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market research methods used by amazon

11 Amazon Product Research Strategies You Need For 2023

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In the ever-evolving world of e-commerce, one constant remains pivotal for success – effective product research. For advanced marketers and agency owners looking to expand their horizons on Amazon, in-depth Amazon product research can be the game-changer that leads to increased sales and profitability.

This guide provides cutting-edge strategies for conducting insightful Amazon product research , from understanding market trends to in-depth keyword and competitor analysis.

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1. Understanding The Current Amazon Landscape

Staying in sync with the dynamic Amazon landscape is key to effective product research. Amazon regularly updates its algorithms and policies, often impacting the discoverability and salability of products. The following points explain why it's essential to keep up with these changes:

Policy Updates

Changes in Amazon's terms of service can affect the types of products you can sell. Reviewing these updates ensures your product ideas comply with Amazon's current policies.

Algorithm Changes

Amazon's A9 ranking algorithm impacts how products are displayed in search results. Understanding these changes allows you to adjust your product research strategy accordingly.

The Amazon A9 algorithm is the proprietary system that determines the ranking and visibility of products in Amazon's search results. It aims to show the most relevant and appealing products to customers based on various factors. Some key factors considered by the A9 algorithm include:

Relevance to Search Terms : The algorithm evaluates how well a product matches the keywords and search terms entered by customers.

Conversion Rate : Products with a higher conversion rate (the ratio of clicks to actual purchases) are favored, indicating that they satisfy customer needs.

Sales Velocity : Faster-selling products often get a ranking boost, as they suggest high demand and popularity.

Product Title and Description : The quality and accuracy of the product title, bullet points, and description influence how well the algorithm understands and matches the product to user queries.

Images and Media : High-quality images and multimedia that showcase the product can improve click-through rates and conversions.

Product Reviews and Ratings : Positive reviews and higher ratings improve a product's credibility and appeal to customers.

2. Keyword Research And Analysis

Keyword research is the heart and soul of discovering high-demand, low-competition products on Amazon. Harnessing the power of keyword research tools can give you a competitive edge:

Using Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific keyword phrases that visitors are more likely to use when they're closer to the point of purchase or when they're using voice search. They also have less competition from more generic keywords. 

When users search using long-tail keywords, they often know exactly what they're looking for. By targeting niche markets with long-tail keywords, you can discover profitable product ideas that are overlooked by the competition. 

Google Trends Analysis

Google Trends provides insights into trending topics and search terms. Analyzing these trends can uncover popular product categories or products gaining traction. Inputting potential keywords allows you to gauge their popularity and seasonal trends over time. 

This helps you identify products with sustained demand and plan for seasonal fluctuations. Comparing keywords provides insights into stable and high-demand options. You can also use Google trends to analyze geographical data. It informs market targeting, and related queries offer additional product ideas.

Leveraging Amazon Product Research Tools

Advanced Amazon tools provide data on keyword search volumes, competition levels, and monthly sales, making them invaluable for effective product research. 

For example, sales estimates help assess demand, while competitor analysis unveils gaps in the market. Keyword research optimizes search visibility, and profitability calculators consider costs.

Trend tracking reveals emerging niches, and review analysis uncovers customer preferences. Historical data informs trend prediction, and supplier information aids sourcing decisions. Combining Google Trends insights with Amazon tools creates a comprehensive strategy for successful product selection.

3. Competitor Analysis

Analyzing your competitors can offer valuable insights and uncover potential opportunities:

Identifying Top Performers

Competitor analysis is a critical aspect of Amazon product research. To identify top-performing competitors, focus on products that consistently rank well in search results and have a high Best Sellers Rank (BSR). Analyze products with numerous positive reviews, as this suggests a satisfied customer base.

Look for items that consistently appear in Amazon's "Customers Also Bought" or "Frequently Bought Together" sections, as these indicate strong cross-selling potential. Identifying top performers allows you to understand what products resonate with customers and provide valuable insights into market preferences.

Evaluating Strengths And Weaknesses

Once you've identified top-performing competitors, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. Analyze their product listings, including high-quality images, compelling product titles, and detailed descriptions. Assess the quality and quantity of customer reviews, noting what customers appreciate and any common complaints. 

Consider their pricing strategy and any unique value propositions. Understanding these strengths and weaknesses helps you differentiate your own product and capitalize on areas where competitors might be falling short.

Spotting Market Gaps

Competitor analysis also helps you spot market gaps where opportunities lie. Look for niches or subcategories within a broader market that may be underserved by existing competitors. 

Identify products with consistently high demand but limited supply. Consider geographical or demographic segments that competitors might have overlooked. Analyze customer reviews for recurring requests or unmet needs. 

By spotting these gaps, you can tailor your product offerings to fulfill untapped customer desires, giving you a competitive edge and potential for higher sales.

4. Leveraging Analytics

Analytics help sellers understand customer behaviour, sales trends, and market demand. Data is how we make sense of the chaos that is online selling. By analyzing data such as customer reviews, conversion rates, and sales rankings, sellers can identify which products are more likely to succeed, or, how to make your products succeed.

Understanding And Interpreting Data From Amazon's Seller Central And Other Analytics Tools

Harnessing the power of Amazon analytics is vital for conducting effective Amazon product research. Amazon's Seller Central provides a wealth of data to help you understand your target market, identify profitable products, and optimize your e-commerce business strategy.

Key metrics to focus on include monthly sales, units sold, and sell-through rates. Amazon product research tools can also provide insights into your competition, including their pricing strategies, sales volumes, and customer reviews.

Identifying Trends And Patterns To Inform Product Decisions

You can identify market trends, top-performing products, and potential product ideas by analyzing data from Seller Central and Amazon product research tools. You can also spot patterns, like rising and falling demand for certain items.

These insights can be used to tailor your product offerings, ensuring they align with customer demand.

Utilizing Metrics Like Conversion Rates, Click-Through Rates, And Session Duration

Metrics such as conversion rates , click-through rates, and session duration can provide deeper insights into customer behavior. For instance, a high click-through rate but a low conversion rate might indicate a mismatch between your product listing and customer expectations.

Using these metrics for your Amazon FBA product research can help you optimize your product listings and pricing strategies.

When it comes to analytics, Scale Insights has a list of features that lets you take control of your data like never before. You can track your profits, discover trends, and gain valuable insights on how your ads and promotions lead to organic sales. Whether you’re looking for a bird’s eye view of your business, or an in-depth look at each product’s performance, you’ll find all that you need in Scale Insights .

5. Incorporating Customer Feedback

Incorporating customer feedback is a key process in Amazon selling and product research. Sellers use reviews, ratings, and customer queries to understand consumer needs, preferences, and pain points. This data helps refine product features, improve quality, and even develop new products. When you know your customers, you can better serve them with your products.

Utilizing Customer Reviews And Feedback To Gain Insights Into Product Performance

Customer reviews are a goldmine for Amazon sellers conducting product research. They provide first-hand feedback about product performance, quality, and customer expectations. 

You can address common pain points by analyzing reviews for your products and competitors and improving your offerings accordingly.

Addressing Common Pain Points And Concerns Through Product Improvement

Negative reviews often highlight common issues or concerns with a product. These can serve as a roadmap for product improvement. Whether it's an issue with product quality, packaging, or delivery, addressing these pain points can greatly improve customer satisfaction and product ratings.

Leveraging Positive Reviews For Marketing And Social Proof

Positive reviews boost your product's ranking and act as a form of social proof that can influence potential customers. Highlighting positive reviews in your marketing efforts can enhance your product's appeal and credibility.

6. Trend Spotting And Seasonal Opportunities

Identifying emerging trends and seasonal demands.

To maintain a competitive edge, Amazon sellers must stay on top of emerging trends, top selling products, and seasonal demands. Utilizing Google Trends, keyword research tools, and market research can help you identify trends and which products are likely to see a spike in demand.

These strategies can help you strategically add seasonal or trending products to sell on Amazon.

Capitalizing On Holidays And Special Events For Product Promotions

Holidays and special events present excellent opportunities for potentially profitable products and their promotions. You can take advantage of these peak selling times by planning ahead and stocking up on relevant products to sell.

Taking note of historical sales data of what sold during these events and what didn't is also essential. You should also take note of your products’ selling prices, and adjust accordingly.

Holidays and special events are excellent opportunities to generate product ideas, as well as prime opportunities for hot new releases. Whether it's Christmas, Black Friday, or Prime Day, these events can significantly boost your monthly sales.

Adjusting Product Offerings To Align With Changing Consumer Preferences

Consumer preferences can shift due to various factors, including seasonality, trends, and changing circumstances (like the rise in home fitness equipment during the pandemic).

You can keep your Amazon business thriving by staying adaptable and adjusting your product offerings accordingly. Regular product research, trend analysis, and customer feedback are crucial for this adaptability.

7. Sourcing And Supplier Research

Finding the right product to sell on Amazon starts with identifying reliable suppliers and manufacturers. This stage of product research involves a deep analysis of various aspects that affect product quality, cost, and overall feasibility for your ecommerce business.

Strategies For Finding Reliable Suppliers And Manufacturers

Leverage platforms such as Alibaba, Global Sources, or ThomasNet to uncover product ideas and potential suppliers. Consider factors like manufacturing capability, communication responsiveness, business longevity, and previous clientele when shortlisting.

For an additional layer of validation, participate in trade shows (both physical and virtual) where you can directly interact with the suppliers, inspect product samples, and build potential partnerships.

Evaluating Supplier Capabilities And Product Quality

Comprehensive supplier evaluation is crucial to avoid disappointments down the line. Start by ordering product samples to inspect the quality first-hand. Consider third-party inspections for a more unbiased review of the product quality and the supplier's manufacturing process if dealing with large orders.

Verify the supplier's production capacity, product quality consistency, and delivery timelines adherence. Additionally, check if they can meet any specific product customizations you need for your unique selling proposition.

Negotiation Tactics For Getting The Best Deals And Maintaining Healthy Profit Margins

Effective negotiation can drastically improve your bottom line. Always approach the negotiation table with the market knowledge and a clear understanding of your margins. Explore ways to get value beyond the price - consider negotiating minimum order quantities, payment terms, or delivery schedules.

It's essential to build long-term relationships with suppliers. A solid partnership can lead to better terms, helping maintain healthy profit margins.

8. Test Marketing And Product Validation

Before a full-fledged product launch, conducting small-scale tests provides invaluable insights into market reception and demand.

Conducting Small-Scale Tests To Validate Product Demand

Start by ordering a small batch of your product for a 'soft launch'. Monitor how quickly the product sells, the initial customer reviews, and the overall customer response. Tools like Google Trends and Amazon's sales data can offer insights into market trends and product demand.

Utilizing Amazon's Early Reviewer Program And Vine Program

Amazon's Early Reviewer Program and Vine Program help sellers acquire early product reviews, which can boost product credibility. Remember that these programs have certain eligibility requirements, so ensure your product qualifies before considering this option.

Gathering Valuable Feedback Before A Full Product Launch

Never underestimate the power of customer feedback. Both positive and negative reviews provide crucial insights. Positive reviews validate your product selection, while negative ones help identify areas of improvement.

9. Branding And Packaging Considerations

Effective branding and packaging can set your product apart in the crowded Amazon marketplace.

The Role Of Branding In Attracting Customers And Building Brand Loyalty

Good branding is more than just a catchy logo or name. It conveys your brand story, mission, and the value you offer customers. Effective branding fosters customer loyalty, leading to repeat purchases and word-of-mouth referrals.

Packaging Design Strategies That Stand Out On Amazon's Crowded Marketplace

Creative and high-quality packaging can enhance the customer experience, leading to better reviews and increased sales. Custom packaging that aligns with your brand image and attracts your target audience is worth investing.

Aligning Branding With Target Audience Preferences

Understanding your target audience is critical to branding success. Conduct market research to discover their preferences, needs, and values. Your branding elements, including packaging, should reflect these insights to resonate with your customers and build a loyal customer base.

10. Amazon Advertising Strategies

Incorporating Amazon Advertising into the mix can be a game-changer when conducting Amazon product research.

Incorporating Amazon Advertising Into The Product Research Process

With Amazon Advertising , you can gain invaluable insights about your prospective product. Sponsored Product campaigns can help you identify high-converting keywords, understand customer behavior, and measure market demand.

You can garner vital information to guide your final decision by running small test campaigns for potential product ideas.

Identifying High-Converting Keywords For Sponsored Product Campaigns

High-converting keywords are essential to any successful Amazon product. These keywords can be discovered using Amazon's advertising reports, Amazon product research tools, and keyword research tools.

By understanding which keywords lead to conversions, you can strategically position your product to attract the right customers.

Optimizing Ad Spend Based On Research Insights

Ad spend should be managed carefully to maintain profitability. You can optimize your ad spending by evaluating the performance data from your advertising campaigns and cross-referencing it with your product research findings.

Invest more in high-performing, low-competition keywords, and cut back on those not providing a good return.

11. Scaling And Diversification

Once you've found a successful product on Amazon, it's time to think about scaling and diversification.

Strategies For Scaling Successful Products On Amazon

To scale your successful products, consider variations of your product that cater to different segments of your target market. Look at expanding your product line with complementary products. Additionally, leveraging Amazon FBA can help you handle increased volume efficiently.

Diversifying Product Offerings To Mitigate Risk And Explore New Markets

Diversification is key to mitigating risk in any e-commerce business. Don't put all your eggs in one basket; instead, invest in various profitable products with low competition. By diversifying your product range, you can tap into new markets and increase your overall sales.

Expanding To International Amazon Marketplaces

Consider selling in international Amazon marketplaces to further scale your business. Each marketplace has unique product trends and demands. 

Conclusion On Amazon Product Research Strategies

Mastering Amazon product research strategies is a continuous journey, especially in the ever-evolving e-commerce landscape. Leverage these strategies to stay ahead . Incorporate Amazon Advertising in your research process, identify high-converting keywords, optimize your ad spend, and consider scaling and diversification as your business grows.

Remember, to generate high sales is not the only way to measure success on Amazon; it's about understanding your market, analyzing trends, and making data-driven decisions. When you perform Amazon product research, you bring yourself closer to many new potential customers.

So keep researching, keep learning, and keep growing. Success will be yours on the Amazon platform.

Experience the power of rule-based Amazon PPC tools with Scale Insights . Contact us now for a 30-day free trial (no credit card required) and skyrocket your Amazon business!

Frequently Asked Questions About Amazon Product Research

Can amazon advertising be used as a product research tool.

Amazon Advertising can provide valuable insights into high-converting keywords and customer behavior, which can inform your product research process.

How Can Diversifying My Product Offerings Mitigate Risk?

Diversifying your product offerings can protect your business against fluctuations in demand, market trends, and competition, hence mitigating risk.

How Can I Identify High-Converting Keywords For My Amazon Product?

High-converting keywords can be identified using Amazon's advertising reports, keyword research tools and by analyzing the keywords used by successful competitors.

What Is The Role Of Amazon FBA In Scaling My Amazon Business?

Amazon FBA can handle your products' storage, packaging, and shipping, allowing you to scale your business without worrying about logistics.

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How to Do Market Research on Amazon: Seller Case Study

  We talked to experienced seller Travis Fleming who’s been on Amazon since 2014. Travis lives in Canada and currently makes a living copywriting. Travis always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Ever since college graduation he'd tried different business opportunities. Some worked while others didn’t, but he'd learned something from every venture he started. Travis was working as a Marketing Specialist in the tourism industry, but he was still looking to start his own business.

In 2014, Travis discovered selling on Amazon as a viable option for people to make some extra money and possibly start a business of their own. Over the years, Travis has learned how to sell and grown a great deal as an Amazon seller and eventually became very successful. Some of the most important lessons he has learned have come from the failure of his first product.

Amazon FBA was a very new concept in 2014, and from the start, it was obvious that it was a revolutionary concept. The fact that you could sell your items online without having to store and ship them yourself was very attractive and not a lot of people were aware of it yet. Also, other eCommerce business models, like dropshipping, weren’t nearly as common or as prominent as they are now. Even in the early stages of this revolutionary concept, Travis discovered in time the necessity of Amazon market research.

Product research

In 2014, there were no sophisticated product research tools around, so you had to get by with what you could deduce yourself by browsing Amazon. This primitive form of amazon market research was quite a challenge for beginners back then. Travis checked the bestseller pages, and he got some product ideas based on basic criteria that he had in mind.

However, since there was no way to access accurate data about what was going on in the market, in terms of average monthly sales, fees, and trends, problems were to be expected. While you can never be in a position where you can be absolutely certain that any product will bring you success, the more you know, the less of a risk you are taking.

Finding the “right product”

After extensive amazon market research of browsing, Travis eventually settled on tie clips as his first product to sell on Amazon. This seemed like a good idea for a beginner wanting to get started in eCommerce.Tie clips are small and light, and you can design them so that your product stands out. This was not a bad route to take, and the criteria that Travis used were valid ones. However, his list of criteria to apply to the decision was incomplete.

The main stumbling block for Travis was profit margin. Travis was excited about the tie clips since they were really cheap to manufacture at only about $5 per unit. Since they were so small and light, the shipping costs were decent too. He was previously considering selling an inflatable punching bag but gave up due to high shipping costs. This is why tie clips seemed so attractive in comparison.

Travis was hoping to sell the tie clips for $12 - $15 per unit, which would provide him with a decent profit margin (or a margin that he found acceptable). It turns out that he was wrong with these calculations.  

Finding a supplier

Once Travis had decided on selling tie clips, he went to Alibaba and started contacting suppliers. This is another unskippable step for any eCommerce seller, and as far as this part of the process is concerned, he did everything right. He asked for price quotes and various quantities. Travis ended up narrowing down his list to three possible suppliers.

He proceeded to order samples from all three. After receiving the samples, Travis selected the supplier that he wanted to work with. This is the part of the process that he got right. Sellers often make the mistake of only ordering samples from one supplier. This means that they have already basically made their supplier choice before they even receive the product samples. The fact that Travis had the foresight to get samples from several suppliers ensured that he ended up with a product that met his quality and design criteria.

Travis ended up being very satisfied with both the product and the supplier he was working with. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to ensure his success.

Product promotion

To launch his tie clips, Travis decided to give away a number of them for free in exchange for reviews. This worked in the sense that the reviews started coming in, but it didn’t improve his ranking. Keep in mind that this was 2014 and that exchanging products for positive reviews is strictly forbidden now. Amazon removed all unverified reviews from the platform several years ago and now strictly enforces its rules to ensure that every review received is legitimate.

Giveaways are not effective. The seller loses stock to “get the ball rolling”, but there are better ways to make that happen. Travis should have done proper keyword research and committed to using PPC to rise in the rankings.

Even if there were no proper keyword research tools available in 2014, a seller could start with AUTO campaigns, then extract precise keywords and phrases from the report and proceed to target them aggressively. Amazon treats PPC sales just like organic sales, and if you constantly get sales on a keyword, you will start to show up higher and higher organically. If you have a strong product listing and you construct a decent PPC structure, you will be able to make sales even with 0 reviews. This is assuming that you are selling a product that people want to buy.

The difficulties

The tie clips became a failed product for Travis because of the margins. He was not able to sell them in the $12 to $15 range. After trying to sell them at that original price, Travis had to reduce his price and sell them at a break-even level just to cut his losses. He ended up not losing too much money, but he did lose time.

However, through this process, he learned a lot that helped him find success with his future products. Overall, it was a valuable experience. After the experience Travis was wiser and was able to make better decisions in the future, so here are a few tips from a seller that had a failed product so you don’t have to make the same mistake.  

The takeaways

1.   use market intelligence software.

Unfortunately, access to advanced software like the AMZScout Pro Extension wasn’t an option for Travis in 2014. Today, you can leverage every piece of available information. Now, you can view data such as sales volume, sales and BSR history, margins, listing quality, and other invaluable points of data. This information can help you to determine the advantages and shortcomings of selling any product. You will most likely never find any product that is a perfect home run. This is why you should understand the sort of challenges that you face by attempting to sell any product before committing to it as a seller.

When determining the best go-to-market strategy for a new product or product idea, having simplistic advanced software to determine the best messaging that will spark your target market on Amazon is essential. Travis lost money in the long run, due to not conducting adequate market research. Market intelligence software is used by competitors across all industries, not utilizing them will decrease your chances of beating the competition.

2.   Sales Price and margins

The tie clips were not cost-efficient enough at a low selling price, resulting in no profits. It is hard to earn a decent profit on a low-cost item, which is why it’s smarter to find potential products that can sell for at least $25. Margins are another really important factor. A seller needs to calculate the cost of manufacturing, shipping, and the 3 Amazon FBA fees: Referral, Storage, and Fulfillment. There are free calculator tools for this purpose, and most Amazon market research tools will give you this breakdown as well.

3.   Use proper keyword research and PPC

What Travis did in 2014 was not wrong, since, in the early days of FBA, giveaways were a common tactic. There were circumstances where the cost of offering giveaways was justified. These days, this is no longer an option. Now that Amazon has become so strict about the way that any product listing gets reviews, it’s more and more common to see products with a very small number of reviews getting good sales.

Previously, it was almost a given that you would have to spend some money or find a way to get at least those first 5 to 20 reviews. Now, it’s a more even playing field. With a proper PPC setup and understanding of how it works, you can do well. Use keyword research software, identify the most related keywords, and build your PPC structure around them. If you have a good product, it is bound to start growing in sales.

4.   Prioritize Customer Feedback

Every business across all industries understands they need to increase positive reviews and manage poor reviews for the business, but reputation management on Amazon is different. Its very strict platform enables no gray area or spammy reviews added on its site. How can one increase positive reviews naturally without being penalized?

