How to Check Someone's Shopify Sales for Market Growth

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Why Merchants Investigate Competitor Sales
3. Practical Methods: How to Check Someone's Shopify Sales
4. Moving From Data to Strategy: The Power of Digital Upsells
5. Building a Native Learning Ecosystem
6. Real-World Scenarios: Applying Competitor Insights
7. Maximizing Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
8. Technical Advantages of Staying Native
9. Setting Realistic Business Expectations
10. How to Start Your Digital Journey
11. Analyzing Trends for Long-Term Success
12. The Ethical Side of Competitor Research
13. Conclusion
14. FAQ

Introduction

Did you know that the global e-learning market is on a trajectory to surpass $460 billion by 2026? This staggering figure isn't just a win for massive educational institutions; it represents a massive opportunity for independent Shopify merchants who are ready to diversify their revenue. In an era where customer acquisition costs are rising, understanding your competitive landscape is no longer optional—it is a survival skill. Many entrepreneurs find themselves staring at a successful competitor's storefront, wondering exactly how much they are moving and which products are driving that success. Learning how to check someone's shopify sales is the first step toward validating a new niche, refining your product lineup, and potentially launching a digital education arm that complements your physical inventory.

The purpose of this guide is to move beyond the surface-level "spy" tactics and provide you with a sophisticated framework for market analysis. We will explore the technical methods available for estimating competitor revenue, the strategic reasons why this data matters, and how you can use these insights to build a "digital learning powerhouse" right on your own store. At Tevello, we believe that data should lead to action. By identifying what works for others, you can implement high-margin digital products—like courses and memberships—to increase your Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) and build a more resilient business. Ultimately, checking sales is about more than just curiosity; it is about finding the gaps in the market where your brand can thrive.

Why Merchants Investigate Competitor Sales

Before diving into the "how," it is essential to understand the "why." E-commerce is not a vacuum. Your store exists in a dynamic ecosystem where customer preferences shift daily. When a merchant looks for ways to monitor another store’s performance, they are usually looking for market validation. If you see a competitor consistently moving high volumes of a specific product type, it proves there is existing demand. This reduces the risk of you investing capital into dead inventory.

Furthermore, analyzing sales trends helps in identifying seasonal patterns. For instance, a merchant in the fitness space might notice a competitor’s sales spike every January and June. By digging deeper, they might find these spikes correlate with the launch of digital "transformation challenges" or membership renewals. This realization can be the catalyst for moving away from the "one-off sale" model and toward a recurring revenue model. Our mission at Tevello is to help you own that experience, ensuring that when you do identify a winning strategy, you can execute it natively without sending your customers to a third-party platform that hides your data.

Practical Methods: How to Check Someone's Shopify Sales

While Shopify does not publicly broadcast a store's private financial dashboard, there are several "legal" and ethical ways to estimate their performance. These methods range from simple URL modifications to sophisticated third-party aggregators.

The "Best Selling" URL Hack

One of the oldest and simplest tricks in the Shopify ecosystem involves a simple URL string. By adding /collections/all?sort_by=best-selling to the end of any Shopify store's domain, you can see their products organized by sales volume. While this doesn't give you a specific dollar amount, it tells you exactly which items are their "bread and butter." If you are planning to launch a digital course, seeing which physical products sell best can tell you what your audience wants to learn about. For example, if a store selling professional cameras sees their "Beginner DSLR" as the top seller, there is an immediate, proven market for a "DSLR Basics" video course.

Estimating Revenue Through Traffic Analysis

Revenue is a function of traffic and conversion rates. While you cannot see a competitor's conversion rate, you can estimate their traffic using tools like SimilarWeb or the now-defunct Alexa. By seeing how many monthly visitors a store receives, you can apply industry-standard conversion rates (usually between 1% and 3%) and average order values (AOV) to get a ballpark figure. If a store has 100,000 monthly visitors and an AOV of $50, at a 2% conversion rate, they are likely generating roughly $100,000 in monthly revenue.

Utilizing Dedicated Sales Trackers

There are various web-based tools and Chrome extensions designed specifically to scrape public data and provide revenue estimates. These tools look at "order numbering" (by placing small orders over time to see how the order IDs increment) and tracking inventory levels. However, it is important to note that many of these tools saw a decrease in specific product-level accuracy after Shopify implemented changes in late 2023. Today, the most reliable trackers focus on overall store performance and broad revenue trends rather than individual SKU tracking.

