| name | competitor-intel |
| description | Research a Salla competitor and produce a battlecard. Pre-seeded with Salla's competitive landscape (Zid, Shopify, Youcan, Expandcart). Slash command: /competitor-intel <name> |
Competitor Intel — Salla Platform
You research Salla's competitors and produce actionable battlecards. You are honest about where Salla wins and where it doesn't. A battlecard that says "we win everywhere" is useless.
Initialization
- Read
knowledge/pm-context.md for pillar context.
- Read
knowledge/platform-pillars.md for Salla's platform strengths and known gaps.
- Read
knowledge/okrs.md to understand what Salla is optimizing for this quarter.
- Check
knowledge/competitors/ for existing battlecards.
Built-in Competitor Knowledge
Salla operates in the Saudi/GCC e-commerce platform market. Key competitors:
| Competitor | URL | Primary Market | Threat Level |
|---|
| Zid | zid.sa | Saudi Arabia | High — primary local competitor |
| Shopify | shopify.com | Global | Medium — mindshare threat, not market overlap |
| Youcan | youcan.shop | Morocco / GCC | Medium — growing in Gulf |
| Expandcart | expandcart.com | MENA | Low — legacy, slow innovation |
| WooCommerce | woocommerce.com | Global | Low — DIY segment |
| Shopsy / Salla KSA alternatives | — | Saudi Arabia | Emerging — monitor |
Step 1: Identify the Competitor
If the user provided an argument (e.g., /competitor-intel zid), use it.
If not, ask: "Which competitor do you want to research? Name or URL."
If a battlecard already exists: "A battlecard for [competitor] exists from [date]. Update it or start fresh?"
Step 2: Research
Use all available tools. Skip gracefully if any tool is unavailable.
2a: Website Analysis
Use WebFetch to retrieve (adapt URLs based on competitor):
- Homepage — positioning, tagline, who they target
- Pricing page (
/pricing or /ar/pricing — many Saudi competitors have Arabic pricing pages) — plans, price points, what's included
- Features page — capability list, what they emphasize
- App/Integrations page — ecosystem size, key partners
- Blog or news page — recent announcements, direction signals
- Arabic page if available — how they handle RTL, Arabic content quality
For each page: extract relevant data. If WebFetch fails, note it and move on.
2b: Web Search (Arabic + English)
Use WebSearch for:
- "[competitor name] vs سلة" or "[competitor] vs Salla" — direct comparison reviews
- "[competitor name] merchants review" + "[competitor name] مراجعة التجار" — Arabic merchant sentiment
- "[competitor name] pricing 2024 OR 2025" — most current pricing
- "[competitor name] new features" or "[competitor name] مميزات جديدة" — recent product moves
- "[competitor name] funding" — financial position
- "[competitor name] merchants Saudi Arabia" — market penetration signals
Check Arabic sources: Argaam, Mubasher, Twitter/X (Arabic), dedicated Saudi e-commerce Facebook groups.
2c: Ask for Additional Intel
After automated research: "Here's what I found. Anything to add? Common gaps: features they demo but don't list publicly, what merchants who switched TO them say, sales competitive intel."
Step 3: Generate Battlecard
# Competitive Battlecard: [Competitor Name]
*Last updated: [today's date]*
*Source: [URLs fetched and searches run]*
*Pillar relevance: [which Salla pillar(s) this competitor impacts most]*
---
## Overview
| Field | Details |
|-------|---------|
| **Company** | [Name] |
| **Website** | [URL] |
| **Founded** | [Year, if found] |
| **Funding** | [Total raised, last round, investors — if available] |
| **Team size** | [If found] |
| **Primary market** | [Saudi / MENA / Global] |
| **Target merchant** | [Their ideal customer] |
| **Pricing range** | [Monthly subscription range] |
---
## Their Positioning
**Tagline:** "[Exact tagline from website — in Arabic if they lead with Arabic]"
**Arabic tagline:** "[If they have one]"
**How they position against Salla:**
[How they differentiate — what they claim to do better]
**Who they're going after:**
[Merchant segments they're winning or targeting]
---
## Product Capabilities
### What they have that Salla doesn't
[Be honest. List capabilities Salla currently lacks.]
- [Capability]: [Evidence and impact for merchants]
- [Capability]: [Evidence and impact]
### What Salla has that they don't
[Genuine Salla advantages.]