All eligible business prime memberships of Amazon can decrease negative feedback and increase positive reviews free of charge with the Amazon/Qualtrics integration . The following results will unfold from this feature:

  • Access to enhanced channels; email, web, mobile, apps so you can follow up and collect positive feedback from your please customers.
  • Automated reporting and dashboards to pinpoint what the customers love and hate about your products
  • Translate data into results through segmentation, viewing trends, and organized performance metrics.
  • Close feedback loops by connecting to other software and CRM platforms that help sell your Amazon products such as Slack, Zendesk, Stripe, Salesforce, HubSpot, and many more

Imagine how Travis could have changed his negative outcome into a positive. He could not reach his margins because his target audience was not willing to pay at the price value you needed. If he could have received proper customer feedback, he would have known what advances/features needed to be included to sell his clips at the price he wanted. His clips could have been bestsellers because he offered his target audience what they wanted that competitors were unaware of due to his advanced market research.

The Bottom Line to Amazon Market Research

In conclusion, learning how to conduct general Amazon market research is the key to finding the right product. You should not rush the process. Especially as a beginner you should think carefully about what your criteria are and make sure that you get all of the information you can access about any niche that you are considering selling in.

Also, make sure that you set a decent selling price and that people are willing to pay that price for your product. Calculate your margins carefully by deducting all of the associated costs from the selling price. You have every tool available to you in 2021 to avoid making critical errors. With today's tools, you can ensure that your Amazon business succeeds.

Discover how to rethink and reinvent your market research

Milos Culafic // Amazon Advertising PPC/SEO expert

Milos is an Amazon Advertising PPC / SEO expert and freelance copywriter. He shares his own experience through guides, for new and advanced marketers and Amazon sellers.

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Amazon Market Research: Unraveling the E-Commerce Giant's Success

In the highly competitive world of e-commerce, understanding the market is crucial for success. Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, has dominated the e-commerce landscape with its vast array of products and brands. To gain a better understanding of Amazon's success, I want to dig a little bit deeper into Amazon market research, analyze the revenue breakdown, explore the market share of different products and brands, and explore how tools such as SmartScout can offer valuable insights into the historic market share.

Amazon Market Research: Definition and Importance

Amazon market research is the systematic process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data about the various products, brands, and customer behaviors on the Amazon platform. This research aims to understand the dynamics of the Amazon marketplace and identify potential growth opportunities, gaps, and challenges. Selling, vendors, and analysts must better target their marketing efforts, optimize their product listings , and strategize effectively for success. ‍

Revenue Breakdown: Products and Brands

Amazon's revenue comes from a wide range of products and brands. While some products have a considerable market share and generate significant revenue, others may contribute smaller portions. By analyzing Amazon's revenue breakdown, we can identify the top-performing products and brands, as well as emerging trends and opportunities. To better understand the revenue breakdown, we can categorize Amazon's products into broad market segments, such as: ‍

  • Electronics and Computers ‍
  • Clothing, Shoes, and Jewelry ‍
  • Home, Garden, and Tools ‍
  • Beauty and Health ‍
  • Sports and Outdoors ‍
  • Books and Audible ‍
  • Toys, Kids, and Baby ‍
  • Grocery and Gourmet Food ‍

Each of these categories can be further broken down into subcategories , providing a more granular view of the market.

Estimated Revenue and Market Share

The estimated revenue is the projected income generated by a particular product or brand on the Amazon platform. By analyzing the estimated revenue, we can identify the top performers and the overall market share they command. However, it is essential to note that some products may be experiencing growth in revenue while simultaneously declining in market share. This can occur when the overall market size is growing, but competitors are capturing more significant portions of that growth.

Tools for Historic Market Share Analysis: SmartScout

Understanding the historical market share is vital for identifying patterns, trends, and shifts in consumer preferences. Tools such as SmartScout can help sellers, vendors, and analysts gain valuable insights into the historic market share by providing comprehensive data and analytics. SmartScout allows users to track product performance, estimate sales and revenue, and analyze competitor data , all of which can help make informed decisions and strategize more effectively.

Amazon market research is a critical aspect of understanding the e-commerce giant's success and uncovering potential opportunities for growth. By analyzing the revenue breakdown, market share, and estimated revenue for various products and brands, you can gain valuable insights into the complex dynamics of the Amazon marketplace. Tools such as SmartScout can further enhance your understanding by providing historical market share data, enabling you to make better-informed decisions and optimize your strategies for success.

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Everything you need to create listings that customers and amazon algorithms love find best-selling items on amazon at a glance 5 trends to look out for in amazon and e-commerce in 2021, try the smartest seller course today.

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How to Conduct Amazon Product Research: An In-depth Guide

what is amazon product research

Arishekar N

“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” – W. Edwards Deming

In the vast landscape of Amazon, where millions of products and brands compete for attention, why do a select few achieve remarkable success? What sets them apart from the rest? 

Have you ever thought about it?

The answer lies in their ability to effectively conduct Amazon product research.

In the ever-evolving world of e-commerce , where consumer preferences change in the blink of an eye, successful sellers understand the importance of staying ahead of the curve.

They recognize that product research for Amazon is the key differentiating factor that can make or break their business.

It goes way beyond simply finding a product you like, making a product listing on Amazon , and hoping for the best. 

It involves delving deep into the needs and desires of your target audience, understanding the competitive landscape, and identifying lucrative opportunities that can propel your business to new heights.

So, we’ve put together this comprehensive guide to provide you with some definitive tips for your Amazon product analysis and research journey. 

Let’s jump into it:

Here is a quick peek into the article:

What is Amazon Product Research?

  • Four Elements Influencing Your Product Research on Amazon

Ways to Discover Good Product Ideas

Final thoughts.

Product research is the process of carefully analyzing different products or niches based on multiple metrics to determine which product to sell on Amazon . 

When it comes to selling products online, you can’t just rely on your instincts or gut feelings. You need to gather information, look at multiple metrics, and use it to make smart choices.

Your unique “water bottle” idea may seem groundbreaking, but can it generate substantial profit for you? 

Only data can tell that!

Even if it does, your product may not perform well in an already saturated market. 

To avoid starting a business that fails, you need to be smart about picking a product. So, given below are the five factors that help you decide which product to sell on Amazon. 

Four Elements That Influence Product Research on Amazon

After you have shortlisted some products, how do you know if they’ll be profitable?

Product validation plays a crucial role in this scenario.

In this section, we’ll tell you the four cornerstones to validate your (next) product idea. They are

Competition

Profitability.

When researching potential products to sell , it’s essential to conduct a thorough Amazon product demand analysis. Without demand, no matter how brilliant your product is, nobody is going to purchase it. 

Here are some factors to look at to identify demand for your product.

Sells at least 10 products per day

Find a product that has a higher average unit sales per day. For a baseline, you can keep it as 10 sales per day. 

That means when the product generates at least 10 sales per day, it has a significant demand to start with. 

This isn’t the entire story, though!

If the product generates only 10 sales/day with high operating costs, it is not a good product either. 

The profitability of the product comes into the picture. A high average sales imply better profitability. 

Let’s say you choose two products, both selling at $30.

Product A sells about 5 units per day, and Product B sells 10 units per day. 

If you get a profit of $10 after the Amazon FBA fees , shipping, promotions , etc., the gross sale you make per month in Product A is $30* 5 units * 30 days = $4,500, and in Product B is  $30* 10 units * 30 days = $9,000

And the profit you make for Product A is = $10 * 5 units/ day * 30 days/ month = $1,500 per month, and Product B is $10 * 10 units/ day * 30 days/ month = $3,000 per month.

Clearly, you can see that the type of products with higher average sales units per day have better profits. 

Similar Products Have a BSR of 5,000 or Less in the Category

Understanding the sales frequency of a product can be complicated, but looking at the best seller rank (BSR) can help you understand the sales performance of a product within its category. 

A lower BSR suggests higher sales.

For instance, a product with a BSR of 20,000 sells significantly less than a product in the same category with a BSR of 2,000. Therefore, avoiding selecting a product with low sales potential is important even if it reaches the top spot.

To ensure high sales when you reach the top spot, it’s advisable to have 3-5 products in the main category with a BSR rank of around or below 5,000. The more products you have with a low BSR, the better your chances of success.

Note: When examining the BSR, focus on the main category rather than subcategories. And keep in mind a product with BSR #100 in the Electronics category wouldn’t generate similar sales as a product with BSR #100 in the Pet Supplies category.

Use the SellerApp Product Intelligence Tool to filter the right products that can actually sell on Amazon. You can use SellerApp’s unique “ Opportunity Score ” feature, which analyzes the product and gives a score based on the following criteria.

  • Demand: It calculates the demand for the product in the category
  • Revenue Potential: It estimates the monthly revenue of the product in the category
  • Competition: It shows if the competition is higher or lower than the category average
  • Overhead Cost: It estimates the overhead cost and shows if it’s higher or lower than the category average. 
  • Profit Margin: It shows you the estimated profit margin of the product compared to the category average
  • PIS Index: This metric measures the scope of improvement in the product.

market research methods used by amazon

A high Opportunity Score indicates that the product can be highly profitable if you choose to sell, and vice versa. 

The Product Has Keywords With Good Search Volume

One of the easiest ways to identify product demand is by looking at the keyword search volume . 

If the product keyword already has a decent search volume, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

As a rule of thumb, see if the top 2-3 product keywords have at least 10,000+ search volume to understand the demand. However, it may vary based on your product type and niche. 

Note: Stay away from a product with a very high search volume, as this niche might be too competitive to enter and make a profit.  

We suggest you use the SellerApp Reverse ASIN tool to find the keyword search volume of relevant products on Amazon.

Log in to the SellerApp dashboard. Go to the Reverse ASIN tool, and add your competitor ASINs. 

market research methods used by amazon

Here you can analyze the keywords based on search volume. 

The Product Encourages Recurring Purchases

Find products that encourage repeat purchases, like cosmetics, beauty products , etc.

These products can help you create customer loyalty and brand retention, thereby improving customer lifetime value (CLV) . Recurring items indicate that customers are satisfied with your product and trust your brand. They are also less likely to switch to competitors or substitutes.

On top of that, it reduces your acquisition and marketing costs. You don’t have to spend much money attracting new customers, as you already have a loyal customer base.

The Product Has a Low Seasonality 

Seasonality represents how a product’s demand changes over time. If you take the example of products like raincoats or winterwear, then you can see the demand for these products increase drastically during monsoons and winter. 

Some product demand also increases during holidays, for example, Halloween costumes or decorations.  

You can use Google Trends to identify what times of the year some keywords are searched more. 

If the search volume trend data is steady, it means the products sell around the year. 

market research methods used by amazon

But if there’s a periodic spike in the search volume, it shows seasonality.

market research methods used by amazon

A business built around seasonal products may be profitable but wouldn’t be sustainable in the long run. 

Not only demand, but you also should research the niches and look at customer sentiment to understand if it’s the right product to sell. 

Look for Products with a Low Review Count (About 2-3 Products With < 50 Reviews on Page 1)

Reviews are a necessary part of selling any product successfully, but it also helps you understand the difficulty of entering the market.

Imagine a shopper sees two products in the search result, one with very few reviews and another product with 50+ reviews. Which one do you think the shopper will click?

Obviously, the product with a higher number of reviews. 

As a new seller, without many reviews, it would be challenging to break into niches where the top products already have hundreds of reviews. 

So, as a baseline, look at products where the top 2-3 listings have less than 50 products on the first page.

Identify the Unique Selling Point (USP)

Analyze the product reviews and Q&A section to see what customers discuss. If the top products already have 4.5+ ratings, there’s a high chance that these products are already perfected, and it will be difficult to identify gaps in the product. 

But for products with less than 4.5 ratings, you can identify some negative reviews and understand the gaps in the products. Use these gaps to improve your products and tailor your product messaging. 

You can’t miss out on competition when you’re researching a new product. 

Here are some factors to consider:

The Barrier of Entry Shouldn’t be Easy

Don’t select a product that has a low entry barrier. 

The more difficult to enter a new market, the fewer new sellers will pose a threat to your product. 

So, look for products requiring high capital investment, unique features, or strong differentiations from other products. 

These types of products can help you avoid direct competition and create a niche market for yourself. 

No Big Brands in the Product Category

When the product category you’re eyeing for selling is dominated by large brands, you will be at a disadvantage.

  • One, you need to compete against their large marketing budgets and brand recognition . 
  • Two, winning customers who are loyal to these brands can be challenging. And if you try to work around their customer base,  you might be targeting a narrow demographic, which would restrict your market share and growth. 

If you still want to compete against such dominant brands, ensure that a solid marketing strategy , good product, and exceptional customer service are in place.

The Number of Sellers

Look at the number of sellers selling the product before selecting – it can indicate the level of competition and the demand for that product.

Generally, if there are too many sellers for a product, it means that the product is highly competitive, and you may have difficulty breaking into the market. 

On the other hand, if fewer sellers exist in the category, it would mean less competition and niche products.

After evaluating a product’s demand, competition, and customers, you need to ensure that the product you sell will be profitable.

Here are some factors to gauge profitability for a product:

Look for Products Between the $20-$50 Price Range.

Products of $20-$50 lie in the impulse buying decision range. The higher the price tag, the more a consumer thinks about spending the amount. 

They’ll do more research into whether or not they need the product, while with less expensive items, they won’t spend as much time comparing them to others.

However, if you go extreme on both ends, it also becomes a problem. For example, a costly product makes it difficult for a shopper to get started. And If the price is low, shoppers associate it with cheap quality. 

On that note, it’s important to get your pricing right. 

Sellers often get into a black hole when finding the right pricing strategy for their products.

Your product price should cover your costs, add profits, and address the customer’s perceived value. 

Look for Lightweight Products

Look for small and lightweight products , as these types of products can keep your shipping and storage fees down, which usually are based on the weights and dimensions of the product.

For example, it would be much cheaper to source and sell a small product, such as a necklace, versus wooden furniture. Wooden furniture might be in high demand, but the logistics cost will be humongous, which can eat up your profit margin. 

Tip: Don’t go for too light or heavy fragile products, like glass or electronics. Pick something sturdy and easy to ship.

Choose a Product With a Decent Profit Margin of 25-35%

The ultimate goal of your business is profit. So, whenever you conduct product research, calculate the gross profit margin to understand the earning potential of the product. 

Depending on the platform or marketplace, you need to factor in multiple costs such as subscription fees, selling fees, advertising fees, storage fees, shipping fees, etc.

There is no particular profit margin to aim for, as it’s subjective. But we recommend going for at least a 25-35% gross margin. 

This will leave you with enough room for your advertising budget to stand out from the competition. 

You can easily find the profit margin of a product by using the SellerApp FBA calculator. 

Just go to the product listing on Amazon, open the SellerApp FBA Calculator tool , and provide the following information:

  • Cost of Goods Sold
  • FBA Fees 

And the tool will automatically calculate the profit margin for you. 

Amazon Product Research Checklist

Here is a quick checklist to help you easily pick the right product to sell:

  • Product prices that fall between the range of $10 and $50
  • Products that make at least 10 sales a day
  • Similar products that feature a best-seller rank of at least 5,000 in the main category
  • The top 3 related keywords have 50,000+ monthly searches on Amazon
  • Not seasonal products. They can be sold year-round
  • 2-3 products with less than 50 reviews on the first page
  • Small and lightweight products (under 2 to 3 pounds)
  • No brand names or trademarks associated with the product
  • A product can be set up for 25% or even lesser than the sale price
  • Proper room for product optimization and improvement of present listings
  • Multiple product-related keyword opportunities
  • Quick and easy product sourcing from China
  • The product should not be fragile
  • Ability to expand your brand with related products
  • Can make a superior product over similar products in the market
  • The product encourages recurring purchases
  • The product should not have any legal issues

Now that you’ve learned the factors to look at when selecting a product let’s look at some ways to discover good product ideas for your e-commerce business.

Amazon Marketplace 

Amazon is the first place you should research to identify good product ideas . Amazon has different categories like Bestseller lists, Movers and Shakers, Most Wished For, and Gift Ideas section, all of which can offer countless product ideas to you.

First, visit Amazon’s Best Sellers page . Here, you’ll find the best-selling products for each category . Don’t stop your research in the top category. Go deep into subcategories to identify unique product ideas. 

You can also look at New Releases, Movers & Shakers, Most Wished For, and Gift Ideas tabs. These products will have high demand but less competition over the best-selling products. 

Let’s say in the “New Releases” tab, you go for “Sports & Outdoors.” Now, this is way too broad a subcategory to identify product ideas. But you can go deep into subcategories to identify product ideas that you’ve never thought of. 

For example, Sports & Outdoors > Exercise & Fitness > Cardio Training > Exercise Bikes. 

market research methods used by amazon

Under the “Exercise Bikes” subcategory, you can look through many product types.

Speak with Your Current Supplier

If you’re already an Amazon seller, the best and easy way to do product research is by simply asking your suppliers what products are trending and selling like hot cake now. 

Your supplier should already have the information and might happily give it to you if you have a good relationship with them. 

You can also make it worthwhile for the suppliers by giving them bulk orders for the new products. 

Looking at eBay’s Trending List

Even if your target marketplace is Amazon, other marketplaces like Walmart, eBay, and AliExpress can still be valuable sources for identifying product ideas. 

Usually, if one product sells well on other marketplaces, it’s more likely to sell well on Amazon too.

So, head over to other marketplaces like eBay or Walmart and view all the trending products in your favorite categories. 

Not all products will fit your criteria, but you’ll get a rough idea of the product in demand and brainstorm from there to find a product that makes the perfect sense to you. 

Visit Retail Stores

Visiting your local retail stores can also be a great way to discover new product ideas to sell on Amazon.

These local stores often sell unique products that are not available online. These shops also serve as a real-time platform for identifying current trends and conducting price comparisons, which can provide you an edge over the competition. 

Additionally, physical retail stores allow you to do a detailed quality assessment and help you make more informed decisions about the products to sell.

Use Amazon Product Opportunity Explorer

If you’re already an Amazon seller, use the Amazo Product Opportunity Explorer tool on Seller Central to find new products. 

Log in to your Seller Central account, and navigate to Growth → Product Opportunity Explorer.

market research methods used by amazon

Use the search box to enter a broad keyword related to the product or niche you’re interested in.

Alternatively, you can browse niches by category or use the example niche recommendations based on your current product offerings.

market research methods used by amazon

The tool will display relevant niches, associated search terms , and key metrics such as customer needs, top search terms, search volume, units sold, average price, and price range.

market research methods used by amazon

You can use these metrics to filter and narrow down your search to avoid low-quality products.

market research methods used by amazon

Not just that, utilize the Customer Review Insights section to identify improvement opportunities within a product and niche. It shows you all the positive and negative reviews for both niche and product levels. 

market research methods used by amazon

With this Product Opportunity Explorer tool, you can narrow down profitable product ideas backed by data and are less likely to fail. 

SellerApp also offers a comprehensive Product Research tool that helps you research products on Amazon. 

Just log in to the SellerApp Dashboard, go to the Product Research tool, and search with a seed keyword. The tool then gives you a list of products based on your search query . 

You can filter the keywords based on multiple metrics to narrow your search to the most relevant products. 

market research methods used by amazon

There you have it, a comprehensive checklist for Amazon Product Research!

As you can see, there are many aspects to consider to conduct thorough FBA product research, Following the steps given in this post will definitely help you get started with your Amazon product analysis.

However, if you’re looking for an efficient way to accelerate progress, consider signing up on SellerApp Dashboard . It gives you free access to invaluable features such as product analysis and tracking to help you find the best-selling products for your next launch. 

Leave a comment below and let us know what Amazon product research strategies you use in your business!

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Related posts:.

  • A complete guide to finding Best Selling Amazon Products
  • Best Amazon Predictive Analytics Tips You Will Read This Year

Amazon Product Listings Optimization & Guidelines For Increased Traffic

How to remove amazon counterfeit products – everything you need to know, post written by:, 10 comments on “how to conduct amazon product research: an in-depth guide”.

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Thank you for explaining best ways of product research Awesome post @Ankitha

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Thank you for explaining about product research

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i recommend this

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Thanks for giving your ideas.

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Very useful information for amazon sellers.

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I like this blog!! It’s a masterpiece for amazon sellers.

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SellerApp blogs are a wealth of knowledge for sellers. You cover everything from product research to marketing, and I’ve been able to improve my sales as a result.

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I’ve been able to improve my product research and sourcing thanks to the information provided in SellerApp blogs. They have really helped me find profitable products to sell.

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How Amazon Market Research Helps Advertisers Maximize Performance

market research methods used by amazon

Joshua Dreller Sr. Director, Content Marketing @ Skai

market intelligence for Amazon

One of the many ways the pandemic impacted our daily lives was that consumers were stuck inside more than they had ever been before. Often with little to do but redecorate, learn to bake, or pick up some other new hobby, accessing those supplies, along with regular staples like cleaning supplies and groceries meant that even those who weren’t familiar with online shopping quickly became pretty well-versed.

market research methods used by amazon

This shift in consumer behavior has continued over the past 3 years and is projected to grow stronger in 2024. Nearly half (42%) of the 1,000 U.S. respondents in a Bank of America survey say they plan to spend more online over the next 12 months.

In order for brands to compete in an ever-increasingly competitive ecommerce landscape, they must focus their efforts. Amazon is a particularly important retailer that should command a lot of attention. The online retailer pulls in nearly half (41.4%) of all ecommerce sales in the US , making Amazon market research and analytics a top priority for retail advertisers.

What types of market intelligence platforms perform Amazon market research?

Veteran Amazon advertisers know that the right insights can inform data-driven Amazon listing and ad optimization tactics and ROI. That’s why its important to be using a platform for managing your ads .

Here are some of the most important types of Amazon market intelligence that advertisers can use in 2024 and beyond.

Retail Analytics 

Retail analytics is a category of market intelligence for Amazon that can help advertisers predict trends and stay ahead of the curve. Advertisers can then make real-time adjustments that maximize campaign performance and reach more consumers. 

