> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.meter.sh/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # E-commerce Price Monitoring > Monitor product prices and availability with Meter # E-commerce Price Monitoring Complete example showing how to monitor e-commerce products for price changes and stock availability. ## Use case Track competitor prices, product availability, and detect when products go on sale. ## What you'll build * Strategy for extracting product data * Hourly monitoring schedule * Price drop alerts * Inventory tracking ## Prerequisites * Meter API key * **TODO**: Your alerting system (email, Slack, etc.) * **TODO**: Your target e-commerce site ## Step 1: Generate strategy **TODO**: Replace with your actual e-commerce site and data ```python theme={null} from meter_sdk import MeterClient import os client = MeterClient(api_key=os.getenv("METER_API_KEY")) # Generate strategy strategy = client.generate_strategy( url="https://example-shop.com/products", # TODO: Your URL description="Extract product name, price, image URL, and stock availability", name="E-commerce Product Monitor" ) strategy_id = strategy["strategy_id"] print(f"Strategy ID: {strategy_id}") # Check preview print("\nPreview data:") for item in strategy['preview_data'][:3]: print(f" {item}") ``` ## Step 2: Set up monitoring ```python theme={null} # Monitor every hour schedule = client.create_schedule( strategy_id=strategy_id, url="https://example-shop.com/products", # TODO: Your URL interval_seconds=3600 # Every hour ) print(f"Schedule ID: {schedule['schedule_id']}") ``` ## Step 3: Process price changes **TODO**: Implement your price tracking logic ```python theme={null} def process_price_changes(schedule_id, price_threshold=50.0): """Check for price changes and alert on drops""" changes = client.get_schedule_changes(schedule_id, mark_seen=True) if changes['count'] == 0: print("No changes detected") return print(f"Processing {changes['count']} changes") for change in changes['changes']: for product in change['results']: # TODO: Parse price (format depends on your site) # price = float(product['price'].replace('$', '')) # TODO: Implement price tracking # old_price = get_last_known_price(product['name']) # if price < old_price * 0.9: # 10% drop # send_price_drop_alert(product['name'], old_price, price) # TODO: Store current price # store_price(product['name'], price) pass # Run periodically import time while True: process_price_changes(schedule['schedule_id']) time.sleep(3600) ``` ## Step 4: Track inventory **TODO**: Implement stock tracking ```python theme={null} def track_inventory(schedule_id): """Alert when out-of-stock items come back""" changes = client.get_schedule_changes(schedule_id, mark_seen=True) for change in changes['changes']: for product in change['results']: # TODO: Check stock status # in_stock = product.get('stock_availability') == 'In Stock' # was_out_of_stock = check_previous_stock_status(product['name']) # if in_stock and was_out_of_stock: # send_back_in_stock_alert(product['name']) # TODO: Update stock status # update_stock_status(product['name'], in_stock) pass ``` ## Complete example **TODO**: Full working implementation ```python theme={null} # full_example.py from meter_sdk import MeterClient import os import time import json from datetime import datetime client = MeterClient(api_key=os.getenv("METER_API_KEY")) # TODO: Add your configuration CONFIG = { "url": "https://example-shop.com/products", "price_threshold": 50.0, # Alert on prices below this "check_interval": 3600, # Check every hour "price_drop_percent": 10 # Alert on 10%+ price drops } # TODO: Implement price tracking storage PRICE_HISTORY_FILE = "price_history.json" def load_price_history(): """Load price history from file""" try: with open(PRICE_HISTORY_FILE, 'r') as f: return json.load(f) except FileNotFoundError: return {} def save_price_history(history): """Save price history to file""" with open(PRICE_HISTORY_FILE, 'w') as f: json.dump(history, f, indent=2) def send_alert(message): """Send alert (TODO: implement your alerting)""" print(f"ALERT: {message}") # TODO: Send email, Slack notification, etc. def main(): """Main monitoring loop""" # Generate or load strategy # TODO: Store strategy_id in config file strategy_id = "your-strategy-id" # Replace with actual # Create or load schedule # TODO: Store schedule_id in config file schedule_id = "your-schedule-id" # Replace with actual price_history = load_price_history() while True: print(f"\n[{datetime.now()}] Checking for changes...") changes = client.get_schedule_changes(schedule_id, mark_seen=True) if changes['count'] > 0: print(f"Processing {changes['count']} changes") for change in changes['changes']: for product in change['results']: # TODO: Implement your processing logic product_name = product.get('name') # Example: Track prices # current_price = parse_price(product.get('price')) # old_price = price_history.get(product_name) # if old_price and current_price < old_price * (1 - CONFIG['price_drop_percent'] / 100): # send_alert(f"{product_name} price dropped: ${old_price} -> ${current_price}") # price_history[product_name] = current_price save_price_history(price_history) else: print("No changes detected") print(f"Waiting {CONFIG['check_interval']} seconds...") time.sleep(CONFIG['check_interval']) if __name__ == "__main__": main() ``` ## Deployment ### Option 1: Run as service **TODO**: Set up as systemd service or similar ```bash theme={null} # Run continuously python ecommerce_monitor.py ``` ### Option 2: Cron job **TODO**: Configure cron ```bash theme={null} # Add to crontab (check every hour) 0 * * * * cd /path/to/project && python ecommerce_monitor.py ``` ### Option 3: Cloud function **TODO**: Deploy to AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions, etc. ## Next steps * Add database for price history tracking * Implement email/Slack alerts * Build price trends visualization * Add multi-page monitoring ## See also * [Schedules Concept](/concepts/schedules) - Understanding monitoring * [Pull-Based Monitoring](/guides/pull-based-monitoring) - Polling patterns * [Webhooks Guide](/guides/webhooks) - Real-time alerts ## Need help? Email me at [mckinnon@meter.sh](mailto:mckinnon@meter.sh)