirds.com or https://gymshark.com.

## `state_key` (type: `string`):

Snapshots are saved under this name. Keep it the same on every scheduled run to get only the changes. Use different names for different watch lists.

## `max_pages_per_store` (type: `integer`):

4 pages = up to 1,000 products per store. If a catalog is larger, price and stock changes are still tracked, but new/removed products are not reported.

## `min_price_change_pct` (type: `number`):

Ignore price moves smaller than this percentage.

## `title_keywords` (type: `array`):

Optional, case-insensitive. Leave empty to watch the whole catalog.

## `output_mode` (type: `string`):

Changes only is best for alerts. Full catalog adds every current variant to each store row.

## `known_state` (type: `object`):

Optional. Pass the STATE record of a previous run (domain -> snapshot) if you keep state in n8n/Make yourself. Overrides the saved snapshot for those domains.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "domains": [
    "allbirds.com"
  ],
  "state_key": "default",
  "max_pages_per_store": 4,
  "min_price_change_pct": 0.5,
  "output_mode": "changes_only"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `changes` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

## `state` (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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "domains": [
        "allbirds.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("hirepulse/shopify-competitor-watcher").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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "domains": ["allbirds.com"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("hirepulse/shopify-competitor-watcher").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "domains": [
    "allbirds.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call hirepulse/shopify-competitor-watcher --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,hirepulse/shopify-competitor-watcher"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/nt0t3BS6jkVhEBDOu/builds/MEMhTcqubCdjdJiRB/openapi.json