Commerce Inspector Review: The Ultimate Competitor Spy Tool?

Do you want to spy on your competitors and get their darkest secrets to success? Well, stop on this Commerce Inspector review, because I’ve got you covered!

Commerce Inspector, now Shine Commerce, is your secret weapon in the world of online selling and dropshipping. With its recent makeover in February 2023, Shine Commerce promises an expanded mission to empower businesses of all sizes. 

Imagine having a clandestine agent at your disposal, tirelessly scouring the web for valuable business intel. From competitor analysis to marketing insights, Shine Commerce equips you with the ammunition to dominate your niche.

So, stay tuned as we delve deeper into Shine Commerce’s world, uncovering its pros, cons, and everything in between.

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What Is Commerce Inspector?

If you’re into online selling or dropshipping, I’ve got a handy tip for you, and you are going to learn it in this Commerce Inspector review.

So, Commerce Inspector is a tool you can add to your web browser, especially if you’re using Google Chrome on Mac or Windows. It’s like a secret agent for your business analytics.

With Commerce Inspector, Shopify store owners can peek at what other online stores are up to, all above board.

Hence, you can scope out your competitors’ best-selling items, how many they’ve sold, what new products they’ve added, and even keep tabs on their advertising campaigns and sales trends. Thus, it’s gold for anyone:

• Just starting out in online selling
• Running a dropshipping gig
• Selling those specialized niche products

But here’s the scoop: Commerce Inspector got a makeover in February 2023 and now goes by the name Shine.

Same great tool, just with a snazzier name to match its expanded mission of helping businesses big and small thrive in the wild world of e-commerce.

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Quick Commerce Inspector Review

The best

• Extensive Information
• Simple Interface
• Free Plan
• Great Customer Support

The worst

• Limited Platform Compatibility
• Data Accuracy Concerns
• Cost Consideration

Starting from

• Starter: Priced at $99 per month; Growth: At $199 per month; Pro plan: $499 per month; Enterprise: Customized for each business,

Try Commerce Inspector NOW!

How Does Commerce Inspector Work?

Before we jump inside of this Commerce Inspector review, let’s see how it works.

Commerce Inspector uses AI algorithms to discover product trends and what’s hot.

 Thus, here’s the lowdown on how Shine Commerce rolls: it scours through loads of Shopify stores, picking up signals and matching them with all the data it’s gathered from its snooping.

This data isn’t some secret stash – it’s collected from public places like Facebook, Google, Instagram, Pinterest, and more. So, once it’s got what it needs, Commerce Inspector, or Shine Commerce, crunches the numbers and hands you the lowdown on sales and revenue trends.

Also, for best results, you’ll want to be using the Chrome browser since it’s a Chrome extension.

And get this: when you land on another Shopify store, you can sign up to follow them and peep their sales data.

Plus, they are all about spotting patterns and trends in the data. They whip up insights from this info and serve them up to you in an easy-to-understand format.

Why Use Commerce Inspector For Dropshipping?

When it comes to Commerce Inspector, there’s a whole bunch of useful insights it can dish out.

➡ First off, let’s talk about competitor analysis. With this tool, you can peek at what your rivals are up to – what they’re selling, how much they’re charging, and even how well they’re doing in terms of sales. It’s like having a spy inside their operation.

➡ Then, there are marketing insights. You can keep tabs on what your competitors are doing to market their stuff and figure out what strategies are paying off for them. Thus, this can be a goldmine of ideas for your own marketing game plan.

➡ Next up, audience insights. You can dig deep into the demographics, interests, and buying habits of your target audience. This can help you tailor your offerings to better suit their needs and preferences.

➡ And last but not least, store performance. Commerce Inspector gives you the lowdown on how your own store is doing – which products are flying off the shelves, where your traffic is coming from, and how well you’re converting those visitors into buyers.

Thus, it’s like having a personal business coach at your fingertips.

Commerce Inspector Review: Key Features

🔸 Discover The Best-Selling & New Products In A Store

With this feature, you can easily look into the most popular and newest items available at a store. Commerce Inspector provides valuable information on trending products, drawn from various big online platforms like Facebook Ads, AliExpress, Amazon, and eBay.

Thus, this information is crucial for anyone exploring new products for their store, whether to update their inventory or offer more choices to customers.