Until very recently, those who were hoping for retail analytics from Amazon had two options: take the limited data Amazon offered for free with its Amazon Retail Analytics (ARA) Basic or pay $30,000 a year for ARA Premium. 

In February 2021, however, Amazon rolled out a new reporting platform for Vendor Central called Brand Analytics . This new tool replaced ARA Premium and ARA basic for those companies that are Brand Registered (a program offering identity protection on the platform). 

With Brand Analytics, data is more accessible, and these changes mean that brands now have access to previously paywalled data, including sell-through and customer demographics.

The following are some of the marketing intelligence features that Amazon advertisers can leverage with Brand Analytics:

  • Amazon Search Terms report
  • Demographics Report
  • Item Comparison Report
  • Alternate Purchase Report
  • Market Basket Report
  • Repeat Purchase Behavior Report

Marketing Analytics

A brown Amazon box is taped up and ready for shipping.

Marketing analytics data delves allows advertisers to more deeply understand their ad performance and derive insights that power decision-making. Part of the shifting media mix to online marketplaces like Amazon means advertisers and marketers must move away from the brand marketing with which they have historically been tasked.

By accessing Amazon Advertising’s marketing analytics, businesses can make informed decisions about how to allocate ad budgets on the platform, set efficient bids, and optimize messaging to improve and maximize their Return on Investment (ROI). 

In January 2021, Amazon introduced a tool called Marketing Cloud , which the company describes as “a secure, privacy-safe, and dedicated cloud-based environment in which advertisers can easily perform analytics across multiple data sets to generate aggregated reports.”

Within the Amazon Marketing Cloud, advertisers can not only access their own datasets, but also view their Amazon Advertising campaign impressions, clicks, and conversions.  Additionally, the Amazon Marketing Cloud can help advertisers tackle campaign measurement, refine audiences, and optimize products.

Amazon Marketing Cloud is currently available for eligible agencies, advertisers, and tool providers in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia. To learn more about how Amazon Marketing Cloud can work for your business needs, contact your Amazon Advertising account partner today.

Customer Insights

But the Amazon Marketing Cloud isn’t the only way that the platform offers important market intelligence for Amazon advertisers. In addition, Amazon also offers a tool called Amazon Insights , which “analyzes and aggregates Amazon customer insights from custom surveys to highlight which product attributes and assets customers say are most likely to impact buying decisions.”

Using Amazon insights, advertisers can get individualized customer feedback based on their own products and assets. In order to gather these valuable customer insights, Amazon “aggregates customer responses and provides actionable reporting for each survey, as well as the anonymized raw data collected,” and will collect this data for both existing and unreleased products.

Market intelligence for Amazon Advertising is a critical part of best-in-class strategy

Without a robust Amazon advertising strategy focused on not just collecting data, but also deeply understanding the best use cases for that data as part of a customer-focused, insight-driven effort to connect with new audiences on the platform, these insights are wasted.

For more information on how your business can put your data to its most efficient use, download Skai’s white paper, “Mind the Data Gap” here . 

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How Amazon Drives Growth Through Agile Market Research

How Amazon Drives Growth Through Agile Market Research Blog.jpg

Today’s leading organizations are increasingly taking an agile approach. The benefits are numerous, deeply impactful, and often come quickly; like reduced risks, better products and happier customers. In fact, according to a recent study , 94% of companies say they’ve adopted some agile practices (but, to be fair; more than 60% of those companies' teams have not yet become agile). From the smallest startups to enormous industry juggernauts like Amazon, companies of all sizes are turning to agile methodologies to get things done.

Why are so many organizations embracing this modern way of working ? The answer is simple: Agile companies are simply able to move faster than their peers—making better decisions along the way that lead to better outcomes.

While agile approaches are particularly common in the world of software development, organizations large and small are increasingly implementing agile principles in other areas of operations as well. For example, many of today’s leading consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies   are increasingly turning to quick, qualitative research solutions to accelerate product development lifecycles and iterate much faster.

Success in today’s business environment demands a new approach. Companies of all sizes need to think differently and operate like today’s lean startups  in order to thrive.

Lessons from Amazon

Amazon is a great example of a large company that thinks differently. But they didn’t suddenly decide that it was time to invest in research and become an agile organization. The company was  built  that way—right from the outset.

For example, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos always had a   simple rule : The meeting is too big—and therefore too unproductive—if you need more than two pizzas to feed everyone there.

For Bezos, on the rare occasions when  you should actually have meetings, you shouldn’t invite too many people. Otherwise, attendees are more likely to agree with one another than to express their unique ideas, thereby stifling innovation.

Amazon has built a nimble, agile approach into everything they do. It’s in the company’s DNA—which is a major contributor to their explosive  success . Developers, for example, are routinely charged with  researching and testing different variations of user interfaces   so they are constantly aware of how customers respond to updates. Armed with that data, they’re able to ensure that the updates they ultimately roll out—and stick with—are demanded by their community.

Originally imagined as an internet book retailer, Amazon has added countless new offerings to its portfolio over the years. Amazon Prime, for example, began as a service that offered free two-day shipping on an unlimited amount of orders for $79/year. Since then, the program   has expanded , adding streaming entertainment, ebooks, music and   much more . The service currently costs $99/year and currently has   more than 80 million members —good for $8 billion in annual revenue. Amazon has spent many thousands of hours and millions of dollars on research and testing at every step of the way to forge this path forward.

No conversation about Amazon is complete without its tech business—AWS— which is now the   fifth biggest software company in the world .

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The company hasn’t stopped there, either. Recently, Amazon’s   acquired Whole Foods   and opened up   cashierless grocery stores   of its own, too. The company has also experimented with an   Uber-like service for deliveries , shipping packages   via drone   and a service that promises   deliveries within two hours   (in certain zip codes). It's these initiatives that have helped Amazon to   grow their annual revenue to almost $178 billion . And it's their investment in research and development that has helped them get there.

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[Statista: Net sales revenue of Amazon from 2004 to 2017]

Bezos has always been “ customer-obsessed .”  Amazon has mastered the   customer journey   and refuses to settle. Instead, they’ve embraced a culture of growth—one where research and development investments are not only a nice-to-have, they’re requirements.

Amazon's research approach is most clearly evident in its ability to move nimbly during times of adversity or challenge.  Despite their massive success,  Amazon hasn’t avoided failures. Products like   Amazon Destinations, Amazon Local and the Fire Phone   stumbled quickly after launch. Amazon quickly augmented sales figures with customer feedback and further research to determine the issues and product/market fit.  Ultimately, the results were not compelling and Amazon was able to mitigate further losses and scrap the products, shifting energy into higher ROI products and markets.

This agile approach is what allowed Amazon to thrive while their competitors failures defined them.

The company’s approach to innovation—try out ideas, test them, iterate, implement the good ones, shut down the bad ones—has proven remarkably successful.

No one can deny Bezos is a very smart man.  But he hasn’t made great decisions for Amazon based on hunches alone. Instead, he built an organization upon a foundation of agile principles that understood, from the beginning, how important it is to capture data, iterate often and never get comfortable. Suffice it to say it’s worked out quite well.

As Amazon proves, the ability and willingness to i terate quickly with confidence, without the heightened risk of failure—coupled with the people and mindset needed to thrive in agile environments—is what sets the winners apart from the losers in today’s customer-centric marketplace.

What is Research's Role in This?

Technology powers agile companies. From collaboration tools to project management trackers to process automation, new tech is being used to drive the agile revolution.

In the age of big data, a company’s approach to research can make or break their bottom line. Without access to timely and accurate data and insights, it becomes more difficult to make the right decisions—especially considering your competitors likely have access to that critical information themselves.

Thanks to new research solutions, agile companies don’t have to shoot in the dark when making decisions. By investing in online qualitative research tools, companies can get access to the in-context insights they need—when they need it—while operating under an agile methodology.

For these reasons, forward-thinking companies are retooling their approach to research and investing in modern qualitative solutions engineered specifically for agile organizations. As a result, they can move faster than ever before with the peace of mind that comes with knowing they’re making the right decisions—eliminating significant risks throughout their development processes.

On the flipside, organizations that are slow to adopt new tools and continue leveraging outdated research methods—which generally spend more money and waiting several weeks for findings to trickle in—will have a much more difficult time being fitting research into the tight product or marketing development schedules expected by senior management. 

The Move to Agile

Keeping pace with evolving competition requires constant feedback and research. How else will you know that the moves you’re making are the right ones?  It also requires a mindset shift amongst employees—who need to change themselves in order to adapt to a faster-paced working environment.

A larger and larger portion of work—from marketing to engineering to sales —is happening in a more agile way. To accommodate this shift, organizations need to invest in new tools and solutions that were designed specifically to support the agile methodology. They also need to create new processes and policies that help their companies evolve.

If your company is still waiting five weeks—or even longer—to get research results, you are falling behind. It’s that simple. And in an environment where deadlines and turnaround times are only decreasing over time, you are further stressing relatinships within your teams and with executives.

Your smartest competitors have almost certainly moved to online qualitative research solutions which enable them to get affordable answers to those pressing "why" questions in as fast as 24 hours. This allows them to iterate new product designs quickly, leveraging rich insights from their target customers to improve their offerings while ensuring products are well-received when they’re ultimately released.

Need some more convincing about the importance of quick, high quality qualitative research? Look no further than Amazon, who spends more money than any company in the world on research—to the tune o f $17.4 billion annually .

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Does your organization have the tools it needs to succeed?  Can you conduct research quickly and iterate early and often, like Amazon, to ensure the best results for your product releases and campaigns?

If the answer is no , all hope is not lost—quite the contrary. Learn how you can leverage modern online qualitative research solutions to get to the next level in our whitepaper!

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Monika Rogers

Monika Rogers

Monika Rogers is the CEO and Co-founder of Digsite. She has more than 20 years of marketing, innovation and market research experience, including positions at General Mills, Pillsbury and the A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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eCommerceFuel

Successful Amazon Market Research in 2016

Continuing with our series on Amazon, this week we’re talking about research tools available to help those selling in niche markets. Greg Mercer, the founder of Jungle Scout , a popular Amazon market research tool for sellers, discusses how sellers can weed out saturated segments to find profits.  Jungle Scout uses Amazon’s Best Sellers rankings to help you make educated decisions on what to buy and sell on Amazon.

Greg dives in about the pros and cons of developing products vs reselling on the Amazon platform. He also provides an in-depth review of the tools he uses to conduct market research, which helps him to identify products that are in demand.

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(With your host Andrew Youderian of eCommerceFuel.com  and Greg Mercer of  Jungle Scout .)

Andrew : Hey guys, it’s Andrew here and welcome to the eCommerceFuel podcast. Thanks so much for tuning in today. And today we’re continuing on with our podcast series about Amazon. Specifically, we’re gonna be talking about niche research today in 2016. A lot has changed over the last couple of years, but we wanna find out what’s working, what you should be thinking about if you’re gonna be launching a product or products on the platform today.

And joining me to talk about this is Greg Mercer who is the founder of Jungle Scout which is extremely popular market analysis and research tool for Amazon. It lets you go in and you can see, you know, really it gives you like a sense how much revenue certain products are making on Amazon as well as a slew of other information. And Greg’s got a lot of experience working with Amazon, running his own Amazon business, and understands the analytics and the market research side extremely well. So hope you enjoy it. I had a lot of fun chatting with Greg about this as I’m a bit of a Amazon newbie myself, and hope you find it useful as well. We’ll get right into it.

Greg, great to have you on. Thanks for coming.

Greg : Absolutely, I appreciate you having me on, Andrew.

What is Jungle Scout?

Andrew : For those that may not be familiar with you, can you give us a quick overview of what Jungle Scout, which is kind of your primary product, what it is and how it works?

Greg : Yeah, absolutely. So it’s before that you know, like just a few years ago, I used to work in a corporate job. I wasn’t really happy with it. I escaped that by starting to sell on Amazon. That kind of led into Jungle Scout which is a product research tool for Amazon sellers, so it’s a software product. And what we’ve done with this, we’ve gathered a whole bunch of data, analyzed different data points, and so forth to help sellers make educated purchasing decisions, and I help them find good products to sell on Amazon.

Andrew : And the data, so you can actually go to a product, press the button and then it will give you a bunch of data, but included in that is the number that are sold per month as a well as the revenue generated by that product for the seller, correct?

Greg : Yes, that’s correct. So that’s a little bit of like our secret sauce is the sales estimate. And a lot of your listeners probably know Amazon doesn’t personally release that data. What they do release is something they call a Best Sellers Rank, and from that we’ve developed algorithms by tracking a few hundred thousand different products on how that Best Sellers Rank correlates to the unit sales on a monthly basis, We’ve developed those algorithms, we update them each month, and from there, you can get pretty darn accurate estimates of how much any product sells on Amazon.

Using Spitly and Review Kick

Andrew : And you also have a couple of other things as well, Splitly and Review Kick . Can you just touch briefly on what both of those are?

Greg : Yeah. Sure thing. So Review Kick is a review acquisition management platform. So if you’re looking to get reviews on your Amazon product, you can go to Review Kick. You can give away coupons to real buyers there and in return they’ll leave you a review on Amazon, and that’s totally per Amazon’s terms of service, it’s totally legal. That’s how a lot of people get their reviews, and it works really well. We also have Splitly which is a AB testing tool for Amazon listings and for Amazon sellers. So yeah, kind of I guess what started out as just a product research tool and now we’re kind of turning into a suite of tools for Amazon sellers.

How to Find a Product to Sell in Today’s Landscape

Andrew : And we wanna start diving into kind of niche research on Amazon. This one thing was why I’m really excited to talk to you about given your expertise on Amazon and with Jungle Scout. And there’s been a ton that’s changed the last you know, couple of years especially over the last you know, I don’t know, twoish years with you know, the Amazing Selling Machine. I’m sure you’re familiar with that. That big info product that came out and really among other things, but it was one of the big things that brought selling on Amazon to the forefront. A lot of people coming in, a lot of people kind of following the same playbook. What’s changed over the last couple of years in terms of what should you be looking for, not necessarily two years ago with a product like that or with the old, old technique, but what in 2016, June 2016, are you looking forward today to bring a product online on Amazon?

Greg : Yes. So now, you know, all of those like really like typical or like maybe low hanging fruits have kind of been picked. The good news is there’s still tons of opportunity on Amazon, you just have to look a little bit deeper. So you know, no longer is like the spatula and the barbecue gloves, and the yoga mat, no longer those viable opportunities on Amazon. They’re just too saturated. So you know, I’m looking for a product that already has good existing demand on Amazon. I’m looking for a product that’s not too competitive and you can gauge that by the number of reviews it has. So if I look at a particular niche, and all the products have like 300, 500, 1,000 reviews or so forth, that would be a very competitive, mature niche. It’s something that would be really hard to get into. It’s like you know, if you go on search spatula, barbecue gloves or garlic press right now, that’s the type of review count you would find. So I’m looking for those items.

And then a lot of times what you’ll find are kind of like weird items, right? So if you can tell your buddy you’re selling this and he thinks it’s like a really cool, sexy product, chances are it’s not going to sell on Amazon. If you tell your buddy what you’re selling and he’s, like “You’re weird, dude.” Then it’s likely, it’s probably something pretty good. Those are the kinds of things that people need to start thinking about that are the less competitive and the better opportunities.

Looking at Search Results and Units Being Sold

Andrew : And so it’s funny because I always…I’ve done all those niche analysis stuff but it’s always been on the Google SERP side with like you know, the keyword research and the Google search pages. So trying to translate into Amazon. So for demand, are you looking at revenue with Jungle Scout? Are you looking for keyword searches using a keyword tool? What do you use to gauge both of those? What do you use for demand?

Greg : Yeah, a really good question. So I use how many units are being sold by the listings on Amazon. So if I search for garlic press and I look at those first few results, I would then check to see how many units are being sold by those particular products. And a rule of thumb that I like to use and that I recommend for other people to use is I like to see there’s about 3,000 units being sold in a particular niche across all the listings.

So Jungle Scout has like a totally free tool that anyone can use, you don’t need to sign up or anything. You just go to the site, you know, click on the Sales Estimator, and you can enter like the best sellers ranks for these products, and you can see how many units are being sold. Yeah. You can get an idea of how much existing demand is there.

Andrew : Now, when you say 3,000 units, do you mean for a category, or do you mean for an existing…like one existing product or maybe a variation of products, different colors within one skew across all the different sellers there? Which one do you mean?

Greg : So I guess, it would technically be one keyword. So if I search marshmallow sticks and I look at all of the listings for…that showed up, that are relevant for marshmallow sticks. If I were to add all of those up, you know, usually like on the first page, that’s what I’m looking for about 3,000 units, and that’s just my rule of thumb. I’ve found that if that is true, that there seems to be enough demand for me to be interested and willing to enter that niche. If there’s you know, only like 500 units being sold across the entire niche or keyword however you wanna look at it, then it’s like, well, there’s not a ton of existing demand, you can probably find something a little better.

Andrew : Got you. Okay. And sorry to beat a dead horse a bit here but so you look for 3,000 of a quantity being sold for a given…So you can go into that tool like you mentioned, type in marshmallow sticks and it’s not 3,000 products listed on Amazon, it’s 3,000 of the products that come up for that search being sold as per Jungle Scout is gonna tell you.

Greg : It’s kind of hard to say like just with voice, right? Too bad we don’t screenshare on podcast.

Andrew : Yeah.

Greg : No, if the first listing was selling 500 units per month, the second listing was selling 1,000 units per month, then we’d have 1,500 units total being sold in this niche. Then if I were to add up the third listing plus the fourth listing and so forth. Does that make sense?

Andrew : That makes sense. Good.

Greg : So each of the listings are gonna be selling a certain amount of units whether it be 100 or 1,000 or 5,000 and then I add up all those listings. Hopefully that clarifies a little bit more.

Andrew : That does. That makes sense. Okay. And is it across the entire search or do you just look at the page one?

Greg : Usually, just page one and then I only look like relevant results. So if I search a water bottle and some of the listings on that page are actually like a water bottle koozie, then I wouldn’t add those up. I don’t think those are relevant.

Greg’s Rule of Thumb for Looking at the Competition

Andrew : Okay, perfect. So that’s the demand side. On the competition side, you mentioned reviews really quickly. Is there a threshold on the review side like would do you say? And obviously or probably I didn’t mention it would scale a little bit based on you know, how many people are searching for something, but 100, is that your threshold for reviews and not go over 200? Where’s that threshold?

Greg : Yeah. So the rule of thumb I use for that is I like to see like three or four sellers in the top 10 results with under 50 reviews. So again, I’m searching water bottle. I look at those top 10 listings that show up and I like to see like three or four listings with under 50 reviews. And if that’s the case this is a non-competitive, like non-mature niche and it’s something that should be fairly easy to get some with like a small giveaway to get started.

Competing for the Buy Box

Andrew : What about the number of sellers listing on an item competing for the Buy Box? Is that something you look at and take into account or…because I’m guessing you probably are gonna be private labeling your stuff is that not really as much of an issue?

Greg : Yeah. So all the products that I launch now are private label like you said which means that they have their own listing. I’m not putting them up on an existing listing on Amazon. So actually I don’t really care how many sellers are on those other listings that I’m competing against.

Tricks for Keyword Research

Andrew : What about keyword research? Maybe it’s not even an issue because based on how you’re doing it, you’re using Amazon, you’re searching for a keyword term, and then you’re really looking at the number of units sold. So you’re not looking at searches per se as much as you’re looking at the product quantity being moved as a result of those searches. But just in case someone wanted to go maybe a slightly different route, is there any tool that can give you data for searches on Amazon, and if not, what’s the best proxy? Is it just using a traditional kind of SEO keyword tool and at least just kind of using it as a proxy in terms of relative search volumes and popularity of different terms?

Greg : Yeah. That’s a really good question. So Amazon holds that search volume data really close to their chest. They don’t release anything like that. There are a few tools that are out there. I think MechantWords is the first one that comes to mind. I think there might be a couple of others. But essentially they have come up with an algorithm on how they think it relates to say like the Google keyword research-type tools. They’re all just using some type of algorithm of how they think it compares to other search engines that do release their data.

So me personally, I actually just use like the Google Keyword Planner or I use like I think it’s called Keyword.io . And essentially these are just other keyword tools that you’d use for you know, just your typical like SEO-type research. Yeah. So like I started off with kind of doing it that way, of trying to I guess more like the traditional SEO-type way, and I found that a lot of times it doesn’t always hold true. You know, the things that people are searching for on Google, that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what they’re actually buying on Amazon. That’s why to do product research, I prefer to do…just look for how many like units are actually being sold of these times on Amazon. I think that’s the best way.

Building an Off-Amazon Brand (And If It’s Worth It)

Andrew : What about building an off-Amazon brand? I think especially this last you know, 12, 18 months people are starting to realize that there’s still a lot of money to be made in Amazon, but it’s…if you don’t own the platform, there’s some risk there. Long-term, having your own brand is really you know, the best long-term bet. Today, when you launch new products, is that an integral part of your niche selection strategy?

Greg : Actually, not. So at one point I was trying to focus a lot more on it. I was trying to get a few sites started. And me personally, what I decided, and everyone’s gonna be different with their different risk tolerances is I just decided that Amazon is like such a strong opportunity right now that I’d rather just make the money on there kind of like while the getting is good, and then later you know, whether I invest that in other opportunities or so forth. That’s what I personally chose. So obviously, that’s more risky to put all your eggs in Amazon’s basket. Like you said, there are some downsides of having so much reliance on like one platform, right? You know, I was looking at how much time I was spending on like building these off-channel…I was trying to build these off-channel brands or websites or so forth. And me personally, it might also just be kind of like what I’m good at, right? Me personally, I decided that effort was better focused on just trying to make the money on Amazon right now and that’s pretty easy.