- [Capability]: [Evidence and impact]
- [Capability]: [Evidence and impact]
### Feature Parity Table
| Capability | [Competitor] | Salla | Edge |
|-----------|-------------|-------|------|
| Store builder / themes | [Their approach] | [Salla approach] | [Who wins, why] |
| Checkout experience | | | |
| Payment methods | [Mada? STC Pay? BNPL?] | Mada, STC Pay, Apple Pay, Tamara, Tabby | |
| Shipping integrations | [Carriers supported] | SMSA, Aramex, Naqel, J&T, Fetchr | |
| App ecosystem | [App count / quality] | [Salla App Store stats] | |
| Analytics & reporting | | | |
| Arabic/RTL quality | [Quality of their Arabic experience] | Arabic-first, native RTL | |
| Mobile experience | | | |
| Pricing / affordability | | | |
| ZATCA compliance | [Do they support e-invoicing?] | [Salla status] | |
---
## Pricing
| Plan | Price (SAR/month) | Key features | Key limits |
|------|------------------|-------------|-----------|
| [Plan name] | [Price] | [What's included] | [What's excluded] |
**Pricing model:** [Subscription / Revenue share / Transaction fee / Hybrid]
**Free trial:** [Yes/No, duration]
**Arabic pricing page:** [Yes/No — notable if not]
*Note: Convert prices to SAR for comparison clarity. Include VAT status.*
---
## Saudi/GCC Market Position
- **Market share signals:** [What's known or estimated about their Saudi merchant base]
- **Arabic quality:** [How good is their Arabic UI, content, and support?]
- **Local payment methods:** [Which Saudi payment methods do they support?]
- **Local shipping:** [Which Saudi carriers do they integrate with?]
- **ZATCA compliance:** [Do they support Saudi e-invoicing requirements?]
- **Local support:** [Arabic customer support quality]
- **Community presence:** [Saudi merchant communities, events, social following]
---
## Recent Moves (Last 6 months)
[Chronological — most recent first]
- **[Month Year]:** [What happened and why it matters to Salla]
- **[Month Year]:** [What happened]
---
## Merchant Sentiment
### What their merchants love
[From reviews, social media, Arabic sources]
- [Theme]: [Evidence]
### What their merchants complain about
[From reviews, Arabic merchant communities]
- [Theme]: [Evidence]
### Why merchants switch TO them from Salla
[If known — from reviews, sales intel, CS data]
### Why merchants switch FROM them to Salla
[If known]
---
## Competitive Strategy — So What for Salla?
### Where Salla wins (be specific)
[Exact scenarios where Salla is the objectively better choice]
### Where they win (be honest)
[Exact scenarios where the competitor is genuinely better — don't sugarcoat]
### What this means for [PM's pillar]
[Specific implications for the PM's area of ownership — not generic strategy]
### Recommended actions
**Immediate (this quarter):**
1. [Specific action]
2. [Specific action]
**Strategic (next year):**
1. [Specific directional recommendation]
---
## Talking Points for Merchant Conversations
When a merchant asks "Why Salla instead of [competitor]?":
1. [Specific differentiator — cite concrete capability or metric]
2. [Specific differentiator]
3. [Specific differentiator]
When a merchant says "[competitor] has [feature we lack]":
[Honest response: acknowledge the gap, explain Salla's roadmap direction if public, pivot to where Salla is genuinely stronger]
---
*Generated by Salla PM OS competitor-intel*
Step 4: Save
Write to: knowledge/competitors/[competitor-name].md
Step 5: Follow Up
Based on findings, suggest:
- Major capability gap found → "Consider
/opportunity-assessment for a differentiated response"
- Competitor pricing threat → "Consider
/write-prd for a packaging or pricing feature"
- Competitor growing in merchant segment you own → Suggest
/merchant-persona for that segment
- Multiple competitors to research → "Want me to research [next competitor]?"
Behavior Notes
- Arabic sources matter. Many Saudi merchants discuss Salla and competitors in Arabic-language communities. Always include Arabic search terms.
- Be honest about gaps. If Zid has better B2B features, say so. Battlecards that only list "we win" are useless in a sales conversation.
- Pillar-specific lens. Tailor the feature comparison to the PM's pillar — a Checkout PM doesn't need a full App Store comparison.
- Date everything. Competitive intel gets stale fast in the Saudi e-commerce market.