Even with the free Commerce Inspector Chrome extension, you can track new product releases and top-selling items across different stores.

The insights gathered cover details like sales numbers, product launches, and categories. You can search for products using keywords across all stores.

In addition to product information and reports, you can also access data on the location and devices used, along with suggestions for targeting. This data can guide you in planning advertising campaigns for the best chance of success.

🔸 Track Product Trends Over Time

 The next feature of this Commerce Inspector review is about following trends.

Thus, you can keep an eye on product suggestions to ensure you don’t miss any chances. Thus, you will be able to monitor a specific product or a collection of products to assess sales trends over time and identify patterns, sudden increases, and seasonal variations.

🔸 Analyze Sales Trends

With this feature, you can discover the monthly sales volume and revenue generated from as many stores as you desire. So, you have access to sales data and specifics such as:

• Monthly units sold
• Monthly revenue generated
• Store-specific revenue details
• Best-selling items of the week

Also, while the detailed sales analysis is not provided in the free browser extension, the premium paid versions offer extensive features including store-specific revenue, product-specific revenue, last week’s top sellers, and more.

🔸 Discover Competitor’s Apps Usage

While the Shopify platform itself is highly regarded, your success largely hinges on your ability to identify and integrate the most suitable apps to improve user experience and boost sales.

Commerce Inspector conducts thorough scans of competitors’ websites, pinpointing the apps currently in use by rival stores. Thus, this enables you to explore whether these apps could be beneficial for your own store.

Analyze The Origin & Amount Of Store Traffic

Commerce Inspector enables you to monitor and examine the flow of visitors to any store. This encompasses:

• Monthly visit count
• Traffic sources: social media, paid referrals, email links, referrals, search engines, etc.
• Active presence on social networks.

Also, in the premium version of the extension, an advanced search feature is available, facilitating:

•  Product searches across multiple stores
• App searches utilized by stores
• Niche-specific product searches

🔸 Analyze Facebook Ads

If a store is currently running advertising campaigns on Facebook, you can discover the types of ads it’s using with the paid version.

Additionally, you can access previous inactive ads. This provides ample inspiration for your own advertising campaigns on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Furthermore, you can effortlessly gather information about the store’s active and inactive ads, as well as the reach of those ads. These insights offer numerous ideas for your advertising campaign.

🔸 Monitor Any Brand’s Ad Campaigns

You can gain a competitive advantage and set your brand apart by monitoring every advertisement and customer acquisition effort your competitors initiate.

These can be easily sorted by active and inactive campaigns.

Commerce Inspector Review: Pricing

 Next, Commerce Inspector offers both free and paid options to use their services.

So, The free version of the Chrome Extension offers basic functionalities like tracking competitor prices, conducting product research, and identifying the apps used by competitors.

Following that, there are four pricing tiers:

• Starter: Priced at $99 per month, this plan provides access to more features such as marketing insights and audience demographics.
• Growth: At $199 per month, the Growth plan grants access to all features, including insights into store performance.
• Pro: Tailored for larger businesses, the Pro plan costs $499 per month and offers additional features such as unlimited competitors and product tracking.
• Enterprise: Customized for each business, the Enterprise plan encompasses all features along with dedicated customer support.

Furthermore, a 14-day free trial is available for any plan.

How To Use Commerce Inspector For Your Dropshipping Business?

To begin using Shine Commerce’s spy tool, start by downloading the free extension and creating an account. 

So, next on this Commerce Inspector review, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use it:

•  Visit the Chrome Web Store and search for “Commerce Inspector.”
• Click on the “Add to Chrome” button.
• Confirm by clicking on the “Add extension” button.
•  The Commerce Inspector extension will then be added to your Chrome browser.

Once added, visit the websites of your top competitors in your niche. The tool will now be listed among your Chrome extensions. To access your store’s performance data, simply click on Shine Commerce (or Commerce Inspector).

From there, you can explore best-selling and trending products, advertisements, social media engagement, traffic data, and shop profiles.

Alternatively, you can use their web browser to manage all the stores you’re tracking in one place. The browser mode allows you to view data at both the store and product levels.

Here’s how I suggest using the data from Commerce Inspector. 👇

Start by following stores within your niche. For example, I will do that with my fitness dropshipping competitor – GymShark. So, the first thing I will do is Identify hot-selling products from the past month or week.