Andrew : Yeah. Make sense. It’s interesting because you kind of get the kind of fracture between the two, but I love the honest answer. What about…and there’s kind of two approaches I think you could potentially make. You allude to the fact that the days of throwing a spatula or you know, a garlic press or whatever, isn’t it Scott? Scott Walker that sells those garlic presses? Is that what he does? That’s where they always come from?

Greg : He always just jokes about the garlic press, I don’t think he actually sells it. But I don’t know, maybe he’s just using that to deter people, who knows?

Greg’s Approach to Picking Products to Sell

Andrew : Anyway. You know, all those kind of really basic non-differentiated products, selling those is gonna be pretty tough. And so like you mentioned you’ve gotta do something a little bit different, twist on a product. At a bare minimum you know, white-labeling it. But you know, increasingly it’s easier to differentiate if you tweak it or make some little change. So with your approach, do you spend a lot of time building out a smaller portfolio of really quality, differentiated, dialed products where they could either be completely proprietary, or maybe just products that you have really done the research on to tweak and you know that the changes are gonna be helpful for buyers, or do you just launch a ton of stuff as quickly as possible, see what sticks and run with your winners?

Greg : No. So I really dial it in, and at this point I’ve kind of gotten like good enough that I like already know if a product is gonna do well or not. And then a lot times now I am making like these small little changes. So for you audience what I mean by that is something like…so I’m not inventing a brand new product, but something that I do do is like just at the end of last year, I launched a product that it had plastic buckles on it. Its average rating was like three stars which is pretty bad on Amazon. And I read the one and the two-star reviews, you know, it was a very common complaint that these plastics buckles were breaking. So I just worked with factory, I replaced them with like heavy duty metal buckles. My product has an average review rank of like four and a half stars compared to my competitors that are like three stars. And these are the type…You know, that’s like one my best products now because I’m even charging money for it, but people are more than happy to buy or spend a little more on a product that gets four and a half stars as opposed to a product with only three stars.

Andrew : Okay. So you’re definitely taking the more dialed, maybe smaller number of products, but better engineered, better designed products as opposed to just everything sort, of guesswork.

Greg : Yeah. That would be my method.

A Guideline for Margins

Andrew : What about for…on the margins side? I’ve heard people say before plan on…if you sell something for let’s say $60, plan on a third of that going to the product cost, a third of that going to Amazon fees and FBA fees, and a third of that staying in your pocket. Is that a good guideline or on the high side, low side?

Greg : That’s a decent guideline. It’s fair enough. When you’re just like trying to browse through products as quickly as you can, it’s fine to go off that guideline. It only takes about 20 seconds though to use Amazon’s FBA fee calculator . You can just like copy and paste an ASIN into it, and it will tell you exactly how much the fees are. And then I like to go for a 100% return on investment. So if I’m spending $10 on a product, I wanna make $10 profit and then just calculate in those fees. So the one-third rule, it’s a pretty good rule, I don’t know a better one if we’re just going on general rule of thumbs, but especially with like some oversized products, you might find that the total FBA fees are actually higher than one-third.

Opportunities for Amazon Internationally

Andrew : What about outside the U.S.? Obviously you know, U.S. is the biggest market for Amazon, but do you see any opportunities in Europe, in Australia? Are those markets that you’re getting into at all?

Greg : So me personally, I haven’t entered them yet. I know quite a few people that have started to try to move over there. So you know, like UK is the next biggest market followed by Germany. After that there’s quite a few. You know, like Japan is growing really quickly. There’s India, Mexico and Canada, but they’re both kind of small. What I get from these other sellers that are pretty in-tuned with it is they’re not excellent opportunities yet, but they’re getting very close. So if you’re listening to this podcast, let’s say like at the end of 2016, maybe into 2017 that you might wanna start looking there because it is fairly easy to sell in these other marketplaces. Just because you live in the states, it doesn’t mean it’s that much harder to sell in you know, like some of these European markets. I probably will start moving over there may be at the end of this year, beginning next year and so forth. And I would expect it to kind of be like an amateur-type market similar to what U.S. was like a year ago or something, that you know, you probably can get in with the spatulas or whatever. So yeah, it’s something to look at.

The Perfect Product Launch Timeframe

Andrew :Interesting. What about your timeline or your timeframe for launching a product? Let’s say you spend the afternoon going through Amazon, you get a product and you’re like, “This is perfect.” Kind of like you mentioned earlier. A product, I know some tweaks I can make to improve it. From that point where you’ve identified the opportunity, what is your normal turnaround time in terms of actually getting that product listed and for sale the first day on Amazon? What’s realistic? Because I feel like I’m going through very much the educational process here, and my first product took me…In retrospect, I feel like I dragged my feet on a lot of it. So may be what’s the feasible timeline people can think about so that they can kind of you know, measure themselves, I guess?

Greg : Yeah, a really good question. So actually this is like one of the two…so in this whole podcast we’ve painted this pretty rosy picture of Amazon which is really a good opportunity. The two biggest downsides are how long it takes to get started and then kind of like the upfront capital. So realistically, it’s gonna take on average 30 or 45 days for a factory to produce an order, and that’s if you order say like 500 or 1,000 units to get started. If you ship it by air which is fine, if it’s really small and lightweight, it only takes a few days to get to the states. If you ship it by ocean freight, it takes pretty much a whole month to get from China into Amazon; So if I’m brand new starting out today, you’re doing like pretty good if you got it…you made your first sale two months from today. I’d say that’s kind of a rule of thumb or what’s you can expect.

Andrew : I mean, if you’re doing that, you’ve gotta be booking at the day you get the idea, you’ve gotta be reaching out to suppliers, you know, no delays. A lot of times there’s lag back and forth. So that’s kind of a best case scenario, you’re saying?

Greg : If you ship air freight, two months is very reasonable. You know, even if takes you like two weeks for your negotiations with your suppliers, a month in the factory, a few days for an air freight, two months is very reasonable. If you’re shipping ocean freight, that might get close to two and a half or three months kind of depending on how things go. But especially around times where there’s Chinese holidays or fourth quarter when they are…I should say like at the end of summer when they start to get kind of backed up because of preparing for fourth quarter. It could be even longer than that. So like I said, that is kind of one of the downsides of this business model is it does take some time to get these products in and on sale on Amazon from China.

Your Relationship with Suppliers

Andrew : What degree does your supplier network that you’ve built one. I mean, you obviously have a bunch of relationships with manufacturers in China. To what degree to those trusted relationships play into the niche selection process? How much are you saying, “Okay. Hey, I’ve got these like four manufacturers I really know and trust. They’re there, I don’t have to do the diligence work. I’m gonna look for more opportunities in those areas.” Versus just going to Amazon, trying to find the opportunities based purely on the product data, and saying, “Well, if I’ve gotta find a new manufacturer, it’s not the end of the world.”

Greg : I usually just go off the product data, not my existing relationship with suppliers. I have before, like if I was placing a pretty large order and it was…let’s say it filled up like two-thirds of a container, I have before asked to say like, “Hey, let me see your catalog. What else do you sell?” I’ll see if any of these other feasible products. Maybe it won’t be like a home run-type product that I would order if it was on its own, but I already know that I’m paying to ship that whole container anyway. I have an established relationship with you, you know, maybe I’m willing to sell another product that it’s not the best product out there but it’s pretty easy and cost-effective for me at this point. But the short answer to that is I mainly just go off with whatever is the best opportunity on Amazon, not my existing relationship with suppliers.

Winning Product Criteria

Andrew : And in terms of product criteria, I mean, obviously there’s some where the lighter the product, the cheaper it’s gonna be to ship, the lighter the product the lower the FBA fees. You know, some of these types of things. Are there any other product criteria in terms of just the product itself at a high-level that could apply to a lot of different skews that you think through when you’re evaluating an opportunity?

Greg : Yeah, a couple of things you could think about is, I try to stay away from products that potentially be like high liability, right? Like if they can cut, or burn, or you know, physically harm people. Those are to me are like potential for a little more high liability. I kind of try to stay away from that stuff.

And something else I’ve seen a few people get burned out is make sure you don’t order products like with designs that are supposed to be licensed. For instance, like don’t order a water bottle that has a Mickey Mouse painting on it that’s not actually licensed by Disney because you can and will get in trouble for that. Same thing would be like you know like an NFL team or whatever else. So those are a few things to keep in mind as well as you know, patents which the quickest way is just to search for a product with the word patent on Google. See if anything pulls up, and you could order the product yourself off of Amazon and see if it has printed on it you know, like patent or patent pending. Those are all the things I think about, just the legal-type issues.

Andrew : So you’re not gonna be launching the Greg Mercer white-labeled baby formula line any time soon?

Greg : No. I think I’m gonna stay away from that one.

Is It REALLY A Big Deal to Run Out of Stock?

Andrew : This is not so much on the niche selection side but one that I’m just curious about. You hear about, you know, running out of stock how bad that is for Amazon. That so much of your sales ranking is dependent on how much you’re selling and that if you run out of stock and you have to…you can’t sell anymore items, you you know, metaphorically speaking fall at the bottom of the mountain and have to climb back up. Obviously it’s true to some extent, but can you give me a sense and give listeners a sense of how big of a deal it is to go out of stock? Do you legitimately go back to square one like the day you started or is it not quite that big?

Greg : Yes, that’s a really good question, and it’s actually a good timing. I did like a public case study where I launched marshmallow sticks and we’d been out of stock of marshmallow sticks for like almost three weeks. We just got them back in stock I think like 10 days ago, maybe a week ago. And to give you an idea, like the day before we run out of stock, I think we were like ranked like number two or number three for the term “marshmallow sticks”. After we’d been out of stock for like three weeks, we were all the way at the very bottom of page one. So it definitely hurts you.

So what I did is I think for three days, I gave away between like six or eight units per day for three days. You know, I did that with giving out coupon codes and in exchange I asked for a review. So that got me additional reviews and it got me additional sales on Amazon for a few days. And then I checked just yesterday and actually now I’m back at like spot four, and then hopefully I can climb up a little bit higher. So it does hurt you and you know, it stinks because when you run out of stock, not only are you missing out like on profit for those days, but then you also drop in rank for those keywords, but to me that’s the best way to kind of get back to where you were. Just go ahead and give away a few units. Eat the cost that’s associated with having to give those discounts just because you know, it’s much better to eat those costs associated with giving away discount products for a few days than you know, be there at the bottom you’re only selling 2 a day instead of where you’re at 20.

Andrew : Perfect. And that’s a case study that you wrote up online?

Greg : I don’t think I hit the publish button on the blog yet, but by the time this podcast is released it will be. I’ll probably hit that button tonight or tomorrow. So yeah, you can find that on the Jungle Scout blog.

Andrew : Great. And we’ll link up to it in the show notes as well.

Greg : Cool.

Shipping Product to Amazon

Andrew : What about getting your product over to Amazon? Do you send it from the factory to FBA? I’m guessing not, and if not who’s managing that receiving, QC work, labeling and shipping it back off to FBA for you?

Greg : Yeah, that’s a good question. So if I ship it like air express which should be like DHL, UPS, etc, I actually print out labels and have them ship it straight to Amazon’s Fulfillment Centers. These days, I’m usually shipping ocean freight, and when I do that, I use a freight forwarder. I personally use a company called Flexport , but there’s also another called Shapiro that’s popular, or dozens of others. And what they do is they actually receive my shipments out of the container in LA. They unpack the container, they load it onto skids and then send it into Amazon for me. So they don’t do any labeling or inspection, that’s done at the factory level. So actually, I don’t put labels on any of my products, I just have the Athens Q printed straight on my packaging. So no labels are required.

Products that are easy to manufacture, I don’t even get inspections done on them. I’ll just have the manufacturer like take pictures and send them to me and that’ll be kind the final inspection. If it is like a more complicated, a product that I’m more worried about or maybe a new relationship with a supplier, then I’ll actually pay an inspection done for like 150 bucks. I mean, they’ll go in there, they’ll pull out a bunch of units, test then, make sure they are working and so forth. So that’s one of the beautiful things about FBA, right? I never have to actually touch any of this inventory. They’d ship from the factory to the freight forwarder, they unpack it, they send into Amazon, and Amazon does the fulfillment for me. So it’s pretty cool.

Product Returns Through Amazon

Andrew : Very cool. And on the return side, do you end up…because obviously people, I mean Amazon is pretty notorious for accepting just about anything. Is there someone at Amazon that you can…would they grade it and say, “Hey, you know, this is in a mint condition, you can put it back in your inventory. It’s thrashed, do you want it back?” And how much of your stuff do you end up tossing that gets returned?

Greg : Yeah. So they do. When it gets returned, they will say whether it’s resalable or not. So if it’s resalable, they’ll just put it back in stock. If it’s not, this is kind of bad, but I actually just have them dispose off of it. If I was living in the states…so I guess, for those listeners who don’t know, I’m doing like the digital nomad thing right now. So I’m just kind of travelling around while I work. But if I was living in the states, I’d probably have them send some of that stuff to my house and maybe try to repackage it or something. For now, I just have them dispose of it. And I have different return percentages for different products, but on average, I would say it’s like 1% or 2%. Maybe a little bit more complicated products that have more moving parts, it might be 3% or 4%. In the whole scheme of things, it’s not that much money, and it’s just kind of a cost of doing business.

The Lightning Round Continues!

Andrew : Makes sense. Your interview is actually part of a series I’m doing on Amazon, and I’m gonna be asking all of our Amazon guests a series of questions. An Amazon lightning round. So if you’re up…

Greg : Oh-oh. All right.

Andrew : Yeah. Exactly, so if you’re up for it, I’m gonna ask you these questions which are gonna be the same across all of our guests. And feel free to make your answers punchy and brief because we’ve got a bunch of these to go through.

Greg : All right.

Andrew : The biggest mistake you’ve made on Amazon?

Greg : The biggest mistake I’ve made on Amazon. One of my first products, I ordered, I sent it into Amazon, at the time it wasn’t in the adult category but got re-categorized as that. So when you search for it on Amazon, it doesn’t show up in the search results. They’re like hidden and you can’t do PPC on these items. So it’s very difficult to get these items to start to sell. And that was the biggest mistake I’ve made.

Andrew : What’s the biggest mistake you regularly see other people make on Amazon?

Greg : Trying to get into a niche that is too competitive. It’s very hard to do well if you get into those niches that just have tons and tons of sellers and tons and tons of reviews?

Andrew : Do you say Bezos or Bezos?

Greg : Bezos.

Andrew : Bezos. You’re a Bezos guy. Crazy. How many products have you launched personally on Amazon?

Greg : I have about 35 or 40 private label items on Amazon.

Andrew : Where do you see the most opportunity on Amazon right now? And not necessarily in a product per se, but it could be a foreign country, it could be using product ads, it could be a certain category of products.

Greg : Oversized and higher priced items I think are a great opportunity right now. I’m not too competitive.

Andrew : What was the last thing you personally ordered from Amazon?

Greg : Those lightning adapters that you can plug in Ethernet cable into my MacBook.

Andrew : Nice. What about the strangest thing you’ve ordered from Amazon that you can mention on the air?

Greg : I think back in the day when I used to have a house and a real job, I got one of those like roller things you fill up with water and roll seed on your grass. I don’t know if I ever actually used it or not, but it came in this humongous box.

Andrew : Nice. Do you own Amazon stock?

Greg : I actually do not own Amazon stock. I figure every other egg I have is in Amazon’s basket. If it’s my own Amazon business, my software business. So I’m staying away from the Amazon stock. I’m just gonna put in other places.

Andrew : Probably a wise move. Obviously you’ve shared a ton of really great tactics and advice, but I’m guessing you’ve got a few close-to-the-chest strategies that you know, as anyone would, you wouldn’t wanna broadcast to a bunch of listeners, they might become less effective. But that being said without giving away all you secrets, can you share one Amazon strategy or tactic that you have never discussed publicly before.

Greg : I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone about this, but this is actually a pretty cool hack. So when you setup a brand new listing, if you only put in the…like your most important keywords for your title and your brand, and hit like submit to have them create the listing, they’ll actually…you’ll force Amazon to put those words into the…I think it’s called the canonical. Canonical, I don’t know how to say that word, but it’ll say like amazon.com/ and then it’ll have those keywords/ your ASIN and so forth. So you can kind of like force Amazon to use those, and I’m pretty sure you’ll rank better in Amazon and probably like on Google and search engines as well. So that’s a cool tactic not many people know about.

Andrew : Very nice. How many times has your account if ever been suspended?

Greg : Knock on wood, that’s never been suspended.

Andrew : Ooh, nice. And good luck with that. In one word, how would you describe Amazon today in 2016?

Greg : Opportunity.

Andrew : In one word, how would you describe where you think Amazon will be in five years from now?

Greg : Enormous. Take over the world.

Andrew : I love it. Greg, such good stuff, man. I really appreciate your insights on the Amazon side, on the niche selection side. And if you’re looking for a good tool to do some of this analysis on your own, then check out junglescout.com. It’s uncanny how accurate some of its reporting is in terms of giving you your revenue numbers. I’ve looked at it with people I know and myself selling on Amazon and it’s really close to the real numbers. Splitly.com is Greg’s AB split testing tool for Amazon as well as reviewkick.com for reviews. Greg, it’s been great having you on. Thanks for taking the time.

Greg : Andrew, I appreciate you having me. It’s been fun. I’ve enjoyed it.

Andrew : Want to connect with and learn from other proven ecommerce entrepreneurs? Join us in the eCommerceFuel private community . It’s our tight-knit vetted group for store owners with at least a quarter million dollars in annual sales. You can learn more and apply for membership at eCommerceFuel.com . Thanks so much to our podcast producer Laura Serino for all of her hard work in making this show possible, and to you for tuning in. Thank you for listening. That’ll do it for this week, but looking forward to seeing you again next Friday.

What Was Mentioned

  • JungleScout.com
  • Splitly.com
  • ReviewKick.com
  • Merchant Words
  • Google Keyword Planner
  • FBA Revenue Calculator
  • www.flexport.com
  • www.shapiro.com

Photo: Flickr/Stuart Townsend

Andrew Youderian

Double Your eCommerce Business in the Next Year

Further reading, how to rethink your customer segmentation efforts to be more profitable, an insider’s perspective: are amazon sponsored ads worth it, ecommerce accounting: your gateway to sustainable growth, everything you need to know about product liability insurance, amazon listing optimization: 8 steps you can’t miss for higher conversions, everything you need to know about ecommerce insurance, amazon seo strategies, tools & expert advice for better product rankings, inventory forecasting explained: how to never run out of stock again, ecommerce email marketing: the complete guide, how to win credit card chargeback disputes as a merchant.

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How To Conduct Amazon Product Research The Right Way

market research methods used by amazon

Last updated on September 26th, 2023

market research methods used by amazon

Conducting Amazon product research correctly is crucial for success on the eCommerce giant. Assessing various factors such as competition, pricing, customer reviews, and sales history will help you decide which products to sell. But due to the large and fast-paced environment of the marketplace, navigating through Amazon without a comprehensive guide can be daunting. 

This is where our blog proves useful. We aim to provide a step-by-step approach to conducting product research correctly. It delves into various strategies and tools that can be employed to identify profitable product opportunities. 

From evaluating competition and demand trends to analyzing customer reviews and using keyword research effectively, this guide will equip beginner and experienced Amazon sellers like you with the necessary knowledge to make informed decisions and excel in your product selection process.

Table of Contents

What Does Amazon Product Research Do?

Amazon product research involves analyzing market trends, customer preferences, and competitor products to identify profitable opportunities. It helps sellers like you choose the right products to sell and market. Product research aims to maximize sales, customer satisfaction, and overall performance in the highly competitive marketplace.

Amazon Product Research in 6 Steps 

Navigating the vast marketplace of Amazon can be daunting, but you can simplify the Amazon product research process in six steps. Below is the step-by-step approach to help you identify profitable products, understand market demand, and outperform competitors, setting your store on a path to success.

#1: Identify Your Target Market

When conducting product research, prioritize identifying your target market, keeping up with emerging trends, and understanding customer preferences . This approach will help you select profitable products aligned to your audience's needs.

Define Customer Demographics

To conduct product research correctly, you must identify your target market. Begin by defining your customer demographics. Know their age, gender, income, and location. The deeper your knowledge about them, the more you can tailor your products for them.

Analyze Current and Emerging Trends

Stay ahead of the competition by analyzing current and emerging trends on Amazon. Use tools like Google Trends or other eCommerce platforms to investigate trending products. By tracking top sales, best-selling products, and sellers' ranks, you can identify opportunities that align with what your target customers like.

Research Customer Preferences, Reviews, and Feedback

Gain a deeper understanding of your target market by researching customer preferences, reviews, and feedback. Customer reviews allow you to determine a product's strengths and weaknesses and refine your selling strategy.

Pay attention to the following:

  • Customer complaints
  • Repeat purchase patterns
  • Pricing strategies and price points
  • Shipping costs
  • Overall user experience

By incorporating this feedback into your product research process, you'll increase your chances of success on Amazon. 

#2: Conduct Product Research Using Amazon Tools

To conduct product research correctly, you must utilize the right tools to help you find profitable products more efficiently. These tools offer various functionalities, such as:

  • Historical sales data
  • Keyword research
  • Competitor analysis
  • Data accuracy
  • Data projections
  • Potential profits
  • Sales performance estimates

Combine free tools like Google Trends and other popular tools below to efficiently do your research.

Google Trends

Google Trends is a free tool that provides data on the popularity of search queries in Google Search. It allows you to analyze and compare the relative search interest for specific keywords, topics, or terms over time, providing insights into search behavior and trending topics worldwide.

This tool helps understand the popularity and search volume for specific products or niches. By tracking the search volume for keywords related to your product, you can identify trending products and make more informed decisions on what to sell on your online store.

Amazon Keyword and Product Research Tools

Along with Google Trends, you can also use Jungle Scout , AMZScout , and Helium 10 to complement your gathered data and have a more holistic, Amazon-focused view of your product research. 

