# Shopify Store Intel — products, prices & change monitor (`istmobot/shopify-store-intel`) Actor

Scrape the full product catalog of any Shopify store (prices, variants, stock, images) and monitor competitors for new products, removals, price and stock changes.

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

## Pricing

Pay per event

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 Store Intel — products, prices & change monitor

Scrape the **complete product catalog of any Shopify store** — prices, compare-at prices, variants, SKUs, stock, images, tags — and **monitor competitors** for new products, removed products, price changes and stock changes. No browser, no login, no API key: it reads the public JSON endpoints every Shopify storefront exposes, so runs are fast and cheap.

### What it does

- **Full catalog export** from `/products.json` with automatic pagination (250 products per page).
- **One store or hundreds**: paste URLs or bare domains (`gymshark.com`). Stores are processed 3 at a time.
- **Collection scope**: limit to one collection (e.g. `mens`, `sale`, `new-arrivals`).
- **Two output shapes**: one item per product (variants nested) or one row per variant (spreadsheet-friendly).
- **Change monitor**: remembers each store between runs and outputs `NEW_PRODUCT`, `REMOVED_PRODUCT`, `PRICE_CHANGE` and `STOCK_CHANGE` records.
- **Shopify detection**: non-Shopify sites (or stores that block `products.json`) get a clear error item instead of crashing the run.
- **Store currency** from `/meta.json` (fallback `/cart.js`).

### Use cases

- **Dropshippers** — find winning products, track supplier prices and stock-outs.
- **E-commerce brands** — daily competitor price & assortment monitoring, launch alerts.
- **Agencies & analysts** — catalog audits, pricing research, discount tracking (`onSale`, `compareAtPriceMax`).
- **Data teams** — feed product data into BI dashboards, Google Sheets, or your own database via the Apify API.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `startUrls` | list of strings | — (required) | Store URLs or bare domains, e.g. `https://www.allbirds.com`, `gymshark.com` |
| `maxProductsPerStore` | integer | `0` | Max products per store, `0` = everything |
| `collectionHandle` | string | empty | Only scrape `/collections/{handle}` |
| `outputMode` | `products` | `variants` | `products` | One item per product, or one row per variant |
| `includeDescription` | boolean | `false` | Add plain-text description (HTML stripped) |
| `monitorChanges` | boolean | `false` | Compare with the previous run and output change records |
| `onlyChanges` | boolean | `false` | With monitoring on, output only change records |

```json
{
  "startUrls": ["https://www.allbirds.com", "gymshark.com"],
  "maxProductsPerStore": 0,
  "outputMode": "products",
  "monitorChanges": true,
  "onlyChanges": false
}
```

> Tip: use the host that actually serves the store. Some brands only expose the storefront API on one host (e.g. `gymshark.com` works, `www.gymshark.com` does not).

### Output

#### Product item (`outputMode: "products"`)

```json
{
  "store": "Allbirds",
  "storeUrl": "https://www.allbirds.com",
  "productId": 7340901859408,
  "title": "Women's Allbirds Flip Flop - Dusty Pink",
  "handle": "womens-allbirds-flip-flop-dusty-pink",
  "url": "https://www.allbirds.com/products/womens-allbirds-flip-flop-dusty-pink",
  "vendor": "Allbirds",
  "productType": "Shoes",
  "tags": ["allbirds::gender => womens", "allbirds::material => sugar"],
  "createdAt": "2026-03-27T14:03:50-07:00",
  "publishedAt": "2026-09-25T16:58:13-07:00",
  "updatedAt": "2026-09-30T18:16:55-07:00",
  "priceMin": 25,
  "priceMax": 25,
  "compareAtPriceMax": 50,
  "onSale": true,
  "currency": "USD",
  "available": true,
  "variantsCount": 7,
  "variants": [
    { "id": 42146889039952, "title": "5", "sku": "A12513W050", "price": 25, "compareAtPrice": 50, "available": false, "option1": "5", "option2": null, "option3": null }
  ],
  "images": ["https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1104/4168/files/...PDP_LEFT.png"],
  "mainImage": "https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1104/4168/files/...PDP_LEFT.png",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-01T01:17:09.804Z"
}
```

With `outputMode: "variants"` each row contains the product fields (without the `variants` array) plus `variantId`, `variantTitle`, `sku`, `price`, `compareAtPrice`, `available` (of that variant), `option1`–`option3`.

