Quick answer
For reliable international price monitoring, check each price from your customers’ country and compare offers in the same currency, on a consistent basis for taxes and delivery. Competiprice offers 15 countries across Europe, North America and Oceania, with a setting for your account or each URL. You can also track the same URL from several countries.
A Canadian store expands into the United States, a European brand prepares to launch in Australia, a distributor tracks resellers from London to Montreal. In each case, the price seen from headquarters is only part of the picture: customers compare local offers, in their own currency and with local delivery terms. Even a product page shared across countries can display different prices to different visitors.
Competiprice now lets you choose the country from which each price is checked. This article explains why prices differ between countries, what that means for your monitoring, and how to set up checks for each market.
Why does the same product have different prices in different countries?
A price gap between two countries does not necessarily mean a competitor is cutting prices. Several factors can explain why the same product appears at different prices:
- Taxes: European VAT, US sales tax and Australian GST affect how prices should be read. Check whether the displayed price includes tax and whether the amount depends on the delivery destination.
- Localised pricing: some stores adjust the price, currency or fees to the visitor’s country, sometimes on the same URL.
- Promotions and seasons: local holidays and retail campaigns do not all follow the same calendar. For clothing or gardening products, summer in Australia coincides with winter in Europe and North America.
- Local competition: a retailer may match a strong competitor in one country while keeping higher prices elsewhere.
- Delivery and availability: a product may be in stock in one country but unavailable or ineligible for delivery in another.
- Currency: EUR, GBP, CHF, USD, CAD and AUD are different currencies. A “$” symbol alone does not identify which dollar is being used.
Start by checking what the displayed amount actually represents. These examples cover markets supported by Competiprice:
| Market | Currency | What to check before comparing |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | EUR, GBP or CHF depending on the country | The currency and applicable VAT: European countries do not necessarily share a currency or tax rates. |
| United States | USD | Sales tax can vary by state and locality. Check whether it is included and which delivery destination is used. |
| Canada | CAD | GST/HST and any provincial sales taxes depend on the destination. Check whether the price is before or after tax. |
| Australia | AUD | Consumer prices normally include applicable taxes such as GST. Check delivery costs too. |
Sources: VAT in the European Union, state and local sales taxes, using New York as an example, Canadian taxes by province and Australian price display guidance. These points help you compare offers; the treatment depends on the product and destination.
Why does checking prices from the right country matter?
A price monitoring tool visits a page much like a customer would. If it connects from the United States while your customers are in Canada, it may see a USD price, a US promotion or an offer that cannot be delivered to Canada. A check from Australia lets you observe the offer presented to visitors in that market, with its own currency and retail calendar.
The consequences are practical: an alert may flag a price drop that does not affect your market, while a local promotion goes unnoticed. You risk adjusting your prices based on a misleading signal. Depending on the website, a check from the wrong country may also encounter a country selector, a redirect or a product marked as unavailable for delivery.
How do you choose the checking country in Competiprice?
The check uses a connection located in the selected country, so the competitor’s website sees a visit from that country and can adapt its offer. Depending on the website, the price may also depend on the local domain, selected currency or delivery address. You can configure the checking country at two levels.
1. Set a default country for your account
In Settings, the “Default check zone” field sets the country used by URLs that follow your account setting. If Canada is your main market, select it once: those URLs will be checked from Canada. You can then choose the United States for offers intended for your US customers.
2. Choose a different country for a specific URL
When you add URLs, the “Check zone” field initially uses your account’s default country. You can change it for the entire batch or for each row in the URL preview. For a URL you already track, edit it and select another country: a new check starts immediately.
3. Use the flag to put each price in context
In the dashboard, a small flag appears next to each URL. Hover over it to see the checking country, for example “Price checked from: Canada”. You can immediately tell which market each price belongs to without opening the URL details.
15 countries are available across three continents: the United States and Canada in North America; Australia in Oceania; France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Ireland in Europe.
How can you track the same URL from several countries?