#3: Research Products Against Competition

By dedicating time and effort to researching products against competitors and understanding seller rankings, you can confidently choose products with great potential to rise against the competition. Here’s how to do that.

Assess the Competition Landscape

To succeed in selling on Amazon, it's vital to assess the competition landscape thoroughly. This involves researching other sellers offering similar or the exact product and analyzing their pricing strategy, product listings, and overall performance.

For a proper assessment, you can follow these steps:

the five steps of competition assessment

Understand Amazon Seller Rankings

Amazon Seller rankings matter because it indicates products' popularity and sales performance. Higher-ranking sellers will likely have trustworthy and reliable products, making them favorable consumer choices.

Seller rankings also help you identify potential niches with lower competition by analyzing the ranking trends. It can uncover underrated products or categories to explore and gain a competitive advantage, and it can also aid in evaluating the market's demand and saturation.

#4: Evaluate Product Reviews and Ratings

When conducting product research, it's crucial to thoroughly evaluate product reviews and ratings. By examining them, you can identify potential issues with the product and gauge customer demand. 

Star Ratings

Analyze the overall star rating of products similar to the one you're considering. These will give you a quick snapshot of the product's quality and performance. A higher star rating indicates better customer satisfaction, while lower ratings signal potential quality issues or unmet customer expectations.

Product Reviews

A product with many reviews and a high rating is likely well-loved and represents a stable market. Look for patterns in customer feedback, including recurring complaints or compliments on specific product features or aspects. Determine your competitors' strengths and weaknesses. This knowledge can help you bring products with equal strengths and no undesired weaknesses to life.  

#5: Assess Product Ideas Through Pricing and Profitability

The product you will sell should be profitable. Aside from sales, you can also check the pricing and profitability during your product research. Here's how you can do these.

Calculate Product Costs and Potential Profit Margins

Calculate the product costs and potential profit margins to ensure your ideas are profitable. Start by estimating the costs of manufacturing, packaging, shipping, and any relevant taxes or fees. 

Consider direct costs like materials and labor and indirect costs like marketing or overhead expenses. Once you have a clear picture of your costs, calculate the potential profit margins by subtracting these costs from your anticipated sales price.

Check the Pricing Strategies of Competitors

Analyze your competitors' pricing strategies to determine the market average, identify price gaps, and seek more opportunities. Ensure to assess their pricing patterns, including discounts or promotions they offer. 

By monitoring and comparing competitor prices, you can position your product competitively, adjust your pricing strategy accordingly, and maximize your chances of success.

Analyze Pricing Trends

Monitor the average price and any seasonal or holiday-related changes or other factors influencing price variations. This information will help you make informed decisions about your product's ideal selling price and timing in the online store.

#6: Conduct Effective Keyword Research

Effective keyword research is crucial when conducting product research. It helps identify high-ranking keywords and understand search volume and trends, ultimately increasing your product visibility on the platform.

Tools for Identifying High-Ranking Keywords

Skip the manual search for ranking keywords and utilize the available tools online. Some popular Amazon keyword research tools include SEMrush, AMZScout Keyword Search Tool, and Jungle Scout. These tools can help you analyze relevant keywords, search volume, and potential customers searching for products similar to yours.

Strategies for Understanding Search Volume and Trends

Understanding search volume and trends ensures your product stays relevant and visible to potential buyers. Some strategies to achieve this are:

BONUS: Expert Tips for Effective Product Research

Need more tried-and-true seller tips? Here’s a video on how to find the best product to sell on Amazon:

Partner With Seller Interactive for Successful Product Research

Conducting product research the right way is essential for success on the platform. We hope that this comprehensive guide providing step-by-step strategies, tools, and tips will help you make informed decisions about product selection. 

To stay ahead of the competition, it is crucial to have a partner who understands these changes and can adapt accordingly. Here at Seller Interactive, we are one such partner that focuses on a range of Amazon management services, from Amazon listing optimization to brand protection. We identify pain points, boost your stats, and ensure a consistent top performance.  Book a call with us now to learn more about our offers.

Go from surviving to thriving on Amazon .

market research methods used by amazon

Last updated on December 18th, 2023 Written by Mohamed Aden For Amazon sellers, having a strong marketing strategy is crucial for boosting sales. Having a landing page for Amazon products is a strategy many successful sellers apply, and you can also do. This article will explain what a landing page is and how it can […]

market research methods used by amazon

Last updated on December 13th, 2023 Written by Mohamed Aden The Amazon Best Seller Rank (BSR) is a crucial metric sellers like you should understand to maximize your success on the platform. This ranking system reflects a product's popularity and sales performance against other products in the same category. By grasping the intricacies of BSR, […]

market research methods used by amazon

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market research methods used by amazon

How To Perform Realistic Amazon Product Research For Beginners

How To Perform Realistic Amazon Product Research For Beginners

Evaluating the market and choosing the right product is a hallmark of a successful Amazon seller. Any product you launch must be both profitable and sustainable.

Thorough Amazon product research is therefore vital before going 'all in' on a product or an entire brand launch.

For many beginners, this process can be mentally and emotionally draining, but don't despair! Just about every professional Amazon seller has been through this grueling process to validate product ideas.

And yes, it does become less overwhelming through time and experience .

There are many elements to a successful product launch such as profitability, FBA fees, branding restrictions, return rates and much more. Additionally, finding profitable products to sell on Amazon requires much more active involvement in 2022 than it did in 2015.

So in this guide, I'll be assisting you in your product research on Amazon using proven principles, plus crucial things to watch out for.

Let's begin.

What Truly is Product Research?

Effective Amazon product research is analyzing the current market and choosing profitable products that sell year-round. Some use the phrase 'winning products' which refers to products that gain a home run within weeks of launching, and then continue to perform for multiple years.

The basic premise is to find products that are sourced for cheap enough where you could on sell for at least 3x your cost of goods sold, but preferably 5 to 7x. The higher your multiple on the landed cost, the more margin you have to spend on PPC and to hire influencers.

Not only should you aim to find the 'winners', but they should be able to gain a portion of reviews organically and have a low return rate.

Key Elements of a Successful Amazon Product

So what criteria make for a successful product on Amazon?

Quite simply:

  • Strong and sustainable demand. Use Google trends with both your primary and secondary keywords. Avoid any 'trendy' products that are likely to plummet next season, such as fidget spinners.
  • Low market competition. If the first few pages of a product has a flood of competition, particularly from China, then steer well clear. Ignore the revenue FOMO and simply find another profitable product.
  • Sold for $25 or greater. Products $25 or more qualify for free shipping for non-FBA buyers which may be more attractive to buyers when compared to product + shipping listings. The higher price also provides some margin for you to spend on PPC or influencers.
  • Room for improvement. Look at your competition and see what they have missed. Can you increase the quality? Add bonuses? Increase or decrease the size and weight?
  • Minimal seasonal changes. You'll want products that will sell year-round, especially if your FBA income will become your primary income. Additionally, sustainable businesses are more attractive to aggregators.
  • No trademark/parent/branding violations. One of the quickest ways to get kicked off Amazon is via copyright violations. There may be a very real reason why no one else is selling that same product - it's because they can't. Some things to stay well clear of are Disney, Velcro and Bluetooth which are all trademarked.

In addition, it's best (but isn't a deal-breaker) to steer towards small, lightweight and unbreakable products if you're just starting out. I recommend keeping things simple early on and simply using these products to springboard towards more complex products, should the need or desire arise.

5 Quick Ways to Verify Product Research

Demand is important when launching a product. Even if it has high margins and minimal competition, there is little value if very few people are seeking out your product.

Here are 5 ways to verify your product has demand:

1. Year-Round Product Demand

A product that's consistently bought throughout the year leads to a more sustainable business rather than the peaks and valleys of a seasonal business.

To see if your potential product is seasonal, simply head over to Google Trends and enter the main keyword(s) for your product. Provided the product has enough monthly search volume, Google will provide some brief insights how often customers are searching for the particular product, such as soccer gloves:

market research methods used by amazon

While it isn't necessarily 'bad' to choose a more seasonal product, you might get stuck with unsellable products in Amazon's warehouses, such as winter snow gloves over the summer months.

2. 5 Sales Per Day Minimum

5 sales per day minimum is necessary to ensure you can enjoy consistent sales, but 10 sales per day is more sustainable. These averages should be based on a 12-month trend to account for slumps and sales spikes.

Keep in mind that this applies to Amazon US only, and you may attain an additional 10 sales/day on Shopify alone, plus Amazon Europe too. 30 sales per day at $10/profit leads to a full-time income for most sellers, with a 6-figure business valuation.

3. 50,000+ Monthly Searches 5 Keywords

Analyzing customer interest is mostly a matter of finding search volume, as the volume of searches is a great sign that there is consistent demand.

Your top 5 keywords should be gaining around 50,000 searches combined, and tools like SellerApp can help you through that process.

4. Little To No Big Brands Competing

You may think that seeing big brands competing for product keywords is a good thing, but often it isn't. Buyers have a tendency to trust known and established brands over new brands and products, including yours.

market research methods used by amazon

If you see mostly unknown brands competing on the first page for primary keywords, then that's often a great sign. You'll gain a higher click-through rate and likely a higher conversion too. But on the flip side, if the page is full of cheap overseas sellers, it's a product worth avoiding .

5. Competitors Typically Have <100 Reviews

The volume of reviews on page 1 is one metric to help you understand sales volumes and lack of competition. It's certainly not the most important rule (hence I've left it last in this list) but can give some estimates if you're not using FBA research tools.

It's widely considered that 1-2% of customers leave reviews meaning that 50 to 100 sales are achieved for each review, assuming these are 4 to 5 stars.

Unusual Ways To Find Killer Products

There are numerous unconventional ways of performing effective Amazon product research. Some require the use of tools, but the following ideas are free:

New Amazon Hot Releases

Amazon curates its own hot releases that are not only new to the market but are already selling well. Keep in mind, however, that some of these can be very seasonal or holiday-specific, such as unique Halloween costumes. It's also worth checking out the Movers & Shakers section which showcases products who have gained huge sales ranks over the past 24 hours.

Amazon Wish-Listed Products

Another way to find killer products with demand is via most wished products . These are products that customers have saved in their wish-list to buy at a later date. That said, these may often be novelty items, hopeful gift items or simply 'nice to have' rather than products that will actually sell. Customers often wait for Prime Day to checkout on these products.

Use Exploding Topics

One of the best tools I've come across in recent years is Exploding Topics , which is far more focused upon the present time than Google Trends. Take for example the swiss cheese plant:

market research methods used by amazon

Interest in this plant has sky-rocketed in recent years. What do owners need for their plants to thrive? Planters, organic fertilizer, UV lights and more.

Spot Poor Listing Optimisations

I'm forever spotting household brands whose Amazon listings are poorly optimized with minimal keywords, often just one photo and very brief listing content. However, they have the strength and reputation of their brands available to create conversions.

market research methods used by amazon

When you spot unknown brands making these same mistakes, yet still gaining sales and reviews, that's a good sign that a market exists there. Not only that, but it's possible to organically outrank them or win the buy box through improving the product listing.

Check Volume of Affiliate Sites

There are thousands of SEOs who build niche and authority websites that direct traffic to purchase products on Amazon. The best part? They are often are excellent at keyword research off Amazon and can analyze search volumes and expected revenue.

market research methods used by amazon

If you spot several sites targeting and ranking for your top 5 keywords, this is often a great sign that a strong search volume exists. Try paying $50 to these sites in exchange to see their Amazon Associates affiliate revenue for your competitors. You can then go back to these sites and collaborate for promotion opportunities.

Use Amazon's Marketplace Guidance Tool

A lesser-known tool is Amazon's own Marketplace Guidance Tool . It's only a few months old, and unlike most Amazon's tools, it's actually a helpful tool which uses 600 data points:

The objective? To help you as the seller see gaps and opportunities in the market. These are personal recomendations designed for established sellers to launch additional products, using real Amazon data to help you succeed unlike 3rd party tools.

Going 1-Up on Competitors' Products

Let's say you find a number of profitable products that have potential. You can increase the revenue of these products and get past your competitors on page 1 by:

  • Creating variations. You may be able to offer additional sizes, colors or weight variations that appear to have some demand. Read your competitor's reviews to see if are any repetitive requests for a new product launch.
  • Bundling with other products. You may want to include a beneficial accessory to your main product which presents more value to the customer, hopefully for the same price.
  • Unique packaging. Customers seeking to present your product as a gift will value high-quality packaging. The product may also have greater appeal on Instagram and Shopify.

Amazon is forever becoming a competitive landscape, so take any chance to 1-up your competitors with your value offering.

Risky Amazon Product Categories

While some categories are excellent such as outdoors, gardening and fitness , there are equally some you should avoid at all costs. Specific categories can be too complex and might have you regretting your life choices. 😔

These include:

  • Electronics. These have too many moving parts, needs constant upgrades, can be unreliable and this category is essentially owned by cut-throat Shenzen-based sellers.
  • Appliances. Like electronics, appliances can require year upgrades and often have a lot of moving parts. They can also have a higher manufacturing cost and may be subject to trademark or copyright issues.
  • Consumables. Any type of product that goes on the skin or is injected, such as pills or creams, comes with many liabilities. All sellers require insurance, and while Amazon usually doesn't monitor most sellers, they pay close attention to products that can be ingested by a customer. The catch here is that most product insurance brokers won't touch consumable products.
  • Baby. For the same reasons why consumables are risky, baby goods can be difficult to get insurance. Harder still is the consumer who is often emotional, time-poor, sleep-deprived and with no tolerance for product failure.

This doesn't mean you can't enter these categories in the future, but for your first few products, you should aim to keep things as simplified as possible.

Worst Amazon Product Research Mistakes

Before you pick a product and order samples, let's look at what not to do. These mistakes have cost other sellers thousands of dollars and time wasted, so it's best to avoid these.

Selling Me-Too Products

It isn't 2015 anymore and simply grabbing a popular product off AliExpress won't lead to any notable gains. The saturation is real and margins are very tight here.

Products that aren't differentiated aren't just competitive, but the business itself is harder to sell. Avoid the common items that are easy to manufacture and sell by China-based sellers like baking pans, steering wheel covers and bathroom towels.

Choosing Very Tiny Niches

It's not just the product you need to choose, but the market itself. Your job isn't to sell a product but serve a market and solve their problems. The profits come later.

By going super niche, it's harder to get noticed and therefore sold. These obscure product categories may not have any decent competitors since the sales volume is too low. Examples of very tiny niches include recumbent trike parts, antique boat cleaning supplies and vegan hiking shoes.

Miscalculating Profit Margins

I always laugh when sellers share 7-figure sales screenshots in Facebook groups. Sales and profits are two very different things and the freight costs of the last 12 months has meant that most sellers are breaking even at best.

Amazon's fees have also increased in recent years where around 30% of your retail price could be eaten by FBA fees. Always ensure you have used Amazon's product calculator before getting too excited and ordering product samples.

Going Into High-Competitive Battles

Some niches can be a cutthroat battle with sellers racing to the bottom on prices. This is a capital-intensive strategy with minimal profits. Likewise, some niches have been untapped but two sellers compete directly by simply lowering prices.

This is an excellent way to sabotage your income and potential for an exit, and may reduce the perception of your brand if your prices become too cheap. Avoid pricing your products simply for what your competitors have listed theirs, and instead, consider the type of customer you're trying to attract.

Amazon Product Research Checklist

To summarize this article, our 20-point checklist for beginners will make your job of elimination and shortlisting infinitely easier in the US marketplace.

Feel free to screenshot this:

  • $25 to $70 retail after discounts and coupons
  • 5 sales per day minimum but ideally 10+
  • 5,000 Best Seller Rank in main product category
  • 50,000+ searches/month for top 5 keywords
  • < 100 reviews for at least 3 products on Page 1
  • 3x retail price on landed cost but ideally 5x to 7x
  • 20% margin but ideally 30% to 50% after FBA costs
  • 5 pounds and under, and below shoe-box size
  • No trademark, copyright or patent infringements
  • Can be sourced easily from China, Taiwan or India
  • Non-breakable and won't require complicated packaging
  • Allows you to expand your brand with relatable products
  • Potential to create a superior product against competitors
  • Has numerous related keyword opportunities to rank
  • Can be marketed through influencers away from Amazon
  • The product can lead to recurring purchases and upsells
  • Isn't likely to become saturated by Chinese sellers
  • Can be also sold easily via Shopify or WooCommerce
  • Doesn't fall under Dangerous Goods classification
  • Isn't a dangerous product that could lead to lawsuits

These aren't necessarily hard-fixed rules as they can be adjusted to suit your unique situation. For example, you may want to switch to Fulfilled by Merchant if you're able to fulfill orders from home and therefore increase your profit margins.

There are many questions about proper product research, but many of the answers can be acquired through your own direct experience in the field. I have learned the most through spending hours in the evening looking for products and analyzing potential with tools such as Helium10, Zonguru and JungleScout.

To keep things simple, here are three high-quality questions:

What are some Amazon products that don't get many reviews?

Effective product research requires finding products that will gain reviews which lead to healthy conversions. However, there are several types of products where customers aren't as likely to leave a review.

  • Common household items where customers care very little about the product or brand. These include tissues, plant pots and cardboard boxes.
  • Controversial or taboo products where the reviewer could be identified by friends or employers. These include adult toys, enema kits and medical goods.
  • Gift items that are given to an extended family member. Some examples include kids toys and anniversary gifts which are also seasonal.

In most cases, these types of products should be avoided if you're just starting out.

How much time should I spend doing Amazon product research?

In 2022, I recommend 50 to 100+ hours of research to come across profitable products on Amazon for your first launch. While that might seem excessive, you'll come away more confident and assured that your product is likely to perform well.

After all, you don't want to blow your hard-earn money on a product that flops.

As time goes on, you'll better spot opportunities and can easily ignore products that you believe will flop. Subsequent product launches will require 20 to 30 hours of validation, plus time with suppliers, freight forwards and listing optimization.

Where can I get my research and ideas validated?

It can certainly be hard to know if your product will actually be a winner. However, there is a concern that Amazon sellers might have their deep research 'stolen' by an Amazon FBA coach or consulting company seeking to profit off their work.

Sometimes ordering a smaller quantity of 100 to 200 units will give you some initial product validation and a chance to remedy issues. Should you absolutely need someone to poke holes in your Amazon product research, we can recommend Amy from Amazing at Home who runs a helpful Facebook group and podcast.

Can I just outsource my product research?

No. While you may be bombarded with ads on social media with catchphrases and bold promises stating "We'll build your Amazon store for you!", in many cases these will fall short of expectations, and with a hefty price tag too.

By doing your own product research, you'll gain a huge amount of experience while being 100% responsible for your outcomes. Researching the first few products can be tricky and overwhelming, but all gets easier from there onwards.

No successful Amazon seller achieved their success by luck. Even in years prior, product research was necessary to minimize downsides, even with the previously higher profit margins.

Today in 2022, product research is even more important, but it doesn't have to be overwhelming. I've attempted to make this guide as simplistic as possible, but here's the truth - you'll learn a ton through practice . That's it.

It may seem emotional but don't overcomplicate this early process. Sign up today to some free software trials and use their research tools over the next few weeks.

Once you're established, use Bindwise to monitor your Amazon listings 24/7 for the Buy Box, hi-jacking and more. Start your free trial today.

Join 1,500+ Amazon Pro Sellers to get the latest news and insights

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market research methods used by amazon

Predicting The Future Of Demand: How Amazon Is Reinventing Forecasting With Machine Learning

Amazon Web Services

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What if you could use data to predict what a customer will buy, one year before they even know they want it?

Automating through machine learning (ML) allowed Amazon.com to predict future demand for millions of products globally in seconds. Leaders at the multinational tech giant successfully reinvented their data infrastructure to improve buying systems, automate the placement of inventory in fulfillment centers, and deliver on their promise of two-day shipping to customers.

Through a comprehensive predictive model built entirely on the cloud, Amazon.com is using data to make better decisions, streamline operations, and deliver winning consumer experiences.

Reinventing manual product forecasting through machine learning

Predicting customer demand is no easy task in e-commerce since delayed inventory or inaccurate shipments can be costly and disrupt the supply chain. Although 80% to 90% of all planning tasks can be automated, many industries still rely on manual forecasting.

E-commerce retailers sometimes need to forecast hundreds of millions of products, and “no amount of human brain power can forecast at that scale on a daily basis,” says Jenny Freshwater, vice president of Traffic & Marketing Technology at Amazon.com, and former VP of Forecasting. Freshwater’s team led forecasting of over 400 million products at Amazon.

Engineering teams, no matter how advanced, can’t do it all: assess historical trends, develop unit sales projections, and conduct independent research for such a high volume of products. Even when combined with more sophisticated models, legacy systems, like outdated computing software or manual inventory logs, won’t be as accurate as machine learning models.

And when demand spikes unexpectedly, the burden on the supply chain can become even more difficult to handle without modern forecasting methods. When toilet paper sales surged by 213% at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Amazon used AI-driven predictive forecasting to respond quickly to unforeseen demand signals and increase adaptability to market fluctuations Freshwater notes, “Of course, we could have never anticipated that spike prior to COVID, but our models reacted quickly to the new demand trend.”

Freshwater recommends that retailers reprioritize their machine learning roadmaps to cope with the unexpected. The pandemic was the trigger for her team to make changes and implement new ideas. The team reinvented inputs to their models, including using medical data, COVID case counts and macroeconomic data, and shifted from forecasting based on a number with confidence intervals to scenario-based forecasting. “What we found was that the work that we had to do around the pandemic, almost all of it, from adding new data, to new features, to scenario forecasting, we had thought of before, but had never prioritized, because it wasn't urgent at the time,” she says. “With the pandemic hitting, we reprioritized. And many of the things that we had wanted to implement in the past are now in production.”