Furthermore, I suggest you review both active and inactive ads to analyze their performance and advertising strategies and take note of the apps they use on their store.

Additionally, track the value-driving ads to gather insights such as successful products, ad concepts, and apps, and then implement these findings into your own online store.

💡 Tip: Check out the 15 Most Successful Shopify Dropshipping Store Examples.

Commerce Inspector Review: Pros & Cons

 Pros

✅  Extensive Information

Commerce Inspector gathers diverse data from Shopify stores, covering product pricing, sales figures, marketing strategies, and website visits. 

This data aids in understanding competitors’ businesses and evaluating your store’s performance.

✅  Simple Interface

The user-friendly interface of Commerce Inspector is straightforward to navigate, allowing easy access to necessary information and insights.

✅  Free Plan

Commerce Inspector offers a no-cost plan with basic features, allowing users to test the tool’s capabilities before committing to a paid version.

✅  Great Customer Support

Users can seek assistance through email and chat support provided by the Commerce Inspector, ensuring help is available for any queries or issues.

Cons 

❌ Limited Platform Compatibility

First disadvantage in my Commerce Inspector review is its limitations. Hence, Commerce Inspector exclusively functions with Shopify stores, necessitating a different tool for users on alternative platforms.

❌  Data Accuracy Concerns

The data collected by the Commerce Inspector may not always be accurate or comprehensive, stemming from its reliance on publicly available sources which may be unreliable or incomplete.

❌  Cost Consideration

The pricing of Commerce Inspector’s paid plans may be prohibitive, particularly for larger businesses with more extensive needs.

Commerce Inspector Customer Reviews

Next in my Commerce Inspector review, I will dig into what users are saying. So, the platform has a 2.7 out of 5 stars on the Google Chrome store. 

Firstly, most of the positive reviews talk about the great customer service and valuable information they get, even for free.

However, most negative reviews from customers claim that the app actually doesn’t work.

Commerce Inspector Alternatives

So, if from this Commerce Inspector review you’ve realized that this tool in not what you are looking for, here are its best alternatives:

💡 Tip: Check out the 15 Best Shopify Spy Tools To Do Competitor Research.

AdSpy

AdSpy focuses on analyzing competitors’ advertisements, offering insights into their ad campaigns to assist in crafting effective advertising strategies. 

By understanding your competitors’ ad campaigns, you can identify what resonates with your target audience and create compelling ads that drive conversions. 

Additionally, this tool provides data on ad creatives, targeting options, and ad performance metrics, offering a comprehensive view of competitors’ advertising strategies.

Main Features

• Extensive Data for Searching
• Highly Accurate Search Results
• Enhanced basic search functionality
• Ability to search through comments
• Precise demographic information
• Affiliate Search capability
• Fast and intuitive interface

Pricing

AdSpy is priced higher compared to other tools, with a monthly cost of $149.

SimilarWeb

SimilarWeb is an online analytics and market intelligence tool offering insights into the digital performance of websites and apps. 

It provides a wide range of data and analytics related to website traffic, audience demographics, user behavior, and more.

Features

• Website Traffic Insights: Explore competitors’ website traffic sources and audience demographics.
• Keyword Research: Discover the keywords driving traffic to your rivals.
• Industry Benchmarking: Compare your website’s performance against industry competitors.
• Mobile App Data: Analyze your competitors’ mobile app metrics.

Pricing

SimilarWeb offers four pricing plans, two for individuals starting at $125/month, and two for businesses, with custom quotes available upon request.

👉 Also, check out my ShopHunter Review: A Competitor Spying Tool For Shopify Stores.

Conclusion

In my opinion, Shine Commerce emerges as an indispensable ally for anyone navigating the competitive landscape of online commerce.

Its ability to unveil competitor strategies, track product trends, and analyze sales data provides a distinct advantage in crafting effective business strategies. 

Despite some limitations, its user-friendly interface and extensive information-gathering capabilities make it a compelling choice for entrepreneurs seeking to stay ahead of the curve. 

As someone deeply entrenched in the e-commerce realm, I believe that Shine Commerce is not just a tool, but a strategic partner in the journey towards sustainable business growth. 

With its insights at hand, success in the dynamic world of online selling becomes not just attainable, but inevitable.