If you’re in B2B sales, chances are you’ve spent too much time manually copying product info from ecommerce sites. Maybe you need competitor pricing, supplier catalogs, or just want a clean spreadsheet to plug into your CRM. You’ve heard of tools that can automate this, but most are either too technical or overpromise and underdeliver.
This guide is for you—the person who wants to get product data out of ecommerce sites without coding, but also doesn’t want to waste hours fighting with clunky software. We’ll dig into using Scrapestorm, a popular no-code scraping tool, to actually get the job done. I’ll walk you through the real steps, show you what works, what breaks, and how to avoid the usual headaches.
Why Scraping Product Data Matters for B2B Sales
Let’s skip the fluff: If you want to sell smarter, you need up-to-date, structured product data. That means knowing what’s in stock, what competitors are charging, and how products are described—without paying for overpriced “market intelligence” reports or hand-entering data like it’s 1999.
Scraping ecommerce sites gives you: - Pricing comparisons so you’re not flying blind in negotiations - Bulk product lists for outreach, quoting, or catalog building - Fresh inventory data to avoid embarrassing stock-out conversations
You could outsource this, but you’ll pay a premium and lose flexibility. Doing it yourself with the right tools is almost always faster and cheaper—if you pick your battles.
What Scrapestorm Actually Is (and Isn’t)
Scrapestorm is a desktop app that lets you build web scrapers without writing code. It’s drag-and-drop, pretty visual, and aimed at non-programmers. The pitch: “No coding needed, get your data fast.” And for a lot of ecommerce sites, it actually delivers.
What Scrapestorm is good for: - Sites with predictable layouts (most major ecommerce stores) - Scraping product lists and details pages - Exporting data to Excel, CSV, or databases
What it’s not so great at: - Heavy anti-bot protection (think: Cloudflare, CAPTCHAs) - Complex, heavily dynamic sites (some single-page apps just don’t play nice) - Large-scale, hands-off automation (you’ll hit limits on free/cheap plans)
If you need to scrape Amazon, Alibaba, or anything with aggressive blocking, Scrapestorm might not cut it without a lot of tweaking (and, honestly, you might be better off hiring a developer for those).
Step-by-Step: Extracting Product Data with Scrapestorm
Here’s how to go from zero to a spreadsheet of product data using Scrapestorm. You’ll need: - A computer (Windows, Mac, or Linux) - Scrapestorm installed (free version is fine to start) - The site you want to scrape, open in your browser
1. Install and Set Up Scrapestorm
- Download Scrapestorm from their website. Install it like any other app.
- Launch it and create a free account. The free plan is enough for small jobs, but watch for export/data limits.
- Familiarize yourself with the interface. It looks a bit like a browser mixed with Excel.
Pro tip: Scrapestorm’s UI isn’t always intuitive. If something looks grayed out, try clicking around—you’ll find options buried in right-click menus.
2. Start a New Scraping Project
- Click Create Task or the big “New Task” button.
- Enter the URL of the ecommerce site’s product listing page (not the homepage—the actual list of products).
- Pick Auto-detect mode if you want Scrapestorm to guess what you want, or Manual if you want full control.
Honest take: Auto-detect is hit-or-miss. It’s worth a try on well-structured sites, but expect to clean up field mappings.
3. Select the Data You Want
- Scrapestorm will load the page and try to detect repeating elements—usually product cards or rows.
- Click on product names, prices, images, or any info you want. Each field you select becomes a column in your output.
- For more details (like product descriptions or SKUs), you might need to set up a “multi-level” scrape: first grab the product links, then have Scrapestorm visit each one and pull extra data.
Watch out: Some sites lazy-load images or use JavaScript to fill in prices. If you don’t see what you expect, try scrolling the in-app browser or reloading.
4. Handle Pagination
Most product lists span multiple pages. Scrapestorm can handle this, but you’ll need to point it at the “Next” button.
- Look for an option like Add Pagination or Set Paging Rule.
- Click the “Next” button on the site within Scrapestorm to teach it how to move through pages.
- Set a reasonable limit (e.g., stop after 10 pages) so you don’t accidentally scrape thousands of products and get blocked.
Real talk: Pagination is where most scrapers break. Test with a couple of pages before running the whole job.
5. Preview and Clean Up Your Data
- Use Scrapestorm’s Preview feature to see what your data will look like.
- Rename columns, delete junk fields, and make sure the data matches what you need.
- If you see weird characters or missing info, go back and tweak your selections.
Ignore: Don’t get sucked into customizing every field if you just need the basics. You can always clean up in Excel later.
6. Run the Scraper
- Hit Start or Run. Scrapestorm will start grabbing data, row by row.
- Watch the progress bar. If errors pile up, check site changes or anti-bot issues.
- When done, download your data as CSV, Excel, or whatever format works for you.
Heads up: Free plans limit how much you can scrape or export at once. For bigger jobs, you may need to pay—or break your scrape into chunks.
7. (Optional) Schedule or Automate
If you want to keep your data fresh, Scrapestorm supports scheduled runs—but only on paid plans.
- Set up a schedule (daily, weekly, etc.).
- Make sure your computer is on and the app is running, or use their cloud service (costs extra).
Reality check: For most B2B folks, a manual scrape every month or quarter is enough. Don’t overengineer it unless you genuinely need daily updates.
What to Watch Out For (Stuff Most Guides Gloss Over)
- Legal gray areas: Just because you can scrape a site doesn’t mean you always should. Most sites’ terms of service technically ban scraping. For internal use or public data, you’re probably fine, but don’t resell data wholesale.
- Blocking/bans: If you go too fast, scrape too much, or hammer a site, you might get IP-blocked. Scrapestorm has built-in throttling—use it. If you get blocked, take a break or switch networks.
- Messy data: Expect to do some cleanup after export. Product names, prices, and descriptions aren’t always consistent. Don’t trust the tool to make sense of everything automatically.
- Changing sites: Ecommerce layouts change all the time. Don’t assume your scraper will work forever. Be ready to re-record your tasks every few months.
When Not to Use Scrapestorm
- If the site is protected by CAPTCHAs or logins that expire quickly, Scrapestorm usually can’t get past them.
- For huge scrapes (tens of thousands of products), desktop tools can bog down. That’s when you need a programmer or a more advanced solution.
- If you only need a handful of products, honestly, copy-paste is still the fastest.
Alternatives, and Why You Might Stick with Scrapestorm
There are other no-code scrapers (Octoparse, ParseHub, etc.), plus browser extensions. They all have pros and cons:
- Octoparse: Similar to Scrapestorm, but their free plan is more limited.
- ParseHub: More flexible, but steeper learning curve.
- Browser extensions like Web Scraper: Simple, but can’t handle complex sites.
For most B2B sales teams, Scrapestorm hits a sweet spot: easy enough for non-coders, powerful enough for most ecommerce sites, and affordable for small jobs. Just don’t expect miracles.
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Don’t overthink this. Start with a small list, scrape a few pages, and see what you get. Tweak your setup as you go. If Scrapestorm gets the job done, great—export your data and get back to selling. If not, try another tool or ask for help.
Remember: The goal isn’t to build the perfect, automated data pipeline. It’s to get useful product data, quickly, so you can make smarter B2B decisions. Keep it simple, stay curious, and don’t be afraid to experiment.