SimilarWeb as a digital tool of competitive intelligence: Ukrainian realities
Authors:   Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University, Zavalii Tetiana , Shakhrai Vladyslav ,   Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University
Published: January 2024

The aim of the article is to identify and analyze the possibilities and limitations of SimilarWeb service for the work of digital marketers in the context of conducting competitive intelligence on the example of such e-commerce sites as Ukrainian marketplaces. Analyses results. The conducted research was devoted to the search, identification and systematization of opportunities and limitations of the digital competitive intelligence tool SimilarWeb on the example of digital e-commerce platforms such as marketplaces. Based on the systematization of information obtained after the practical application of the service and familiarization with the official help from the SimilarWeb site, the main limitations were highlighted, which form a clear understanding of the evaluation nature of the received data, list the conditions when it is impractical to use the service, update the need for preliminary verification of the assignment of selected sites to a certain subcategories for relevance and justify the expediency of using the researched service in combination with other available digital tools of web analytics. The capabilities of the SimilarWeb service include access to: web analytics for the site even without registration in free mode; site performance indicators (number of unique users, average duration of 1 visit, total number of visits for the last full month, for the last 2 or 3 months, for the last 28 days, etc.); information about the place of the site in the global rating, rating at the country level, rating by category/subcategory; characteristics of the engaged audience (structure of visitors by country, structure of traffic sources, segmentation of site visitors by gender, by age groups, by devices); similar sites as competitors; comparison of sites according to various indicators; analysis of applications for different operating systems. The focus of this study was marketplaces (e-commerce sites that meet clear requirements for recognition - the ability to sell by third parties (other sellers); the marketplace receives remuneration for providing such services; the site contains information for potential sellers; the structure of the site itself provides a mechanism product ordering, payment and delivery). Using the example of the sectoral analysis of marketplaces through the SimilarWeb categorization system, it was found that not all of the identified Ukrainian marketplaces are assigned to the «Marketplace» subcategory. This necessitates the independent refinement of the sample of sites for analysis on the researched service. The use of the SimilarWeb service by digital marketers in their practice as a tool that provides web analytics about sites, in particular about site traffic, its structure, the characteristics of the engaged audience, the site's place in various ratings, other indicators that characterize the site's performance, helps to understand the place of a particular site in industry ratings and the corresponding components forming these positions. Accordingly, a similar practice, designated as competitive intelligence, is the basis for making managerial decisions in the context of brand promotion in the digital area. Conclusions and directions for further research. The priority areas for further research are the vector of detailed processing of other online services, which allow expanding the analytical base of managerial decision-making for digital marketers in the context of the presence of business in the digital space and the need to acquire relevant skills for obtaining information about the effectiveness of attracting the target audience.