How VML Monitors 300+ Competitors in Real-Time
VML Netherlands — Marketing & Advertising Agency
300+
Competitors monitored daily
85%
Reduction in manual research time
3
Marketplaces covered per client
Real-time
Competitive alerts delivery
The Challenge
VML Netherlands, part of global marketing group WPP, manages competitive pricing strategy for major e-commerce brands. Their retailers faced critical pain points during peak periods like Black Friday: missed daily price wars due to outdated weekly reporting systems, inability to respond to competitors adjusting prices up to 8 times daily, and traditional weekly reports that were fundamentally insufficient for modern e-commerce.
The Solution
VML deployed ShoppingScraper's Google Shopping Offers API with real-time price monitoring endpoints to build live pricing dashboards. The solution implements three critical shifts: from periodic to continuous monitoring, from limited to complete market view covering 300+ sellers, and from siloed data to strategic integration where pricing insights inform marketing campaign optimization.
From periodic to continuous monitoring
Weekly reports were replaced with real-time monitoring that captures dynamic price changes including weekends and holidays. During peak periods like Black Friday, competitors were adjusting prices up to 8 times daily — movements that weekly reporting completely missed. The live dashboard enables immediate market response when it matters most.
- Real-time monitoring replaces outdated weekly reporting
- Captures critical price movements during peak periods and off-hours
- EAN-level data collection capturing every variant, color, and size
- Automated outlier detection for accurate market benchmarking
From limited to complete market view
Monitoring expanded from tracking just 5 competitors to over 300 sellers, including regional players and marketplace sellers that were previously invisible. Automated outlier detection ensures accurate benchmarking by filtering anomalous pricing. Data is collected at EAN level, capturing every variant, color, and size for truly comprehensive competitive intelligence.
From siloed to strategic
Pricing insights now inform marketing campaign optimization, guide promotional strategies, and support data-driven buying decisions. The integration broke down departmental data silos, making competitive intelligence accessible across VML's client organizations. Pricing data directly feeds into campaign ROI calculations and promotional planning.
Operational impact
The automated pipeline freed VML's analysts from data collection, allowing them to focus on strategic analysis and recommendations. Client satisfaction scores improved as report freshness went from weekly to daily. VML now offers competitive intelligence as a scalable, recurring revenue service backed by ShoppingScraper's reliable data infrastructure.
“Data from Google Shopping collected at EAN-level captures every variant, color, size — updated throughout the day. The shift from weekly reports to real-time monitoring has been transformative for our clients.”
Job van der Geest
Data & Analytics Lead, VML Netherlands
Ready to monitor competitor prices?
Start with 100 free API calls. No credit card required.