#### Change record

```json
{
  "changeType": "PRICE_CHANGE",
  "store": "Allbirds",
  "storeUrl": "https://www.allbirds.com",
  "productId": "7340901859408",
  "title": "Women's Allbirds Flip Flop - Dusty Pink",
  "url": "https://www.allbirds.com/products/womens-allbirds-flip-flop-dusty-pink",
  "oldPrice": 31.25,
  "newPrice": 25,
  "priceDiffPercent": -20,
  "oldPriceMax": 31.25,
  "newPriceMax": 25,
  "currency": "USD",
  "detectedAt": "2026-10-01T01:17:09.804Z"
}
```

#### Error item

```json
{ "storeUrl": "https://www.python.org", "errorType": "NOT_SHOPIFY", "error": "No Shopify products.json at https://www.python.org/products.json (HTTP 404)" }
```

`errorType` is `NOT_SHOPIFY`, `FETCH_FAILED` or `INVALID_URL`. Error items are never charged.

### How change monitoring works

1. Turn on **Monitor changes**. The first run for a store saves a **baseline** snapshot (the log says so) and reports no changes.
2. Every following run compares the live catalog with the saved snapshot and outputs:
   - `NEW_PRODUCT` — product not seen before
   - `REMOVED_PRODUCT` — product gone from the catalog (only reported on uncapped runs, `maxProductsPerStore: 0`)
   - `PRICE_CHANGE` — product min or max price changed (`oldPrice`, `newPrice`, `priceDiffPercent`, plus max prices)
   - `STOCK_CHANGE` — product went in or out of stock (any variant available)
3. The snapshot is then updated.

Snapshots live in the named key-value store **`shopify-store-intel-snapshots`** in your Apify account (one key per store domain, plus collection handle when used), so they persist across runs and are shared by all runs of this Actor under your account.

**Schedule it daily** (Apify Console → Schedules) with `monitorChanges: true` and `onlyChanges: true` to get a cheap daily feed of competitor changes. Add a webhook or the Slack/Email integration to get alerted.

### Pricing

Pay-per-event:

- **Actor start** — small fixed fee per run.
- **`product-result`** — per product (or per variant row in `variants` mode) in the output.
- **`change-result`** — per change record.

Use `onlyChanges` for monitoring runs to pay only for what changed. Set a maximum cost per run and the Actor stops cleanly once it is reached.

### FAQ

**Does it work on every Shopify store?** On the vast majority. A few stores disable or block `/products.json` (or run a headless storefront on their main domain); those return a `NOT_SHOPIFY` error item. Try the store's `*.myshopify.com` or alternate domain.

**Is stock quantity available?** No. Shopify's public endpoint exposes only whether a variant is available, not the exact inventory count.

**Why is `currency` null?** The store blocked `/meta.json` and `/cart.js`. Prices are still in the store's default currency.

**How many products can it scrape?** Whole catalogs — tens of thousands of products. Pages are fetched politely with delays and automatic retry/backoff on rate limits (HTTP 429) and server errors.

**Do I need proxies?** Usually not. The Actor makes few, lightweight JSON requests per store.

### Legal

This Actor only reads **publicly available** product data that Shopify storefronts publish for anyone to see. It does not log in, bypass protections or collect personal data. You are responsible for using the data in line with applicable laws and the target sites' terms.

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Shopify stores to scrape. Full URLs (https://www.allbirds.com) or bare domains (gymshark.com) both work. Use the domain that actually serves the store — some brands only expose products.json on a specific host (e.g. gymshark.com works, www.gymshark.com does not).

## `maxProductsPerStore` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many products per store. 0 = the whole catalog. When capped, change monitoring does not report removed products.

## `collectionHandle` (type: `string`):

Limit scraping to one collection, e.g. "mens" for https://store.com/collections/mens. Leave empty for the full catalog.

## `outputMode` (type: `string`):

"products": one item per product with variants nested. "variants": one row per variant (handy for spreadsheets).

## `includeDescription` (type: `boolean`):

Add the product description as plain text (HTML stripped). Off by default to keep results small.

## `monitorChanges` (type: `boolean`):

Save a snapshot of each store and, on every following run, output change records: NEW_PRODUCT, REMOVED_PRODUCT, PRICE_CHANGE, STOCK_CHANGE. The first run only creates the baseline. Schedule the Actor daily for a price/stock tracker.

## `onlyChanges` (type: `boolean`):

With monitoring on, skip the full product list and output only change records (cheaper for daily runs).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.allbirds.com",
    "https://gymshark.com"
  ],
  "maxProductsPerStore": 100,
  "outputMode": "products",
  "includeDescription": false,
  "monitorChanges": false,
  "onlyChanges": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (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 = {
    "startUrls": [
        "https://www.allbirds.com",
        "https://gymshark.com"
    ],
    "maxProductsPerStore": 100
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("istmobot/shopify-store-intel").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 = {
    "startUrls": [
        "https://www.allbirds.com",
        "https://gymshark.com",
    ],
    "maxProductsPerStore": 100,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("istmobot/shopify-store-intel").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 '{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.allbirds.com",
    "https://gymshark.com"
  ],
  "maxProductsPerStore": 100
}' |
apify call istmobot/shopify-store-intel --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/8G8GfaydAXmhVk6tg/builds/Lr7webWGaqFGAIUeZ/openapi.json