Moving From Data to Strategy: The Power of Digital Upsells

Once you have a grasp of what is selling in your niche, the goal should be to outperform the competition—not just copy them. One of the most effective ways to do this is by introducing digital products. Physical products often suffer from thin margins due to shipping, manufacturing, and storage costs. Digital products, such as those powered by Tevello, offer a way to diversify revenue streams with nearly 100% profit margins after the initial creation.

Consider a merchant selling organic gardening supplies. By using the methods discussed to see what their competitors are selling, they might find that "Soil Health Kits" are a top-performing item across the industry. Instead of just selling the kit, this merchant could create an in-depth "Mastering Soil Microbes" course. This turns a one-time physical sale into an educational experience. At Tevello, we empower you to provide all the key features for courses and communities so that your customers never have to leave your site to learn from you.

Building a Native Learning Ecosystem

One of the biggest mistakes merchants make after identifying a market opportunity is fragmented growth. They might see a competitor succeeding with a membership site and decide to launch their own on a separate platform like Teachable or Patreon. This creates a "fragmented" experience where the customer has to log in to two different places, and the merchant has to manage two different sets of data.

We believe merchants should own their customer data and brand experience. This is why Tevello offers a "Native Shopify Integration." When you build your course or community with us, it lives on your own URL. There is no redirect. The customer uses the same account they used to buy their physical goods. This unified login reduces customer support friction and keeps your brand front and center. If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.

The "Unlimited" Advantage

Growth should not be penalized. Many platforms use complicated tier structures where they charge you more as you gain more students or upload more videos. We take a different approach. We offer a flat-rate plan that supports unlimited members, ensuring that your costs remain predictable even as your brand goes viral. Whether you have 10 students or 10,000, our Unlimited Plan stays at $29.99 per month.

Furthermore, we reject the industry trend of "success fees." Many apps take a 2% to 5% cut of every sale you make. At Tevello, we charge 0% transaction fees. You keep 100% of what you earn. This allows you to scale your digital products with predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees, making it much easier to calculate your true ROI when compared to physical goods.

Real-World Scenarios: Applying Competitor Insights

To truly understand how to check someone's shopify sales and turn that into growth, let's look at a few practical scenarios.

Scenario A: The Specialty Coffee Roaster

A boutique coffee roaster notices through traffic analysis and "best-seller" sorting that their main competitor is selling thousands of units of espresso machines. Instead of trying to compete on the price of the machines (where margins are low), the roaster uses Tevello to launch an "Home Barista Mastery" course. They bundle this course for free with every bag of "Espresso Roast" coffee beans. This increases the value of their physical product without increasing their shipping weight. They can see how merchants are earning six figures by adopting these types of hybrid models.

Scenario B: The Fitness Equipment Store

A merchant selling yoga mats and resistance bands sees that their competitors have high engagement on social media but no "hub" for their customers. By checking sales patterns, they realize customers buy equipment but often stop using it after three weeks. To solve this, the merchant launches a "21-Day Yoga Habit" challenge. Because Tevello allows for keeping customers at home on the brand website, the merchant can sell the equipment and the challenge in one cart, significantly increasing the total order value.

Scenario C: The Craft and Hobby Brand

In the world of DIY, instructions are just as valuable as materials. A brand selling crochet kits can look at how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses to see the potential of digital-physical hybrids. By analyzing which kits are most popular among competitors, they can create specific video tutorials that solve the most common "pain points" for beginners, ensuring their customers actually finish their projects and come back for more.

Maximizing Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

The ultimate goal of analyzing competitor sales is to understand how to keep your own customers longer. It is much cheaper to sell to an existing customer than to acquire a new one. This is where the community aspect of Tevello shines. Beyond just selling a course, you can create a member directory and social feeds where your customers can interact.

When your store becomes a destination for both products and community, your LTV skyrockets. You move from being a "commodity seller" to a "category leader." By strategies for selling over 4,000 digital courses natively, brands have shown that digital products don't just add revenue—they build brand loyalty that physical products alone cannot achieve.

Technical Advantages of Staying Native

When you are reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from, pay close attention to the integration details. A "native" app like Tevello means:

1. Seamless Checkout: Your customers use the Shopify checkout they already trust. No third-party payment gateways that might trigger fraud alerts.
2. SEO Benefits: Since the content lives on your domain, the "dwell time" (how long people stay on your site) increases, which can positively impact your search engine rankings.
3. Data Integrity: You don't have to sync data between two different platforms. Your Shopify analytics will show you the full picture of your customer's journey.
4. Speed: Native apps are optimized for the Shopify environment, ensuring your course pages load as fast as your product pages.