Some websites use a single URL for every country and adjust the price to the visitor. To measure these differences, track the same URL from several countries:
- Open the form for adding URLs to your product.
- Paste the competitor URL once for each country you want to compare, for example three times for the United States, Canada and Australia.
- In the preview, select the country for each row.
- Save: each row becomes a separate tracked URL with its own flag, price history and alerts.
If the competitor uses separate URLs for its US, Canadian and Australian stores, add the correct local URL for each country instead. Changing the checking country does not replace choosing the right storefront and product reference.
Each country you track counts as a separate monitored URL. Start with the products and markets where price differences have the greatest impact on sales, then expand if the data supports it.
To switch markets without mixing data, add the same URL with the new country instead of changing the country of an existing URL. A URL’s history contains all its checks, regardless of the country used at the time of each check.
When is price monitoring by country useful?
| Your situation | Countries to check from | What you learn |
|---|---|---|
| A Canadian store expanding into the United States | Canada and the United States | Your position against local competitors in each market, keeping CAD, USD and taxes distinct. |
| A European brand preparing to launch in Australia | Australia and your European market | Australian competitors’ prices and promotions before you define a local offer. |
| An Australian store selling seasonal products | Australia, the United Kingdom or the United States | How promotions develop in each market, taking opposite seasons into account. |
| A brand distributed in Europe and North America | Supported countries where your resellers operate | Public prices in each market, followed by a comparison on a consistent currency and tax basis. |
| A competitor using one international URL | The United States, Canada and Australia, for example | Separate checks to identify differences in price, currency or availability by country. |
To compare different types of retailers within each country, our method for benchmarking prices across marketplaces and online stores also works market by market.
How should you compare prices in USD, CAD, AUD or EUR?
Start by comparing competitors within each market: a US offer with other US offers, and a Canadian offer with other Canadian offers. This gives you a useful view of local positioning when setting your prices.
To compare markets with one another, prepare a separate analysis using a reference currency, a dated exchange rate and a consistent basis for taxes and delivery. Illustrative example: USD 99, CAD 99 and AUD 99 represent three different amounts. Competiprice records the amount displayed on the page without automatic currency conversion.
What should you check before comparing prices across countries?
- Compare prices on the same basis: compare tax-inclusive prices with tax-inclusive prices, or before-tax prices with before-tax prices. For a cross-border purchase, check delivery, any import charges and return terms separately.
- Identify the displayed currency: a website may offer several currencies. Check for USD, CAD or AUD instead of relying on the “$” symbol; the connection country alone does not guarantee the currency.
- Make sure the product is identical: a local version may have a different reference, bundle or electrical plug.
- Account for local time: compare checks made close together, checking time zones and promotion start and end dates. A one-day offer may have ended in Sydney while it is just starting in New York.
Our guide to avoiding product matching errors helps you match the right products across countries. To be notified when a price gap crosses your threshold, set up competitor price alerts for the URLs in each market.
Choose your default country in Settings, then add your competitor URLs for each market.
Frequently asked questions about international price monitoring
Why does a website’s price change with the visitor’s country?
Taxes, currency, promotions, local competition and delivery differ between markets. Some stores therefore adapt their offer to the visitor’s country, sometimes using the same URL.
Which countries can I choose in Competiprice?
Fifteen countries across three continents: the United States and Canada in North America, Australia in Oceania, and France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Ireland in Europe.
Can I track the same URL from several countries?
Yes. Add the URL once for each country and select the country for each row. Each country becomes a separate tracked URL with its own price history and alerts, and counts as one monitored URL.
What happens if I change the country of a URL I already track?
A new check starts from the new country. The URL’s history keeps the previous checks, so to compare two countries, add the same URL again with the second country instead.
Does Competiprice automatically convert currencies?
No. The recorded amount remains the price displayed on the page, without automatic conversion, whether it is in USD, CAD, AUD, GBP, CHF or EUR. To compare currencies, use a dated exchange rate separately and a consistent basis for taxes and delivery.