How Amazon.com became a leader in product forecasting

According to Freshwater, Amazon’s journey with machine learning began about 10 years ago to improve forecast accuracy. “We started to use machine learning because our moving average models were just not as accurate as we had hoped they would be.”

Company leaders saw a need to use data and machine learning to deliver on customer promises and achieve cost-effective functionality at scale. With those goals in mind, Amazon.com set out to become an AI-driven leader in product forecasting.

To accelerate the process in the face of rising demand, the company partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to build “machine learning models that have grown in terms of magnitude of data, the features that we use to predict demand, as well as the complexity of the algorithms, to where today, we're using neural network models to predict demand for the products that we sell on Amazon.” Freshwater says, “We looked at how our human forecasts were performing and how our machine learning forecasts were performing. And it was night and day in terms of the difference.”

Amazon.com uses machine learning on AWS to aggregate and analyze purchasing data on products, and run their forecasting models. Additionally, the company uses browsing and purchasing data to provide more tailored product recommendations. Machine learning allows for data experimentation that enables data scientists to create a better and more personalized experience for customers.

For Freshwater, prototyping and iteration was key to achieving machine learning success. ”We used a prototyping approach, looking at specific use cases, measuring the results against our existing models, and, at a certain point, we were able to achieve a 15 times greater improvement than we'd ever achieved before through these neural network models,” she says. “So, it was very much an iterative process.

Key takeaways for business leaders using predictive models

ML on the cloud is key to deriving valuable insights from data and making better business decisions. Consider these practices to maximize ML modeling in your reinvention journey.

  • Trust the model. Regular monitoring of millions of products takes up valuable engineering time and resources. Freshwater says nearly all of Amazon’s “forecasting is automated through machine learning models, and human beings and business users only interact with the forecast and override it when they have some information that the models couldn't possibly have.” Leaders should encourage teams to selectively interact with the forecast, letting the models work while business users focus on other critical tasks. Overrides should be considered when you are confident you have more qualitative or trend-focused information than the model.
  • Define a clear data strategy. It’s impossible to think of machine learning – and getting real value out of ML models – without first having a data strategy in place. At Amazon, preparing the data for ML use was a key part of the strategy. “When I talk to people about our journey from our old modeling to the new, I guess that about 40% of the time was actually spent in preparing the data,” says Freshwater. “Features are really all about getting the data in the right place. Without really spending that time and effort, we would risk either getting poor results or biased results because the data didn't properly represent our decision set.” Building a data strategy that aligns with business goals, prioritizing data cleansing, and making data representative of what you’re trying to predict or optimize is key for leaders starting their ML journey.
  • Know what you’re measuring. Early on in your reinvention journey, it’s important to be crisp about what you’re measuring and how you know you’ve improved. Freshwater recalls, “In our problem space, we were forecasting for more and more products every year. So just by looking at year over year comparisons, it wasn't good enough. We had to implement a series of benchmarking models that used completely different scientific methodology to know if versus the benchmark, our new models were better.” Spend time upfront defining your measurement and success criteria to prevent time wasted on churn.
  • Build a data-driven culture. Getting the most out of your machine learning initiatives requires nurturing a cultural of innovation and data-driven thinking across the organization. “Reinvention projects really are about being able to take risks and being able to fail fast,” says Freshwater. “Pick people who are OK with several failures before a success. I think that culture needs to be encouraged when you’re working on any prototype – because the first results aren't always a winner. If they are, maybe you're not thinking big enough.” When experimenting with machine learning, make sure you have people at all levels of the organization who are passionate about the prospect of what ML can deliver. Freshwater adds, “Given that Amazon is such a data-driven culture, we were able to move the needle almost entirely towards machine learning, just by looking at the fact that our models were much more accurate from a forecasting accuracy perspective.”

Amazon has paved the way for predicting the future, but they’re just getting started. Your organization too can reinvent itself using AI technologies and data. Learn more at aws.amazon.com/data/ .

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7 Easy Steps to Do Amazon Market Research in 2024

  • by Alice Ananian
  • April 1, 2024

Amazon Market Research

Amazon stands as an eCommerce giant, attracting millions of users daily to purchase products across an unfathomable variety of categories. For an enterprising individual, navigating this colossal marketplace can be likened to a merchant sailing the high seas; both require detailed charts, constant course correction, and the ability to ferret out hidden treasures.

In the case of Amazon, accurate market research is your chart, your compass, and your map to uncover potential gold. In this comprehensive guide, we unravel an intricate tapestry of market research strategies tailored specifically for Amazon.

Identify your Niche and Product Category

Before entering the bustling marketplace of Amazon, you must first identify a niche and product category that piques your interest and offers profitable potential.

Going through the following steps will give you a solid research:

Step 1: Brainstorm for Your Product’s Niche and Category Fit

  • Identify the core function and benefits: Start by clearly defining what your product does and the problems it solves. What are the key benefits it offers to users?
  • Research similar products: Search Amazon and other online retailers for existing products that perform similar functions or offer related benefits. Analyze these products and their positioning to understand potential niche categories. (We’ll talk more extensively about competitor research below.)
  • Consider target audience: Who is the ideal customer for your product? Understanding your target audience’s demographics, interests, and online shopping behavior will help identify relevant niche categories on Amazon. Look for communities or forums where your target audience gathers online.

Helpful brainstorming tools:

  • Jungle Scout : Simplifies Amazon product research with user-friendly tools for opportunity identification and listing optimization.
  • Helium 10 : Offers a powerful suite of features for advanced Amazon sellers, including in-depth product research, keyword optimization, and competitor tracking.
  • AMZScout: Provides a budget-friendly option for Amazon sellers, focusing on core product research features like sales estimates, competition analysis, and FBA fee calculations.

Step 2: Refine Your Niche and Product Idea

  • Combine interests and market opportunity: Refine your niche based on your interests and the market research. Can you identify a specific sub-niche within a broader category with good potential?
  • Develop a unique selling proposition (USP): What makes your product different from existing options? Focus on a specific feature, benefit, or target audience to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Step 3: Choose Your Product Category on Amazon

  • Browse Amazon categories: Once you have a refined niche and product idea, browse Amazon’s product categories to find the most relevant fit. Look for categories with sub-categories that align with your product’s specific features and target audience.
  • Consider traffic and competition: While choosing a sub-category, look for a balance between traffic volume (potential customers) and competition level. A niche sub-category with some existing products indicates established deman d, while avoiding overly saturated categories.

Keep in mind:

  • Niche selection is an iterative process. Be prepared to adapt your ideas based on your research and refine your niche and product concept as needed.
  • Selecting a profitable niche with a good fit for your skills and interests is crucial for long-term success on Amazon.

Analyze Competitor Products

Features and pricing.

A product’s features and pricing are crucial factors that directly influence customer purchasing decisions. Use this step-by-step guide to help you research:

Step 1: Identify Your Competitors

  • Direct Competitors: These are brands offering similar products targeting the same audience as you. Look for companies with products that closely match yours in functionality and purpose.
  • Indirect Competitors: These offer products that might not be identical but serve a similar need or target a slightly different audience. They can still provide valuable insights into broader market trends.

Step 2: Gather Information

  • Product Websites & Reviews: Visit competitor websites and online stores to examine product descriptions, specifications, features lists, and user reviews. Reviews can reveal real-world experiences with strengths and weaknesses.
  • Retailer Listings: Check major online retailers (Amazon, Walmart, etc.) where your competitors’ products are sold. Look at product descriptions, pricing variations, promotions, and customer Q&A sections.
  • Industry Publications & News: Industry publications and news articles might cover competitor product launches, reviews, and comparisons. These can offer valuable insights into industry trends and competitor strategies.

Step 3: Create a Feature Comparison Chart

  • List your competitors and your own product across the top of a table.
  • Down the side of the table, list all the relevant features a product in your category might offer (material, size, weight, warranty, etc.).
  • For each feature, mark whether your competitor’s product has it (Yes/No) and any additional details about the specific feature (e.g., size variations, warranty duration).
  • Include your own product’s features for comparison.

Step 4: Analyze Pricing Strategies

  • Record the prices of your competitor’s products across different retailers and consider any discounts or promotions offered.
  • Look for patterns in their pricing strategy . Do they offer premium pricing for higher-end features or compete on affordability?
  • Consider the perceived value proposition of your competitor’s products. How do features and price combine to create an attractive offer for their target audience?

Step 5: Identify Strengths, Weaknesses, and Opportunities (SWO Analysis)

  • Based on your feature comparison and pricing analysis, identify your competitor’s strengths (superior features, competitive pricing).
  • Look for weaknesses in their offerings (missing features, high price point compared to features).
  • Consider opportunities for your product based on the competitor analysis . Can you offer a better feature set at a similar price or a competitive price with a unique feature?
  • Regularly update your competitor analysis as markets and products evolve.
  • Don’t just copy competitors – use the analysis to identify opportunities to differentiate your product and offer a compelling value proposition to your target audience.

Customer Reviews

Analyzing customer reviews is akin to overhearing a candid conversation between your competitors and their customers. Turn to platforms like Prelaunch.com’s AI Market Research Assistant to go beyond star ratings, drilling through customer feedback to glean insights into product strengths, weaknesses, and unmet needs. Use this process to help collect and analyze reviews:

Step 1: Identify Your Competitor’s Products

  • Once you have a list of competitors, identify the specific products within your category that they offer.
  • Consider looking at both top-selling and lower-performing products to get a more comprehensive understanding of their product lineup.

Step 2: Gather Reviews

  • Using the Prelaunch tool, add the links of these products here . This generates a comprehensive summary of available reviews for each product.

Step 3: Study the Competitor Analysis

The report generated by Prelaunch.com highlights several sections, including:

  • Key strengths of competitors
  • Common weaknesses and need for improvement (in competitor products)
  • Features that users value most
  • Average user profile
  • Users’ opinions on price/benefit relationship
  • Opportunities for differentiation and improvement in your own product
  • Pay attention to specific product features or aspects that customers mention repeatedly.
  • Take note of any features that your competitors excel at, as well as areas where they fall short according to customer feedback.

Step 4: Identify Unmet Needs

  • Pay special attention to the reviews that mention specific product features or experiences that customers desire but are not currently offered by your competitors. This can be an opportunity to fill a gap in the market and differentiate your product from others.
  • Consider how you can incorporate these unmet needs into your product concept to appeal to potential customers. (This is why the summary also includes suggestions at the end.)

Step 5: Learn from Negative Reviews

  • While positive reviews can tell you what your competitors are doing well, negative reviews can reveal areas for improvement. Look for recurring issues or complaints mentioned in multiple negative reviews and consider how you can address them in your own product.

Use Amazon’s Best Sellers Rank (BSR)

The Best Sellers Rank is more than just a vanity metric; it’s a powerful indicator of a product’s actual sales. By sifting through BSR data using tools such as Sales Rank by AMZScout , you can track the performance of top-selling products within your category over time, assessing their popularity and sales trends.

This quick guide will help you understand and use it:

Finding a Product’s BSR:

  • Product Page: The BSR is displayed on most product pages on Amazon. Look for the “Product Information” section, usually found halfway down the page. You’ll see a category listed (e.g., BSR in Kitchen & Dining) followed by a number.
  • Seller Central: If you’re a registered Amazon seller, you can view your product’s BSR and track it over time within Seller Central. Go to Reports > Business Reports > Inventory and check the “Sales Rank” column.

Understanding BSR:

  • Lower BSR is Better: A lower BSR indicates a product is selling well within its category. For example, a BSR of #20 is better than a BSR of #20,000 in the same category.
  • Category Specific: BSR only applies to a product’s ranking within a specific category. A product might have a great BSR in Kitchen & Dining but a poor BSR in Electronics.
  • Not Absolute Sales Data: BSR doesn’t reflect exact sales figures, but rather a relative ranking. A product ranked #1 isn’t necessarily selling ten times more than a product ranked #10.

Using BSR for Market Research:

  • Identify Popular Products: Analyze the BSR of top-selling products in your niche category. This can give you insights into what features and benefits resonate with customers.
  • Evaluate Competition: Consider the BSR of competitor products. If a niche has several products with a good BSR, it indicates overall category popularity.
  • Identify Trends: Track BSR changes over time for specific products or categories. This might reveal seasonal trends or sudden surges in demand.

Limitations of BSR:

  • Manipulation: BSR can be influenced by factors like promotions and giveaways, not just organic sales.
  • New Products: Newly launched products might not have a BSR yet.
  • Multiple Categories: Some products might be in multiple categories, having a BSR for each. Consider the most relevant category for your analysis.

Utilize Amazon Keyword Research Tools

Keywords unlock the doors to visibility on Amazon. Discover what search terms your potential customers are using by employing tools such as Sonar , MerchantWords , or AMZ Tracker . These tools analyze Amazon’s auto-suggested keywords and provide valuable insights into search volumes and related search terms.

Once you’ve identified the keywords that resonate with your target audience, weave them seamlessly into your product listings. Remember, Amazon’s A9 algorithm favors relevance, so ensure your keywords align with your product’s actual functionalities, benefits, and use cases.

Let’s take the example of someone selling a bamboo cutting board on Amazon and how they can optimize their listing for search:

Keyword Research:

  • Identify Relevant Keywords:   Begin by brainstorming keywords related to your product.  Use tools like Amazon Seller Central or Jungle Scout to research relevant keywords with high search volume but lower competition. Consider terms like “bamboo cutting board,” “eco-friendly cutting board,” “large cutting board,” or “organic cutting board.”
  • Target Long-Tail Keywords: Include long-tail keywords in your product title, description, and backend search terms. These are more specific phrases with lower competition, like “bamboo cutting board with drip tray” or “reversible bamboo cutting board for vegetables.”

Product Title Optimization:

  • Target Primary Keyword: Integrate your most important keyword at the beginning of your product title. For example, “Large Bamboo Cutting Board for Kitchen – Eco-Friendly & Organic.”
  • Include Key Features: Briefly mention key features that differentiate your product, like size, material, or reversible design.
  • Stay Within Character Limit: Adhere to Amazon’s title character limit (typically around 80 characters) for optimal visibility.

Product Description Optimization:

  • Compelling Product Story: Craft a captivating description that highlights the benefits of your bamboo cutting board. Focus on how it solves customer problems (e.g., eco-friendly, durable, easy to clean).
  • Integrate Relevant Keywords: Naturally incorporate your target keywords throughout the description but avoid keyword stuffing.
  • Highlight Features with Bullet Points: Use bullet points to list key features and specifications for easy readability.
  • Address Customer Pain Points: Read competitor reviews to identify common customer concerns and address them in your description.

Backend Search Terms:

  • Extensive Keyword List: Here you can include a broader range of keywords relevant to your product but not suitable for the title or description. This helps with search discovery even if those terms aren’t directly in your listing.

Additional Optimization Techniques:

  • High-Quality Images: Use professional-looking product photos from multiple angles showcasing the cutting board’s features and functionality.
  • Positive Customer Reviews: Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews, which can significantly improve your product’s ranking and conversion rate.
  • Competitive Pricing: Research competitor pricing and offer a competitive price point while maintaining profitability. Consider offering bundle deals or discounts to attract customers.

Evaluate Demand and Seasonality

Seasonality plays a pivotal role in the success of products on Amazon. While some products may enjoy consistent year-round demand, others may be tethered to specific seasons or events. Recognizing these patterns ahead of time helps prevent costly stockouts or overstock scenarios.

Helium 10’s Market Tracker is a powerful tool that can help you evaluate demand and seasonality for products you’re considering selling on Amazon. Here are they ways you can use it:

Demand Evaluation:

  • Identify Target Products:   Input the ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) of a product in your niche category or a product similar to the one you plan to sell.
  • Sales History:   Helium 10’s Market Tracker displays historical sales data for the product, typically in units sold per month. Analyze the sales data to understand the overall demand for similar products throughout the year.
  • Estimated Monthly Sales: The tool provides an estimate of the product’s average monthly sales, giving you a general idea of the potential sales volume you might achieve with a similar product.
  • Search Volume & Rank:   Market Tracker displays search volume data for relevant keywords associated with the product. This helps you understand how often people are searching for products like yours. Analyze search volume trends over time to gauge overall demand.

Seasonality Analysis:

  • Sales Trend Visualization:   The sales history data is typically presented as a graph. By looking at the graph, you can identify seasonal trends. Look for spikes or dips in sales throughout the year.
  • Identify Peak & Low Seasons:   Based on the sales trend graph, you can determine the peak and low seasons for the product category. This helps you plan your product launch, marketing strategies, and inventory management accordingly.
  • Compare With Similar Products:   Repeat the process for several products in your niche to see if the seasonality trends are consistent. This provides a broader understanding of seasonal patterns within your product category.

Additional Tips:

  • Consider External Factors: Seasonal trends can be influenced by holidays, back-to-school periods, or weather changes. Research external factors that might impact demand in your niche.
  • Limited Historical Data: For new products, historical sales data might be limited. Use alternative methods like competitor analysis and general market research to assess demand.

Understand Amazon’s Policies and Requirements for Your Product

It is crucial to be intimately acquainted with Amazon’s sometimes stringent policies and requirements for product listings. Any deviation can lead to listing rejections or even account suspensions.

Tools like AMZFinder or FeedbackFive enable you to stay compliant by automating request for product reviews. Count on these tools for:

  • Scheduled Requests: By scheduling review requests after order fulfillment, these tools help you avoid sending them too early, which might violate Amazon’s policy.
  • Generic Templates: Both platforms offer pre-built templates for review requests. However, you should always review and edit these templates to ensure they comply with Amazon’s guidelines.

Remember:   The ultimate responsibility for complying with Amazon’s policies lies with the seller.  It’s crucial to carefully craft your automated review request message to avoid mentioning incentives or targeting specific products/buyers.

Test Your Product Demand with Prelaunch

Before you make a full investment, test the waters using tools like Prelaunch.com idea validation platform to gauge potential demand for your product. This tool offers the most competitive insight into market receptiveness and purchase intent, saving you from costly missteps and risky investments.

How it Works

Step 1: Product Description

Describe your product in just a few sentences. Imagine telling a friend.

Step 2: Product Features

Name the top 3 features you’d like to highlight.

Step 3: Product Specifications

Mention anything else you think is important to note such as information about materials, available colors, packages, and more.

The Result: Prelaunch uses this information and AI to generate visuals and captivating copy to present your idea. This allows you to:

  • Get accurate photos of your idea
  • Share with your community
  • Find your future customers
  • Get instant feedback and insights

The landing page that you just created will then become the basis for collecting more insight.

When you create a landing page using Prelaunch, visitors will be prompted to share their email addresses to show their initial interest. (These will be considered subscribers.)

Following that, they will be requested to make a small deposit to reserve your product. This step is crucial for understanding the purchasing intent of your target market.

Every subscriber, regardless of reservation, will be provided with comprehensive surveys to pinpoint their main attractions, obstacles to purchasing, and suggestions for product improvement.

From here, you can modify any aspect of your product – like messaging, positioning, colors, features, price – based on performance differences and user feedback to boost your chances of success.

Create a new product variation and repeat the testing process until you discover the winning version.

Gather Feedback from Potential Customers

Feedback is the breakfast of champions in the world of eCommerce. That’s why Prelaunch’s validation tool has short surveys embedded into the lead generation process described above.

For example, the Reservation Survey is presented on the Thank you page once a prospective buyer has reserved the product. This survey enables us to pose inquiries aimed at enhancing the product and identifying the buyer persona.

Conversely, the Cancellation Survey is triggered when a user selects the “No, thanks” option on the Reservation page. This survey gathers feedback on the reasons behind their decision not to reserve the product and suggestions on what could potentially change their mind.

11 Amazon Market Research Tools: Roundup

The marketplace is brimming with tools designed to streamline the market research process for Amazon sellers. Here are some of the top picks for 2024:

Market Research Tools:

  • Prelaunch.com AI Market Research Assistant – AI-powered market research solution for understanding what the customers of other companies are saying.
  • Jungle Scout , Helium 10 , AMZScout : All offer product research, keyword research, and competitor analysis to help you find profitable products to sell on Amazon.
  • Sonar : Focuses on sales estimates and helps identify potential product demand.
  • MerchantWords : Specializes in keyword research to find profitable keywords for your product listings.
  • AMZ Tracker , Sales Rank by AMZScout : Track competitor listings and monitor Best Seller Rank (BSR) on Amazon.

Amazon Seller Tools:

  • Amazon Seller Central : The official platform from Amazon for managing your seller account, listings, inventory, and fulfillment.
  • AMZFinder : Helps source potential suppliers for your products.

Feedback Management:

  • FeedbackFive : Manages seller feedback and helps automate responses to customer reviews.

In conclusion, Amazon market research is the lighthouse guiding your ship through the expansive digital ocean. The steps outlined here serve as your compass, ensuring that you set sail with the wind, following the right trajectory towards success in the Amazon marketplace.

Through careful attention to detail, strategic utilization of tools, and a deep understanding of consumer behaviors, you can carve a niche for yourself amidst the vast offerings of Amazon. Remember, the market is dynamic, and continuous research and adaptation are key to maintaining your competitive edge. Happy sailing!

market research methods used by amazon

Alice Ananian

Alice has over 8 years experience as a strong communicator and creative thinker. She enjoys helping companies refine their branding, deepen their values, and reach their intended audiences through language.

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Marketing research

Definition, how-to, examples.

Marketing research is the process of using surveys, feedback, and observations to better understand audiences and the market for your brand and products. Discover how to conduct your own marketing research with examples.

Register

One of the most challenging parts of selling on Amazon is finding the right product to sell. With the sheer size of Amazon's catalog, there is a nearly endless supply of potential products. As a result, it can be hard to know where to begin.

