Differentiation isn’t competitor research. It’s looking outside your category.
If you do a quick competitor sweep in your category, you’ll probably see the same patterns repeating. Same layouts. Same offers. Same “trust” blocks stacked on top of each other.
Joe Jaques, CEO of heritage toys and games business Jaques of London, summarised this well:
“I think a lot of people get so caught up in hyperfocusing on what their competitors in their industry are doing and…you’re just going to be copying [them].”
And that’s the trap. Competitor research is useful for understanding table stakes but it rarely leads to something distinct. So, how do you stand out?
Why copying competitors keeps you stuck
When you only look at the brands next to you, you naturally optimise for familiarity.
Your site ends up saying what everyone else says, in a slightly different order.
It’s not a creativity problem. It’s an input problem.
The better question to ask
Instead of “what are competitors doing?”, ask “What does our category over-do?”
Every category has default behaviour. Some of it reduces friction. Some of it exists because it’s been copied for years. That’s where the opportunity usually sits.
For example, plenty of categories over-rely on discounts as the main message. Others overload PDPs with widgets and still don’t answer the customer’s actual hesitation. Others produce endless “content” that never helps customers choose.
You don’t need to break every convention. You only need to break one, cleanly, and replace it with something clearer.
Look outside your category for the behaviour, not the aesthetic
You don’t need a whole rebrand to achieve this, you just need a fresh source of inspiration.
Pick a few brands outside your sector that execute well online. Not because you want to look like them, but because you want to borrow how they make decisions.
Then look for practical behaviour you can apply:
how they explain the offer in one line
how quickly they get to proof
how they handle comparisons or objections
how they make bundles feel simple
how they set expectations on delivery and returns
This is usually where you find something your category isn’t doing.
Make it specific enough to prove
A lot of differentiation attempts fail because they stay vague: “Premium.” “Better quality.” “Sustainable.” “Designed for you.”
Every competitor can say that.
Differentiation gets stronger when it becomes a claim you can demonstrate and back up on the page. Something customers can recognise and repeat.
If you’re not sure what your customers actually care about, start with your own inputs: reviews, support tickets, returns reasons, and the questions people ask before buying. That’s the stuff that can’t be faked.
A short checklist for finding an edge
Write down the five most common claims in your category
For each one, ask: what would proof look like on our site?
Export a chunk of recent reviews and highlight repeated phrases and objections
Pick three brands outside your category and note one behaviour each you’d borrow
Remove one element on your site that adds noise but doesn’t change decisions
This article is part of our Open Tabs series, where we talk to founders about the realities of running an ecommerce business day to day. Watch the full episode with Joe from Jaques of London here.
