The essence, properties and conditions of the formation of the competitive potential of the commercial enterprise are investigated in this paper. Competitive potential is formed from competitive opportunities of internal and external origin, which makes it possible for the enterprise to compete effectively in market conditions. The competitive position of the commercial enterprise is formed by managerial, intellectual, resource, production, innovation and marketing factors. Factors shaping the marketing potential of the commercial enterprise include: the level of qualification and experience of marketers, the enterprise's market share, brand information, the marketing mix, the enterprise's image, consumer/client loyalty, and partnerships with suppliers and intermediaries. Marketing strategic analysis of competitive potential is the basis for forming balanced strategy of the enterprise development. The algorithm for conducting marketing strategic analysis of the competitive potential of the commercial enterprise involves the sequential execution of certain stages: determining the factors influencing the competitive potential of the enterprise and their assessment, evaluating the internal resources of the enterprise, forecasting the likely impact of factors of the business environment, and developing recommendations for the formation of strategy for using the competitive potential of the commercial enterprise. The main functions of marketing strategic analysis of the competitive potential of the commercial enterprise are the following: analysis of factors that determine the growth of competitive potential; identification of factors and reasons for the current state of the enterprise; preparation and justification of management decisions; identification and mobilization of reserves for qualitative and quantitative improvement of competitive potential. Marketing strategic analysis makes it possible to identify both internal and external reserves of competitive potential. Evaluation of the competitive potential of the commercial enterprise can be carried out on the basis of resource, performance and reserve approaches. The theory and practice of evaluating the competitive potential of the enterprise operates with a significant number of various methods, which differ in the complexity of use and feasibility of application depending on the scale of production and the specifics of the field of activity of the commercial enterprise. Such methods can be classified in the following way: according to the direction of information base formation (criteria and expert methods); according to the method of displaying the final results (graphical, mathematical and logical methods); by suitability for the development of management decisions (simultaneous and strategic assessment methods); by assessment method (indicative and matrix methods). Advantages and disadvantages of the listed methods of assessing competitive potential, as well as the conditions for the effectiveness of their application are investigated in this paper.