Table of contents

Product Research Definition and Purposes

  • Private Label Product Research Guide
  • Dropshipping Wholesale and Arbitrage Product Research
  • Look for Products Manually
  • Use Amazon Research Tools
  • Hire Freelancers or Services

Step-By-Step Amazon Seller Course

Amazon seller masterclasses, amazon university, monthly trends and reports.

This guide will simplify the process by teaching you how to do product research to find profitable products to sell on Amazon. 

Amazon product research is the process of analyzing and validating the profitable potential for a particular item. The purpose of the process is for the researcher to gain an accurate idea of how successful selling a particular item can be — before you begin selling it.

After you conduct product research, you will understand:

The total demand and size of the market for a product

How competitive a product is and who the main competitors are

How interest in the product is changing over time

How much it will cost to source the product

How much you can get from selling the product

Product Research for Different Selling Strategies

The “how” of your selling process changes product research. To find out more about how selling strategies impact research methods, read below.

Private Label Product Research Guide 

The private label market has recently hit almost $160 billion, making up 20% of the market. It is the most popular because it offers excellent profit potential. Its intense growth mainly comes from the relatively low barriers to entry. 

With private label selling, you partner with a supplier that manufactures a generic product that you can sell under your name and branding. This is one of the most common sales methods for new sellers, as it allows you to quickly create your own product without having to invest heavily in its development.

When sourcing private label products, it is important to look for simple items. Too many complexities will bog down the manufacturing process and increase your product costs.

In this step-by-step analysis, we will show you how to use the suite of AMZScout Amazon business tools to research products and niches that fit your desired criteria.

1. Generate Product Ideas

The first step is to come up with your initial product ideas using the AMZScout Product Database . The database contains an archive of millions of products listed on Amazon. You can use the tool to see sales data for different products to understand how well they perform.

Step 1: Open the AMZScout Product Database .

Step 2: Define the most important criteria for you. You can filter your search results by price, category, sales,  reviews,  rating, size, weight, and more. You can also use the Product Selections feature for ready-made search results with proven effectiveness.

Product Database filters and Product Selections

Step 3: Check the “New Products” or “Trending Products” filter to find newly released products or those with high, recent sales.

How to find New Products and Trending Products in the Product Database

Step 4: After you click/tap “Find Products”, you’ll see all products that fit your criteria.

Step 5: Create a list based on products you have the most interest in. If products don’t meet your needs (they might be difficult to sell or boring), you can remove them from your list. 

Review Product Database results

You want to review this information to pinpoint the results that best match your business needs. If you need to refine your results you can always apply additional filters to your search.

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2. Find Keyword Ideas

After you come up with your initial product ideas, the next step is to perform keyword research. This will allow you to learn what related terms customers use to find that type of product. It also tells you how many searches a product gets.

You can find this information using the AMZScout Keyword Search tool. The software lets you search for any phrase to find similar terms that customers use on Amazon.

Step 1: Log in to your AMZScout Account (or create your account if you don’t have one) and open Keyword Search .

Step 2: Enter your seed phrase into the search box.

AMZScout Keyword Research Example

Step 3: Filter the results by the number of words or their monthly search volume. 

What are the Keyword Search Filters

Step 4: Click/tap Find Keywords .

Step 5: Review the list of keywords that match your criteria.

There you can find the monthly search volume for each term to see exactly how often people are looking for that product. You can drill into the search statistics to get a historical view of the changes in volume over the previous five months.

With this information, you can get a better understanding of the demand and viability of a product. You want to look for items that have a good amount of related keywords with high search traffic. This will ensure that the demand will be high enough to support your Amazon business.

To find products that correspond to a keyword, click the term. Doing so takes you to the product database which will populate results that include the target keyword.

Keyword Tools Banner

Discover new keywords to improve your listing and get more customers from search

market research methods used by amazon

Discover new keywords to improve your listing

3. Search for Niche on Amazon

The next step in your product research is to review the niche for your target product by searching it on Amazon and analyzing the niche’s performance.

Before you search for a niche on Amazon, you’ll want to download the AMZScout PRO Product Finder Extension . This Google Chrome extension lets you pull sales data for any product or category as you are browsing the Amazon marketplace.

Step 1: Click here to get the AMZScout PRO Extension .

Step 2: Go to Amazon and enter a keyword (for example, a long-tail one like “travel bags for men”) from your keyword research into the search field. Amazon will take you to their Search Engine Results Page (SERP) containing the most relevant products.

Amazon search field

Step 3: Open the AMZScout PRO Extension to review the data. Click the round button in the bottom left corner of your browser. You will see a dashboard you can use to analyze products.

How to open PRO Extension to find products on Amazon

Step 4: Review the historical sales data for each niche. This information includes its estimated sales, revenue, margins, customer review numbers, and more— this offers a look similar to the AMZScout Product Database

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In addition to these stats, the PRO Extension provides detailed insights into the niche as a whole so that you can assess if it is a market worth entering.

4. Analyze the Niche

You can assess the viability of a niche by reviewing two important metrics: Niche Score and Niche History.

Niche Score assigns a rating to the niche on a scale from 1 to 10. A score of 10 indicates that the niche is strong, and you will likely be successful if you try to sell that product. The further down the scale you go, the more difficult it will be to succeed in that niche.

Find and click on Niche Score in the right corner. The score is based on three focus areas: profit, demand, and competition. The extension gives you a detailed breakdown of how it scores these elements.

Where to find the AMZScout Niche Score

Niche History shows how the niche has performed over time. You can see the total number of sales for each day and how this has changed. You can also see the average rank and price for the products and how this is trending.

Where to find the AMZScout Niche History

For a more in-depth analysis of your target products and niche, you’ll need to know the process. Our next checklist will help you through that process.

5. Estimate Products Profitability within the Niche

Once you find a high-performing niche with potential, you will want to be sure you can make a profit. The Profit Calculator in AMZScout PRO Extension can help you calculate profits for these potential products. Here’s how you use the tool:

Step 1: From the AMZScout PRO dashboard, click the arrow next to your chosen product.

Step 2: Select Profit Calculator.

Where to find the AMZScout Profit Calculator

Step 3: Enter product price and other costs in the new window.

Step 4: Review the product weight and sizes, Amazon FBA Fees, Net Margin, and Estimated Monthly Profit.

Hertzko Self-Cleaning Slicker Brush profitability

Having this knowledge gives you a good idea of how much profit you can earn by selling similar products.

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Universal Traits to Consider When Researching a Product

Below is a checklist of the important factors to consider when performing market research to find products to sell on Amazon.

The number of sales a product receives is a direct indicator of its demand. Naturally, you want to look for items with a high number of sales. If the top-performing products in a niche do not have a lot of sales, it is generally a sign that the product is not worth pursuing.

The average sales price for a product niche lets you know how much you can sell a product for and how much revenue you can expect to generate if you gain a solid market share.

The ideal price range for Amazon products is between $30 and $70. These prices are high enough to earn strong revenue while not limiting sales due to being too expensive.

The ultimate goal of business profit. Your margins measure what percentage of your sales you keep as profit. Higher sales prices and lower product costs lead to higher margins. You can find the margin for a product by subtracting the total product cost from the sales price and then dividing this amount by the sales price.

At the very least you should aim for products with a margin of 35% if you want a sustainable business. Ideally, this number would be upwards of 60%.

4. Seasonality

Seasonality represents how the demand for products changes over the course of the year. There is a natural seasonality to all items, as consumer spending drastically increases during the holidays.

However, there are other items that are very seasonal and are only purchased at high levels at certain times of the year. For example, Halloween costumes or decorations. Most people aren’t going to buy these throughout the year. 

Use Google Trends to find seasonal items

There is a potential to profit from these types of items but it is better to not build your business around them.

Reviews are one of the most important factors customers consider when making a purchase. While products with a lot of reviews are a sign of high demand, it is also a barrier to entry. When evaluating different products, consumers will gravitate to the ones with more reviews. As a new seller, it will be harder for you to break through this niche.

6. Number of sellers

When researching products to sell on Amazon, it is important to know how many other sellers are listing similar items. If the market is saturated with a bunch of other sellers, it will be much more competitive.

7. Size and weight

The size and weight of your items directly impact your operating costs. If your products are large, it will cost more to ship them and to store your inventory. It is a best practice to look for smaller items as to not cut into your margins with fulfillment fees.

8. Gated category

Amazon’s marketplace features gated and ungated categories. Ungated categories are open to anyone while gated categories require approval. Gaining approval for a gated category will increase the time it takes for you to start selling. Plus, the restriction for some categories is stringent. If you wanted to sell fine jewelry, for instance, you would need to also have an established brick and mortar store.

9. Legal restrictions

Certain types of products must adhere to various legal requirements. For example, if you want to sell electronics you will likely need to get your items certified by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Getting these kinds of products ready can be complicated.

10. Best Sellers Rank (BSR):

The Amazon Best Sellers ranking measures how well a product is selling relative to others in the same category. When performing product research, you should focus on the items with a good BSR as these items often have the features and characteristics that customers value the most.

Knowing the universal traits that apply to all products gives you a good introduction to all selling strategies. Trying multiple sales strategies can help you determine what is the best fit for you.  

Dropshipping, Wholesale, and Arbitrage Product Research

A big part of choosing your sales strategy is understanding the difference in product research. Below, we will go through dropshipping, wholesale, and retail/online arbitrage product research strategies. 

Dropshipping

With dropshipping you list products on Amazon before you source them from the supplier. When a customer places an order, you buy the product from the supplier and have them ship it straight to the customer.

Because you do not have to pay for dropshipping products upfront, you have a bit more flexibility when it comes to the cost of your products. This allows you to sell higher-priced items. Sizing is also not as great of a concern as you do not need to worry about big items incurring larger FBA fees.

That said, the logistics of the dropshipping fulfillment process can impact your ability to generate high sales. If you use dropshipping instead of Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA), your products will not be eligible for Amazon Prime. Furthermore, the longer delivery times that are a common part of dropshipping may cause customers to look elsewhere. When using this sales model, the quality of your supplier is just as important as the product itself.

With the traditional retail sales model, you buy items in bulk from brand owners at a wholesale price and then sell them at the marked-up retail price. When wholesaling products it is a good practice to avoid selling items from top brands. This is because most brands sell their products directly to consumers and you will not be able to compete with them in terms of price.

Retail and online arbitrage is the process of procuring a product from one marketplace and then selling it for a higher price on another. For example, let’s say you notice an item that sells for $10 at your local Walmart but $20 on Amazon. In this case, you would buy the item from Walmart and then sell it on Amazon and keep the difference as profit.

When sourcing retail arbitrage items, price is the most important consideration. The entire sales model depends on your ability to get a product at a low price and flip it for more. It is also important to make sure you have permission to sell the items. Some brands only permit verified suppliers to sell their products.

How to find products to sell for dropshipping, wholesale or arbitrage

If you source your products through dropshipping, wholesale or online arbitrage you can get deeper insights into the viability of your products by using the Amazon Dropshipping & Arbitrage tool.

The app helps you find products with high margins and low competition by providing the fees for different items as well as the number of sellers. 

Here is what you need to do:

Step 1: Open the Amazon Dropshipping, Arbitrage, and Wholesale extension . 

Step 2: You can get the add-on included with your AMZScout subscription.

Step 3: Browse Amazon to get product ideas. You can use the regular Amazon.com search bar to find:

Categories or niches you have a personal investment in (areas you are interested in)

Products trending on other marketplaces outside of Amazon (Walmart, eBay, etc.)

Products offered by people you already work with (dropshipping suppliers, wholesalers, etc.)

Step 4: Prioritize your product ideas. Scroll through Amazon and check through the data for each item. The Online Arbitrage and Dropshipping extension provide this information: 

Margins (margins over 50% are those worth taking note of)

Fees from Amazon are necessary to pay to Amazon (including FBA fees) 

Seller types (if Amazon sells the product, it will be challenging to win the buy box, focus on products with only FBM and FBA sellers)

AMZScout Dropshipping, Online Arbitrage and Wholesale extension quick view

Mark the best products based on your criteria above for later review. 

Step 5: Check the TOP promising products. Open the product page and use the new built-in window provided by the app to find important information about the product. From here, you can see if the product is private label, ungated, or hazmat. Read more bout these three selling restrictions below.

AMZScout dropshipping and online arbitrage extension

Step 6: Check the historical data of the product. Check out the price history and Buy Box history. Checking out price fluctuations will help you decide upon the best sales strategy. 

AMZScout Dropshipping and Online Arbitrage extension price history

Step 7: Find out how much potential profit it offers. Use the profit calculator to find out whether the product can make you money. The costs depend on your business model and may include:

Shipping costs (Get these from your supplier/wholesale partner)

Advertising costs (from your PPC campaign bds)

Other (What else do you pay for to make your business functional?)

OA calculator

The numbers will calculate based on the information you have, producing new numbers within Profit Margin, Minimum Net, and the ROI fields. Make note of these numbers to be sure your product meets your profit expectations.

market research methods used by amazon

Get 10-in-1 Amazon Toolbox for Dropshipping, Arbitrage, and Wholesale Sellers

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Other factors when determining what products to sell

When reselling a product on Amazon, you need a comprehensive view. The AMZScout Online Arbitrage and Dropshipping extension help you with a complete picture. Here are some other factors to consider:

If the product is a Private Label. These products are sold by a single merchant with brand ownership of the item. You won’t be able to source this exact product as a result.

If the product is in a gated category or it has hazardous materials (hazmat). Gated categories (or hazmat) require additional certifications and costs you need to be aware of. 

If it has a Prime delivery. You won’t need to focus on fast shipping if you dropship items that are already under prime delivery. 

Going through the complete process above gives you a comprehensive picture of profitable products you can effectively sell. Product research is an essential part of your process, so it might still take some time before you come to a good product. Using AMZScout’s lineup of tools will expedite your gathering of data.

Using the AMZScout PRO Extension for a deep analysis of potential products

A deeper analysis of your chosen products can be done through the AMZScout PRO Extension . Below, we will provide detailed steps to ensure you use this tool effectively for all sales strategies:

Step 1: Get the AMZScout PRO Extension with the seller's bundle.

Step 2: See the AMZScout PRO Extension in the top-right corner of your browser (alongside other extensions).

How to install and open AMZScout PRO

Step 3: Go to Amazon.com and search for the products you found from the Onlne Arbitrage and Dropshipping extension. 

Step 4: Open the PRO extension by clicking the AMZScout icon.

Step 5: Check out the number of sellers. Having more than 20 means that there is a high chance of strong competition. You should also look at the net margin (which should be over 50%) and the date the product was first sold on Amazon.  

How to check the number of sellers in PRO Extension

Step 6: Analyze the product for sales potential. The product score for reselling tells you about the potential of this product for resale. Make special notes for those at seven (or higher)

Where to find Product Score for reselling

Step 7: Check historical data to see how the product sells over time. Click the arrow just to the left of the product you are reviewing to check historical data. Those who offer consistent sales potential vs seasonal sales determine your sales strategy. 

How to check AMZScout Amazon Product History

A deep analysis of your chosen product determines its competition and potential net margins. Historical data is also just as important, so knowing when the sales are highest can help you decide when to enter. Your sales strategy changes heavily depending on how your product historically does. 

Level up Your Research with Ready-to-Go Product Ideas

Want even more help finding the most profitable products? When you sign up for an annual or lifetime bundle with AMZScout, in addition to our comprehensive toolset, you’ll also receive:

Monthly reports on Amazon's hottest products that are trending each month

19 new niche and product ideas every week, selected by AMZScout AI

This will save you valuable time and provide you with a continuous stream of items to research for your business. 

Get the annual bundle and so you can discover new product ideas, worry-free.

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Don’t Miss Out on New Product Trends! Get Hot Product Ideas Weekly with an AMZScout!

market research methods used by amazon

Don’t Miss Out on Hot Product Trends with AMZScout Reports

Ways to Research Products

There are several different approaches you can take to find profitable products to sell on Amazon. Below is a quick overview of the primary methods:

1. Look for Products Manually

The first way to find products to sell on Amazon is to look for them manually. This will involve you searching for products on Amazon and other eCommerce marketplaces and websites to come up with ideas.

A good starting place is the Amazon best sellers list. Amazon keeps an active list of the top-selling products for each category you can quickly use to find the most in-demand products. 

Amazon FBA product research in Best Sellers category

You can also check trends using a platform like Google Trends to see how interest in an item is changing over time.

Manual research, by comparison, is a huge waste of time. The manual process also doesn’t give you any information on potential product profits.

2. Use Amazon Research Tools

The next way to do Amazon product research is to use software to help you streamline the research process. With an Amazon research tool, you can view the historical sales data from current Amazon product listings to get a clear idea of how much demand there is for a certain product and how strong the competition is. We will discuss how to implement this method in more detail below .

3. Hire Freelancers or Services

Another way to help you research products to sell on Amazon is to hire a freelancer or company to handle this process for you. This approach can save you time if you’re unable to conduct research yourself, but freelancers may not possess the necessary knowledge and experience necessary to perform quality product research. Sellerhook is a trusted company that can effectively select strong product ideas for you based on your specific criteria. Take advantage of the expertise and dedicated team of professionals available at Sellerhook , along with countless success stories, to help you move forward with your own products. 

Now that we’ve outlined the various ways to find products, let's take a look at AMZScout’s helpful courses and other resources.

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Helpful AMZScout Courses and Resources

Once you know how to research products, it is beneficial to expand your knowledge by learning more about selling on Amazon . Here are some of the useful resources you can use to learn more about how to research products to sell on Amazon:

The Step-By-Step Amazon Seller Course is a 23 part video series that walks you through all the steps needed to get started as a new Amazon seller. The course not only covers how to find products to sell but also how to negotiate with suppliers, how to set up your seller account, and much more.

The Amazon Seller MasterClasses offer hour-plus-long trainings from experienced six and seven-figure Amazon sellers. In these webinars, the instructors teach important Amazon concepts like how to find low competition items and how to optimize your PPC ad campaigns for success.

For even more thorough training, you can enroll in one of the Amazon University courses. These comprehensive training sessions are taught by experienced Amazon sellers who walk you through less commonly used techniques to give you advanced knowledge for running your Amazon business.

The monthly trends reports provide details about emerging opportunities to sell on Amazon. You can use the reports to see what markets have been growing in demand and to find interesting ideas for profitable products.

As you can see, there are many things to consider when beginning Amazon product research. Following the guidelines and tips in this post will help you get started with your research process.

If you want to streamline your research, AMZScout provides fast and accurate insights to give sellers time to do what they love — grow their business — without having to spend hours manually researching marketplaces and trying new tactics every day.

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Amazon Product Research Guide: Tips and Real Product Examples

Product research is vital to eCommerce success. Businesses that thoroughly research products are more likely to sell something that customers want and that can generate profit. When it comes to selling on Amazon, there are several important things to review before deciding to sell a product.

My name is Amy Hunt and I have 20 years of online selling experience and tons of useful insights to help you get off to a successful start. Below you will find my insights on product research for dropshipping and private label. Learning from someone with experience is a great way to see what works while learning and what mistakes to avoid.

How I Got Started With Amazon

Let’s start with a bit on my experience in eCommerce. I started selling online back in 2001. In the beginning, I found extra stuff lying around my house and listed on eBay. In 2003, I branched out into Amazon and began selling products for a friend that needed help learning how to use the platform.

Over time, I was able to find success in the jewelry niche and this was the main type of product I focused on. Today, I sell a mix of dropshipping and branded products on Amazon. I also sell through Shopify and eBay.

So while my business has expanded to cover a variety of sales channels and products, Amazon research remains the most important part of my business. Amazon is still the biggest revenue generator and research is key to long-term profitability. With many ups and downs, I’ve learned a great deal about how the marketplace works and I share this knowledge with new sellers through my YouTube channel and guides like this.

What is Amazon Product Research?

Amazon product research is the process of learning about products to determine if you can sell them successfully on Amazon. With it, you can see a particular item’s profitability, how competitive its market is, and whether or not it is easy to sell.

How you perform product research varies depending on your business model. Different products and sourcing methods rely on different criteria to be successful. Common Amazon business models include:

  • Private label: You partner with a supplier that creates a unique product for your brand.
  • Dropshipping: With dropshipping, you have suppliers ship your products directly to customers after they make an order on Amazon.
  • Online and Retail arbitrage: Arbitrage is a selling strategy where you buy products from a physical or online store and resell it for a higher price on Amazon.
  • Wholesale: With wholesaling, you buy products in bulk from a supplier or manufacturer and then list them on Amazon.

This guide will show you how to conduct product research for Amazon. It includes real-life examples and tips and techniques from my real experience.

My Product Research Technique

Researching products before selling them helps you understand a potential market and its profit potential. Below, I will share my strategy for Amazon product research so that you can learn to find winning products of your own.

Defining Your Product Criteria

The first step to Amazon product research is to know what to look for in a product. There are certain traits that important for any type of item. This includes:

High demand

You should start your product research by looking for items in high demand. These are products that have a lot of sales and people interested in them. If a product consistently generates a high number of sales, there is a good opportunity for you to turn it into a reliable source of income for your business. I typically look for products with at least 300 monthly sales on Amazon.

Competition

After validating a product’s demand I like to look at its competition. Competition is a big factor in a product’s potential as it directly impacts how much of the market you can gain. An item may have really high sales but if there are a lot of other businesses selling the product, the amount of profit you can make won’t be very high.

There are a couple of ways to analyze the competition. If you use dropshipping its helpful to look at the total number of other sellers for the product. If selling a private label item, you should check the number of competing products in the niche.

Profitability

As income is the main goal for selling any product, it is natural that profitability is a big part of product research. The simplest way to assess a product’s profitability is to check its profit margin. This metric shows what percentage of each sale you keep as profit. I generally like to look for products with margins over 50%.

These are important things to check for any Amazon product. Now, we’ll look at some of the other important traits to search for in a product for dropshipping, arbitrage, or wholesaling.

