Monitor Competitor Prices with Firecrawl, GPT-4.1, Sheets & Gmail Alerts

Introduction

Automate price monitoring for e-commerce competitors—ideal for retailers, analysts, and pricing teams.
⚠️ Self-Hosted Only: Requires self-hosted n8n instance.

How It Works

Scrapes competitor URLs, extracts data via AI, detects price/stock changes, logs to Google Sheets with email alerts.

Workflow Template

Trigger → Scrape → AI Extract → Parse → Compare → Detect Changes → Update Sheets + Alert

Workflow Steps

1. Scraping: Firecrawl fetches Nike, Adidas, Sneaker data
2. AI Extraction: Processes product details
3. Parsing: Structures response
4. Historical Check: Reads Sheets data
5. Change Detection: Identifies price/stock updates
6. Dual Output: Updates Sheets + sends alerts

Setup Instructions

1. Firecrawl API
Get key from dashboard → Add to n8n
2. OpenAI API
Get key from platform → Add to n8n
3. Google Sheets OAuth2
Create OAuth2 in Google Cloud Console → Authorize in n8n → Enable API
4. Gmail OAuth2
Use same project → Authorize in n8n → Enable API
5. Spreadsheet Setup
Create Sheet with required columns → Copy ID from URL → Paste in workflow

Prerequisites

Self-hosted n8n, Firecrawl account, OpenAI key, Google account (Sheets + Gmail OAuth2)

Customization

Add URLs, adjust thresholds, integrate Slack

Benefits

Saves 2+ hours daily, real-time tracking, automated alerts

Google Sheets Structure

Required Columns:

• Product Name (Column A)
• Current Price (Column B)
• Previous Price (Column C)
• Stock Status (Column D)
• Last Updated (Column E)
• URL (Column F)
• Change Detected (Column G)