Competitor Analysis Template
Most competitor analysis stops at the grid, which is the easy half. The result is a handsome document everybody admires and nobody acts on, because it records where you stand without ever saying what to do about it. This one has a second tab that does.
FORMAT
XLSX
CONTAINS
4 tabs
LAST UPDATED
September 2026
LICENCE
Free, unrestricted
Benchmarking the wrong set of competitors invalidates everything that comes after it.
- Why this one
The grid is the easy half
Recording where you stand is research. Deciding which gap to close is the work.
Matching a competitor on price, range, delivery and returns at once means matching a cost base you cannot see.
A competitor grid is satisfying to build and easy to circulate. It is also, on its own, inert: fourteen columns of numbers with no statement about which of them matters, so everybody reads their own priority into it and nothing changes. The second tab exists to force the uncomfortable part.
It works out the best figure in your set for each dimension, compares it with yours, and asks you two questions about every gap: does this matter to your customer, and what would it cost to close. Priority is one divided by the other, and the rows where you are ahead say Ahead rather than a score.
- Fourteen dimensions, from price index to content depth
- Best in set calculated per dimension, with direction handled
- Priority as matters divided by effort, not a made-up index
- A method tab stating where each number comes from and its trap
- A last-checked column, because stale competitor data gets quoted
Gaps are measured in the unit of their row, so they are not comparable across rows. That is exactly why priority ignores the size of the gap and uses your judgement of what matters instead.
- The dimensions
Fourteen columns, and the trap in each
The Method tab in the file carries this same table, so whoever fills it in has it beside them.
Dimension
Where the number comes from
The trap
Price index against you
A basket of ten comparable items, theirs divided by yours
Comparing one hero SKU. Every retailer has a loss leader and it says nothing about the range.
Range, SKUs in category
Their category page count, in the category you compete in
Counting their whole catalogue against your one category.
Free delivery threshold
Their basket, or the banner if it is honest
Copying it without checking your own contribution. Their margin is not your margin.
Delivery promise
The date shown on a product page before the basket
Reading the small print instead. The shopper reads the page.
Returns window
Their returns policy page
Almost none. This is usually the cheapest gap on the sheet to close.
Reviews and rating
Their product or store reviews
Cumulative totals favour age. A ten-year-old store with 15,000 reviews is not ten times better.
Paid search presence
Search your commercial terms daily for a week, score 0 to 5
One search on one day. Ad delivery is lumpy and you will get a false reading.
Content depth
Guides, category copy and comparison pages, scored 0 to 5
Counting blog posts. Ten thin posts score lower than two genuinely useful guides.
Plus emails per week, subscription or loyalty, type, URL, last checked and a notes column — which is the most useful column in the file and the one people leave empty.
- What is inside
Four tabs
Two of them are the analysis. The other two stop it going wrong.
Read me
Seven counters, including the one that catches analysis without a decision.
- Competitors tracked and dimensions measured
- Where you are ahead and where you are behind
- Highest priority score across the gaps you scored
- Rows scored but with no action written against them
Competitors
Ten rows, sixteen columns, covering price, range, delivery, returns, reviews, paid presence, content and lifecycle.
- A type column, because a marketplace seller is not a direct competitor
- A last-checked column, dated
- Three worked examples, each labelled, to delete
Gaps
Nine dimensions with the best in your set calculated automatically, direction handled per row, and a priority score.
- Best in set from MAX or MIN depending on the dimension
- Gap in the unit of the row, with Ahead where you lead
- Priority as matters divided by effort
- An action column, and the Read me counts the empty ones
Method
How to choose the competitor set, where every number comes from, and three cautions.
- Four competitor types and how much weight each deserves
- The trap under every column
- Why you should not try to close every gap
Nothing is locked. If a dimension does not matter in your category, delete the row and the Gaps tab keeps working.
- How to use it
From blank sheet to three decisions
Half a day if you are honest about the competitor set. A week if you start with the grid.
01
Choose the set by who your customers compare you with
Not by who you think about at the weekend. Search your top three commercial terms and note who appears repeatedly. Four to six competitors is the working range; ten is a research project that never finishes.
02
Mark the type honestly
A marketplace seller competes with you on price and delivery and not on brand or content. Scoring them on content depth and then panicking about the gap is a common and expensive misreading.
