Build a Web Scraper to Database Pipeline - Day 2: Multiple Products + CSV Storage
Level: Beginner
Projects in this week’s series:
This week, we progressively build a web scraper to database pipeline with Python.
Day 1: Basic Web Scraper
Day 2: Multiple Products + CSV Storage (Today)
Day 3: SQLite Database + Change Tracking
Day 4: Automated Scheduler + Email Alerts
Today’s Project
Yesterday we built our first web scraper that extracted data from a few books. Today we’re taking it to the next level: scraping more products and saving the data to a CSV file so we can track changes over time.
This is where your scraper becomes actually useful — instead of just viewing data once, you’re building a historical record that lets you track price trends!
Today’s Challenge: Scrape Multiple Products & Save to CSV
Today we’re expanding our scraper to collect more data and store it persistently. Every time you run the script, it adds new entries with timestamps, building a price history.
This is the foundation for price tracking. Once you have historical data, you can analyze trends, detect price drops, and make smarter buying decisions!
Project Task
Create an enhanced web scraper that:
Scrapes 20 books instead of just 3
Extracts title, price, availability, AND adds a timestamp
Saves all data to a CSV file
Appends new data without overwriting previous entries
Shows a summary of what was scraped
Handles the CSV file creation automatically
This project gives you hands-on practice with larger-scale scraping, CSV file operations, data persistence, and timestamp management — essential skills for building practical data collection tools.
Expected Output
CSV File Contents:
timestamp,title,price,availability
2024-01-27 14:30:45,A Light in the Attic,51.77,In stock
2024-01-27 14:30:45,Tipping the Velvet,53.74,In stock
2024-01-27 14:30:45,Soumission,50.10,In stock
...
Coming Tomorrow
Tomorrow we’ll upgrade from CSV to a SQLite database and add change tracking — you’ll be able to query price history and see exactly when prices changed. That’s when this becomes a real price monitoring tool!
View Code Evolution
Compare today’s solution with earlier versions and see how the code evolves.