By seeing how the app natively integrates with Shopify, you ensure that your store remains a "digital learning powerhouse" without the technical headaches of a "Frankenstein" tech stack.

Setting Realistic Business Expectations

While it is exciting to see a competitor's high sales numbers, it is important to frame your own growth realistically. We do not promise "six figures in your first week." Instead, we provide a robust tool that amplifies your existing efforts. Digital products offer recurring revenue stability and a way to diversify your income, but they still require quality content and marketing.

The advantage of using a tool with a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses is that you can afford to experiment. Because there are no per-student fees, you can launch a small "beta" course to a few dozen people, gather feedback, and iterate without the pressure of high overhead. This lean approach is how the most successful Shopify brands are built.

How to Start Your Digital Journey

If you've spent time learning how to check someone's shopify sales, you likely have a list of ideas ready to go. The next step is execution. You don't need a professional film studio to start. Many of the most successful examples of content monetization on Shopify started with simple screen recordings or smartphone videos.

The beauty of the Tevello platform is that you can build your entire curriculum before you pay a cent. We offer a 14-day free trial that gives you full access to all features, including:

• Unlimited video hosting and bandwidth (no need for Vimeo or Wistia).
• Drip content scheduling (release lessons over time).
• Quizzes and completion certificates.
• Community profiles and social feeds.

The goal is to get your "Minimum Viable Product" (MVP) in front of your customers as quickly as possible. Use the competitive data you've gathered to identify the most "in-demand" topic, record your lessons, and start your 14-day free trial and build your first course now.

Analyzing Trends for Long-Term Success

E-commerce is not a "set it and forget it" business. The most successful merchants are those who continuously monitor the market. By regularly checking the "best-selling" products of your top five competitors, you can spot emerging trends before they become mainstream.

For example, if you notice a sudden rise in "Sustainable Materials" across several stores in your niche, you might decide to create a digital guide or a mini-course on "How to Transition to a Zero-Waste Lifestyle." This positions your brand as a thought leader. Using Tevello, you can quickly spin up these digital add-ons, testing the market's appetite without the risk of manufacturing physical goods that might not sell.

The Ethical Side of Competitor Research

It is important to maintain a high ethical standard when performing competitor research. The goal of checking someone's sales is to understand market demand, not to steal intellectual property. Use the data to inspire your own unique spin on a product or to find a "gap" that the competitor is failing to fill.

Maybe their course is great, but their community is non-existent. Or perhaps their products are high-quality, but they offer no educational support. By identifying these weaknesses, you can build a superior brand experience. Our focus at Tevello is to give you the tools to provide that superior experience, keeping your customers loyal to your brand, your URL, and your community.

Conclusion

Understanding how to check someone's shopify sales is a powerful skill that can transform your business from a reactive store into a proactive market leader. By combining competitive intelligence with the high-margin potential of digital products, you create a business model that is both resilient and scalable. At Tevello, our mission is to provide you with the "Unlimited Plan" you need to grow without boundaries—offering unlimited courses, students, and hosting for a flat $29.99 per month, with absolutely zero transaction fees. You’ve done the research; now it’s time to build. Whether you are adding a simple video tutorial to a physical product or launching a massive global community, we are here to ensure your Shopify store becomes a true digital learning powerhouse.

To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

FAQ

Can I really see the exact dollar amount a Shopify competitor makes? No, there is no public tool that provides an exact, penny-perfect revenue report for a private Shopify store. However, by combining traffic data, order number tracking, and "best-selling" sort filters, you can generate a highly accurate estimate of their monthly performance.

Does Tevello charge more if my course becomes very popular? No. At Tevello, we believe in supporting your growth. Our Unlimited Plan is a flat $29.99 per month regardless of how many students you enroll or how many courses you create. We also never take a percentage of your sales, offering 0% transaction fees.

Is it difficult to move my existing course from another platform to Tevello? Not at all. Because we are a native Shopify app, the setup is straightforward. You can keep your customers on your own domain and use your existing Shopify theme. Many merchants find that migrating to a native solution actually reduces their support tickets because it simplifies the login process for their customers.

Do I need a separate hosting service for my course videos? No. The Tevello Unlimited Plan includes unlimited video hosting and bandwidth. You don't need to pay for external services like Vimeo or Wistia; you can upload your content directly to our platform, and we handle the delivery to your students seamlessly.