03
Build the price index from a basket, not a hero product
Ten comparable items, theirs divided by yours. Every retailer has one loss leader, and benchmarking against it will tell you that you are expensive when you are not.
04
Score paid presence over a week
Ad delivery is lumpy. One search on one afternoon tells you who was in the auction that afternoon, which is not the same question.
05
Fill your own figures on the Gaps tab
Best in set calculates itself from whatever you entered. Then score Matters and Effort only on the rows where the gap is positive.
06
Write an action on three rows and stop
The Read me counts scored rows with no action, and the target is not zero. It is three actions and six rows you consciously decided to leave.
Re-run it quarterly and date it. A competitor sheet from eighteen months ago is worse than none, because it gets quoted as if it were current.
- Getting it wrong
Six ways competitor analysis wastes a week
The first one invalidates everything after it, which is why it is first.
Benchmarking the wrong set
The companies you think about are rarely the ones your customer had open in another tab. Pick them from your own search results, not from memory.
A price index built from one product
Every retailer has a loss leader. Comparing against it will tell you that you are expensive across a range where you are not.
Trying to close every gap
Matching on price, range, delivery and returns at once means matching a cost base you cannot see. Pick two that matter to your customer.
Reading review counts as quality
They are cumulative, so they mostly measure age. Read the recent reviews instead; the total tells you almost nothing.
Never re-running it
A sheet from eighteen months ago still gets quoted in meetings as if it were current. Date it, and redo it quarterly.
Stopping at the grid
Fourteen columns of numbers with no statement about which matter is a document people admire and nobody acts on.
If only one of these applies to your last competitor review, it is almost always the last one.
DOWNLOAD
Competitor Analysis — XLSX
Ten competitor rows across fourteen dimensions, nine gap rows that calculate the best in your set and where you sit against it, a priority score, and a method tab that says where every number comes from and what the trap is.
FORMAT
XLSX spreadsheet
TABS
Read me, Competitors, Gaps, Method
FORMULAS
34, all working
LICENCE
Free, commercial use
No email address, no sign-up and no watermark. Three worked example competitors sit at the top of the Competitors tab and should be deleted before you start.
- Questions
Competitor analysis FAQs
What people ask before downloading it.
How many competitors should I track?
Four to six. Ten is the maximum the sheet holds and it is more than most teams will maintain. A set you re-check quarterly beats a larger set you fill in once and quote for two years.
How is the priority score calculated?
Matters divided by effort, both scored one to five, and only on rows where the gap is against you. It deliberately ignores the size of the gap, because gaps are measured in different units per row and multiplying days by SKUs produces a number that looks precise and means nothing.
Should marketplace sellers be in the same sheet?
Yes, with the type column marked. They compete with you on price and delivery and barely at all on content or brand, so the type column is what stops you reading a content gap against a seller who was never going to have content.
What is a price index?
Their price for a basket of comparable items divided by yours. 1.08 means they are eight per cent more expensive across the basket. Use ten items rather than one, because every retailer has a loss leader.
How do I score content depth?
Zero to five, judged on buying guides, category copy and comparison pages rather than blog post count. Ten thin posts score lower than two genuinely useful guides, and the score is a judgement you should be able to defend.
How often should I redo it?
Quarterly, and date it each time. The Last checked column exists because the alternative is somebody quoting an eighteen-month-old delivery promise in a pricing meeting.
Does this compare platforms or suppliers?
No, it benchmarks competing retailers. For choosing between platforms or marketplaces, the comparison guides cover that decision directly.
Does it work in Google Sheets?
Yes. MAX, MIN, COUNT, COUNTIF, COUNTIFS, AVERAGE and ROUND all behave identically. Upload the XLSX to Drive and open it with Sheets.
- Keep going
Related templates and guides
GUIDES
For choosing between platforms or marketplaces, which is a different decision from benchmarking rivals.
TEMPLATE
Where findings about your own store go, scored and ranked with the same kind of arithmetic.
TEMPLATE
Your own numbers, calculated through to contribution, which is what the Gaps tab compares against.
Know the gaps and not the order?
The free audit looks at your store rather than at theirs, and produces a ranked constraint list across six disciplines with a ninety-day sequence.