Competitor Price Monitor and Change Records

Overview

Manually tracking competitor prices drains time and invites errors. This workflow automates price monitoring by pulling product data from Google Sheets, scraping each product page to extract current prices via regex, and logging any changes with timestamps. It eliminates tedious checks, archives price history, and feeds data for smarter pricing decisions.

The Impact

Eliminate manual price checks. Automate extraction and comparison directly from live product pages.
Flag price changes instantly. Detect any price deviations with calculated difference percentages.
Archive historical data. Append or update detailed change records with timestamps for analysis.
Save time and reduce errors. Streamline competitive intelligence with automated workflows.

Who This Is For

Competitive Intelligence Teams tracking retail price fluctuations to inform strategy.
Procurement Managers monitoring supplier price changes for timely order adjustments.
Online Merchants capturing competitor promotions and price drops for responsive pricing.
Pricing Analysts needing continuous price trend data for decision-making.

How It Works

Data Import and Parsing
Fetch product rows from Google Sheets and convert the 2D table string into structured records with product URLs and last recorded prices.

Iterate and Scrape
Loop through each product, pausing to avoid rate limits, then request the product page HTML content.

Extract and Compare Prices
Use regex to extract the current price from HTML, convert to number, compare with last price, and calculate change percentage and timestamp.

Evaluate Price Changes
Determine if price changed and is valid; if so, prepare the change data row for logging.

Update Tracking Sheet
Append or update the price change record to the designated Google Sheets tracking worksheet, then aggregate results and exit loop.

What You'll Need

Before using this template, make sure you have:

A Google Spreadsheet with two worksheets: one listing products (product_url and price), and one dedicated to logging price changes with the headers ProductUrl, LastPrice, CurrentPrice, PriceChanged, PriceDiffPct, Timestamp.
Google OAuth credentials configured for authorized read/write access to your Google Sheets.
The Spreadsheet ID and exact worksheet names for both the product list and the price tracking sheets.

How to Use

Step 1. Prepare Your Spreadsheet

Create two worksheets as required, and set proper headers for product data and price change logs.

Step 2. Configure Credentials

Set up Google OAuth credentials to allow the workflow to read and write your Google Sheets.

Step 3. Input Parameters

Fill in the SpreadsheetId, SheetName (product list), and TrackingSheetName (price change log) in the workflow settings.

Step 4. Run the Workflow

Start the automation to let it scrape competitor prices, detect changes, and update your tracking sheet continuously.

Step 5. Verify Results

Check the tracking sheet for accurate and timely price change records to confirm the workflow’s operation.

FAQs

How does the workflow detect if a competitor's price has changed?

It extracts the current price from the product page HTML using regex, converts it to a number, and compares it to the last recorded price from the spreadsheet. If different and greater than zero, it flags a change.

What happens when a price change is detected?

The workflow prepares a detailed record including last price, current price, change flag, percentage difference, and timestamp, then appends or updates this in the designated tracking sheet.

How does the workflow avoid being blocked during scraping?

A pause of 20 seconds is inserted between requests to each product page to respect rate limits and reduce the chance of blocking.

Can I customize which sheets or columns to use?

Yes. You specify the Spreadsheet ID and worksheet names for both product listing and tracking sheets, and headers must follow the required order to ensure proper data mapping.

What credentials are needed to run this workflow?

Google OAuth credentials with permission to read and write your Google Sheets must be configured to enable data fetching and updating.

Updated on: Sep 4, 2026

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