Product Criteria for Dropshipping, Arbitrage, and Wholesale

Not private label

When looking for good dropshipping products, it is essential to check to see if a product is a private label item. These products belong to specific brands so you can’t sell them unless you get direct permission from the owner. Many private label brands don’t make their products available to resellers and dropshippers.

Ungated products

Amazon has a mix of restricted and open categories. Restricted categories have selling requirements while open categories do not. I recommend new sellers stick exclusively to ungated products. This will help you get up and running faster as you won’t have to jump through extra hoops when getting started.

Non-Hazmat items

Some Amazon products have hazardous materials. For instance, a hairspray with flammable chemicals. Like gated categories, hazmat items have additional approval steps. Because of this, I recommend avoiding these products so as to not have extra complexity.

Prime delivery

Amazon Prime is an important piece of the eCommerce giant’s success. Prime customers can get free, two, and one-day shipping for eligible products. When you dropship products, they’ll take longer than two days to arrive. As such, you want to avoid competing with products with Prime shipping.

My Basic Method for Finding Products

With the key product criteria established, let’s go through a simple yet effective method I like to use for finding good products. When it comes to my Amazon product research, research software is crucial to my process. I have long relied on AMZScout  as the tools are easy to use while providing high-quality data and analysis.

This is the process I use to find dropshipping products but it can also be modified to work with different business models. As my business has grown, I’ve adopted a similar methodology to discover great products for private label.

There are several helpful product research tools. The first is the Product Database. I like to use it to discover product ideas and uncover new trends. Here’s how to do it:

  • Go to the AMZScout Product Database.
  • Add filters for your product criteria. For example, I like to look for products that have over 300 sales and fewer than 30 reviews.

amzscout-amazon-database

  • Check the results and save interesting product ideas.

After I find good product ideas, I use the PRO extension to get more insights on a product before deciding to sell it. Here is a quick overview of how I do this.

  • Go to Amazon and find one of the products you saved. Then, open the PRO Extension to review those items.
  • Look at the Niche Score and Product Score to find opportunities with the best profit potential.

amzscout-product-score-image

  • I also like to check the Product sales history to ensure an item has steady sales.

When I perform this analysis, I tend to look for products with a rating of 7 or higher. The tool is quite handy as it provides unique scores for different selling methods. No matter how I plan to source an item, it’s also important that a product has good sales volume throughout the year. It’s harder to build a solid business around a seasonal item, so I look to avoid such in my research.

My Fastest Way to Find Products to Sell

When I want to get a fast understanding of a product I’m considering, I have this process to quickly assess products for reselling. Below, are the steps that I use:

  • Go to Amazon and find a potential product.
  • Open the AMZScout Amazon Dropshipping, Arbitrage, and Wholesale
  • Check the results page and review the following metrics: margins, seller types, and FBA fees. Below we can see what this looks like on the results page.

amazon-product-images-with-data

  • When you find a good product, click on the product page and analyze it further. Check to see if it is private label, ungated and if it has Prime shipping.

product-data-analysis-image

  • Analyze the product’s Price and Buy Box histories. This will help you determine the best pricing strategy.

amazon-product-rank-history-image

  • Use the calculator to forecast your potential margins. The tool automatically populates the FBA fees and sales price to calculate Net profit per unit. This will show you how profitable an item is.

This process will give you a fast way to find products that will work well for dropshipping, online arbitrage or wholesale on Amazon. When I discover good ideas, I also like using the AMZScout Keyword Search tool to find the best keywords to use for optimizing my product listings.

Real Product Examples

Now that you know what to look for in products and how to find them, let’s check out some real-life products to see these concepts in practice. In this comparison, we’ll look at both good and bad products. All these were items that I considered selling at one point. On the surface, they all looked great. But then I used the AMZScout tools to see which ones had good potential and which did not.

Example of a Bad Product to Sell on Amazon

Below, you can see an image of the Amazon listing for an S.T. Dupont duffle bag. The product is a water-resistant bag that is used for carrying luggage for travel. It is an example of an item that you don’t want to sell on Amazon.

travel-bag-image

You want to avoid this product because Amazon also sells it. It’s very difficult to compete with Amazon as a seller. As a result, it would be hard to win the Buy Box for this listing, ultimately leading to a low number of sales.

Example of a Good Product to Sell on Amazon

Below we can see an example of a good Amazon product. The hidden camera connects to wifi to allow you to monitor your home from your smartphone or computer.

amazon-spy-camera-image

There are several reasons that this item would make a good product to dropship on Amazon:

  • Only a few other sellers: This product only has two other FBA sellers so you won’t face much competition.
  • Good profit margins: This product has a 75% profit margin, well over the 50% target I normally look for.
  • Ungated product: This product is in an unrestricted category so you can sell it without approval.
  • No hazmat: there aren’t any hazardous materials so you won’t face extra requirements.
  • No private label: You can resell this product because it’s not private label.

fba-fbm-product-comparison

Tips for Amazon Product Research

Below are some extra tips that have been key to my personal experience of finding great products to sell on Amazon:

Spy on Competitors’ New ideas and Follow Trends

An easy way to come up with new product ideas is to spy on your competitors. You still want to do your own research, but looking to see what the competition is doing can be a great starting point for finding new products.

Another simple way to get fresh ideas is to stay on top of the latest Amazon and eCommerce trends. The AMZScout Product Database can help with this as there is a filter for Trending Products. By enabling it in your research, you can quickly find items that are seeing positive trends in sales growth over recent months.

Track Price Changes and Forecast Potential Profits

Low prices is one of the biggest reasons consumers love to shop on Amazon. Because many buyers are looking for the best deal, it is common for sellers to try to price their products as low as possible. This leads to frequent shifts in price across the market.

When you’re considering selling an item, you want to be aware of price fluctuations . Doing so will help you predict future profits more accurately. For example, if you notice that prices across a niche decrease during the holiday season, you’ll know to forecast less revenue per sale during this time of the year.

The importance of product research can’t be overstated. Without it, you run the risk of selling something with low chances of success. By thoroughly researching many different products, I’ve been able to find unique ideas that I can sell for a profit. The process has become the foundation for the success of my business.

There’s a lot to consider when researching Amazon products. However, once you know what to look for, you can set up systemized processes to make finding new product ideas simple. Following the tips and methods laid out above will help you to also discover great products for your business.

About the Author:

amz-scout-author-photo

Amy Hunt is a home business expert with 20 years of online selling experience. She started selling on Amazon to be able to stay at home with her newborn. As a home business expert, she has many valuable insights that can help you transition from 9-5 jobs to earning income selling from home.

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Best known as the administrator of the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) and UPC barcode, GS1 US also helps develop best practices for efficient supply chains and effective business relationships—all to help better serve today’s consumers and their changing needs.

Fulfillment-Box is a 3PL company with a versatile solution for e-commerce, providing fulfillment center services, FBA prep center services and certain legal services for Europe. 3PL services such as storage, FBM and SFP order fulfillment, returns processing, FNSKU labeling, as well as preparation and shipment of goods to Amazon’s warehouses (FBA). Legal services such as LUCID and EPR registration in Europe, assistance with customs clearance for Germany (direct RP for customs clearance), assistance with obtaining WEEE EU numbers in Europe, obtaining VAT numbers for Germany and Estonia, obtaining EORI numbers for Germany.

Fulfillment-Box manages 15 warehouses worldwide, including in the USA, Europe, Canada, and China. They regularly expand their network by opening new branches. The company does not impose restrictions on the number of orders or storage volumes and is open to collaboration with businesses of any scale. In their operations, Fulfillment-Box uses cloud software, which enables real-time inventory tracking, handling multi-channel orders, and provides clients with access to up-to-date information anytime, anywhere. The system integrates with key marketplaces and e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, eBay, WooCommerce, Shopify and more.

A significant advantage of the company is its technical support. They create individual Telegram or Skype chats for each client, with specialists available throughout the week for consultations in English, German, Ukrainian and Russian. Fulfillment-Box is a reliable and professional partner for e-commerce businesses.

FBA Bros is an e-commerce agency with core expertise in brand building and scaling. Whether it is selling through Private Label of Wholesale, our company has helped sellers in achieving their business objectives.

Through our technical expertise of advanced budgeting, product research & evaluation, brand relationships, launching new brands or management, we increase their visibility across various channels, and most importantly, generate high ROI.

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market research methods used by amazon

Amazon Market Research Tips & Advice

  • October 26, 2023

market research methods used by amazon

When you’re selling on Amazon, the last thing you want is to be left with a slow-moving product, or worse still, one that just won’t sell. It costs you money to store, ties up your cash flow and slows down the growth of your business.

So, once you’ve thought of a product, how do you make sure it’s viable? Well, a thorough market research process needs to be followed. This should help you steer clear of restricted products, competitive niches, and fragile margins.

To give you an idea of the sort of steps you need to include in this process, we’ve put together a complete guide on how to perform your own Amazon market research. It’s a simple recipe which exercises caution, minimizes risk and finds untapped potential.

Check Amazon’s Gated Products and Categories

Before you delve into your market research, take some time to find out which categories and products sellers require Amazon’s approval for. These are known as gated categories and restricted products.

Now, very often, getting ungated is a simple process. You go into Seller Central and follow the usual process for adding a product. If listing limitations apply, there will be a link which you can follow to request approval to sell. Most of the time, you’ll be approved within a few days.

Sometimes though, it’s not that simple. There are certain categories that are more tightly restricted. In these cases, you might struggle to be approved, especially if you’re a new seller. Likewise, there are certain products that third-party sellers aren’t allowed to sell.

It’s crucial that you are aware of these before you start your market research. Partly, because you don’t want to waste time researching products that aren’t viable. But, also, because you don’t want to accidentally source a product that you can’t sell.

Scope out the competition

When you’ve decided on a product, or identified a potential niche, the next step in carrying out your Amazon market research is to check out the competition. To do this, bring up Amazon and do a search for your main keyword.  Now, depending on your business model, what you search for and the listings you compare will be different.

If you’re a private labeller, you need to use a generic term, like “apple corer”, and look at either the top-rated offerings or listings that rank organically on page one, as in the image below.

unnamed (3)-5

Amazon’s own search bar is one the best research tools available.

 If you’re looking to resell, then type in the exact name of the product, including the make and model. Then, you need to look at the other sellers on the existing listing for that product.

unnamed (4)-3

If you’re a reseller, then you need to assess the pricing strategy of your competitors.

Related reading: Complete Guide to Amazon Keyword research (2024)

Assessing Amazon Listings

Regardless of which method you follow, you are looking for exactly the same thing. Firstly, how much competition are you facing? Are there a vast number of sellers on that listing? Or are there a huge number of listings offering similar private-label products?

unnamed (2)-5

Just because there are a lot of other sellers, doesn’t automatically mean that it’s a no-go zone. So, it’s important to also assess the standard of those listings.  Look at the two examples above. If they all have four-and-a-half or five-star reviews, offer Prime and use FBA then it’s going to be difficult to break into the market. If this isn’t the case, then it could be a fruitful niche.

If this process doesn’t throw up any red flags, then go back and note down the price of the competing products. You’ll need this further down the line when you come to calculate costs and margins.

Find A Supplier

If you’ve not already approached suppliers, now’s the time. Why? Because it may be that your product idea is viable on the Amazon side, but not on the sourcing side.

Now, when you’re looking for a supplier, you have a few options:

  • Online (via websites like Alibaba )
  • Sourcing agents
  • Attending trade fairs (either domestically or in China)
  • Visiting factories (again, either domestically or in China)

unnamed-5

This step is not about sourcing the product, it’s about getting solid costings. So, you need to use one, or more, of these methods and get talking to suppliers. Firstly, you need to make sure that they can supply the product that you are looking to sell. If they do, then you need to ask for samples and get hands-on with it. This is the only way you can make sure that the product is fit for use.

Sellers can often overlook this step, and just focus on getting a good price. But, there’s a balance to be struck. You need the product to be good quality. There’s no point sourcing a product of questionable quality on the cheap – it’s a strategy that won’t wash on Amazon.

If you can’t source a quality product at a price where you can make money, it’s not meant to be. Go back to the drawing board, find another product and run through the process again.

If you can, then talk to the supplier. Find out what their best prices are, inquire about bulk discounts and see if there’s room to negotiate. Get solid quotes emailed over – you’ll need them in the final stage.

Calculations Time

You should now have established that there is a market for your product, you just need to make sure that it’s financially viable.

Calculating Costs

The first part of this process is to work out your costs. There are a lot of things to include here, but your primary costs are going to be:

  • The unit cost of the product
  • Seller Account Fees
  • Referral Fees

You can use these to calculate your cost per unit, which can then be used to calculate your margin. If you’re struggling with the per-unit calculations, there are Amazon fee calculators online that you can use. Although, it’s always advisable to do your own calculations too.

Calculating Market Price

Now, you need to take the prices that you noted down earlier in the process. You can use these to calculate an average market price. Simply add all of the prices together, and divide them by the number of listings. It can also be a good idea to note the highest and lowest prices, so you’ve got a good idea of the range. You ideally need to be able to offer your product at both price points.

Is Your Product Viable?

The final step is to take the market price that you calculated and subtract your costs. If the figure is negative, then you’ve got an overspend. This means that the product is not viable with those costs.

If the calculation shows that you’re making a profit, that’s great! However, you need to make sure that you have the flexibility to lower your price if necessary. If you have a solid margin, and wiggle room, then you’ve found a suitable product. You can now press on, source your product and start selling!

Final thoughts

Performing detailed Amazon market research may seem time-consuming but it’s a great investment in your business. Running into Amazon blind can be dangerous, and result in you losing money. But, by taking the time to understand your market, you should eliminate costly mistakes and end up making well-thought-out product selections.

If you really want to start selling more on Amazon then getting your products into the Buy Box is the most effective way. Repricer.com is the fastest Amazon repricer available, reacting instantly to changes in the marketplace and giving you the best chance of winning the Buy Box at the optimal price. Start your free 14-day trial today.

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12 Best AI Tools for Amazon Sellers in 2024

How to create an amazon store in 2024, 20 top us dropshipping suppliers for ecommerce in 2024, 10 secrets to winning the amazon buy box in 2024, 7 best amazon product research tools for 2024, amazon fba pros and cons – a sellers guide for 2024, 7 profit-boosting ecommerce pricing strategies for 2024, amazon private label: a definitive guide for 2024, 10 best-selling amazon products to take inspiration from in 2024, the best tools & services for selling on amazon in 2024.

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Discover tactics to make sure your sales are headed up and to the right with these proven amazon product research strategies .

  • Amazon Advertising
  • Selling On Amazon
  • March 26, 2024

Brian R. Johnson

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Amazon’s massive online marketplace is perfect for entrepreneurs wanting to succeed in ecommerce. To take the first step and compete in what’s become an increasingly challenging ecosystem, you need a great product.

Amazon product research that helps identify items with high demand from potential buyers, and low competition from competing sellers is the obvious answer.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. After all, you’re not the only one with the same idea! 

Experienced Amazon sellers talk about a lucrative sweet spot that exists where there’s “enough” volume to be profitable, but not so much that EVERY ecommerce seller is going after the same niche product.

The question is how to find those relatively unexplored product opportunities.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the best Amazon product research strategies to help you supercharge your ecommerce journey, and tap into these “hidden” product opportunities.

Thinking About Hiring an Amazon Management Agency?

Canopy’s Partners Achieve an Average 84% Profit Increase!

1. Know Your Amazon Target Market and Customer

To succeed on Amazon, you absolutely NEED to know WHO you’re trying to sell relevant products to.

This knowledge will help you identify the type of products that cater to your audience’s needs and preferences. Consider factors such as demographics, purchasing behavior, and pain points when defining your target market. 

Once you have a clear picture of your ideal customer, you’ll be better equipped to identify a product category that will appeal – directly – to them.

Only then can you stand out in an overcrowded Amazon marketplace.The Amazon ecosystem is littered with failed product launches of perfectly good products. Before you begin your product research, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of your target market and customer. 

You might have a great product idea, but if you don’t know who your potential customers are, it’s still not going to work.

A graphic image of an open laptop computer with an Amazon product page and a large magnifying glass. In front of the image is a professional man and woman working

2. Take Advantage of Amazon’s Best Sellers List

If you’re looking for answers, why not go right to the source? Amazon’s Best Sellers lists provide valuable insights into products that are currently popular among Amazon’s own base of customers.

Browsing through the Amazon product ranking – paying close attention to quality products with great product reviews – helps you focus on real-time demand. Make sure and pay particular attention to emerging trends or seasonal items that might be worth exploring.

While it’s important to consider top-selling products, be cautious about entering highly competitive markets. Lucrative, overly fought-over niches are also home to aggressive, occasionally unscrupulous sellers.

Finally, analyze the competition to determine whether you can offer a unique selling proposition that sets you apart from the rest.

3. Get Your Amazon Tool Belt Out

It’s no secret that artificial intelligence and machine learning are having a moment. As an entrepreneur, you’re probably aware that ecommerce has become ground zero for much of the advancements that have been made.

Product research tool software from companies such as Helium 10, Jungle Scout, and SellerApp are using AI as a springboard to offer increasingly sophisticated ways to find profitable products to sell. Many of those software tools are focused on the ability to conduct in-depth research into the two pillars of ecommerce, highly-searchable keywords and great Amazon products.

The exponential advances to artificial intelligence allow the Software as a Service (SaaS) companies listed above to fine tune the results they can offer online sellers. Whether it’s metrics such as historical sales data, sales history, or estimated sales, product research tools will simplify the process of finding best selling products.

Amazon Keyword Research Tools

Amazon sellers know that online-selling success begins with lists of keywords. Keywords (the popular search terms that prospective customers are using to find products like yours) are what’s going to allow you to make money on Amazon, or not.

Keyword research tools such as Jungle Scout’s Keyword Scout, and Helium 10’s Magnet can provide valuable keyword data and search volume estimates. Utilize these tools to gauge the demand for specific products and identify potential opportunities based on search trends.

Veteran Amazon sellers often say that “the riches are in the niches.” 

Be sure to analyze long-tail keywords to get a closer look at niche markets with lower competition. By targeting these niches, you can carve out a space for your product and potentially achieve higher rankings on Amazon search results.

Amazon Product Research Tools

Once you have your keywords sorted out, it’s time to concentrate on a profitable product. Product research tools can help you streamline your Amazon product research process by providing key data on sales, revenue, competition, and more. 

Product research tools often provide a range of filters that allow you to narrow down your search based on criteria such as price, reviews, and sales velocity.

When using these tools, consider the following factors:

  • Sales and Revenue: Analyze the estimated monthly sales and revenue for a given product to gauge its market potential.
  • Reviews: These give you a peek behind the curtain. Look for products with relatively low review counts, as this can indicate lower competition.
  • Sales Velocity: Want to know what’s trending? Examine the sales velocity to determine how quickly a product is selling. This can help you identify trending items or potential evergreen products.
  • Listing Quality: Analyze the quality of existing product listings, including images, titles, and descriptions. Because they’re often an indicator of a less-than-professional seller, poorly optimized listings may present an opportunity for you to create a better listing and capture market share.

A graphic image showing a face-on view of a running race starting line

4. Know Your Competition

You’re not going to be out there all alone on Amazon’s marketplace. Every day it’s getting a little more crowded. When considering a product, it’s crucial to analyze your competition to determine whether you can effectively compete.

Use positive reviews and Amazon product rankings to see the top sellers in your chosen niche. Then, assess their strengths and weaknesses. Consider factors such as pricing, product quality, brand reputation, and customer reviews.

By identifying areas where your competitors are lacking, you may be able to capitalize on these shortcomings and offer a more appealing product. Additionally, this analysis can help you determine whether there is enough room in the market for your product to succeed.

If the niche is overly fought over, that might be a signal to do a little more research, or drill down into a slightly less competitive niche.

5. You Need to be Able to Make Money

As exciting as entrepreneurship and ecommerce can be, for 99% of us, this is about making money. Profit margins are a crucial factor in determining the success of your Amazon business. 

When researching potential products, calculate the estimated profit margin by subtracting the cost of goods sold (COGS) and Amazon fees from the selling price.

When calculating profit margins, consider factors such as manufacturing costs, shipping fees, Amazon referral fees, and FBA fees. Keep in mind that some products may have higher return rates or require more extensive customer support, which can impact your overall profitability.

A graphic image showing two hand exchanging credit cards

6. Why Make Just One Sale?

This seems like an obvious one. Once you’ve done all the work to bring a shopper to your (virtual) front door, why stop at just ONE single sale. Product bundling is an effective strategy for increasing your average order value and at the same time, it’ll help you stand out in Amazon’s crowded marketplace.

Offering complementary products as a bundle allows you to provide customers with added value and convenience, potentially leading to increased sales. With so many Amazon products mirroring each other with their “sameness,” virtual bundles is one more way to stand out.

When researching potential bundles, consider products that naturally pair well together and cater to a similar target audience. Additionally, ensure that your bundled products offer a clear benefit to customers and align with their needs and preferences.

7. Verify Your Product Ideas

One way or another, we’ve all had our own version of can’t-miss ideas. The Amazon ecosystem is full of stories of entrepreneurs that were SURE that they had a great product idea. Even their close friends and family agreed with them. 

Unfortunately, that’s not the same thing as receiving feedback from real, live Amazon shoppers that vote with their credit cards.

It’s essential to validate your ideas before committing to a substantial investment. This process can help you avoid costly mistakes and ensure that you’re pursuing a viable product with a strong market potential. 

Some validation methods include:

  • Surveying potential customers: Collect feedback from your target audience to gauge their interest in your product and identify any potential pain points or concerns.
  • Analyzing Google Trends: Use Google Trends to assess the search interest for your product over time, identifying any seasonal trends or fluctuations in demand.
  • Running a test launch: Consider launching a small batch of your product to gather initial sales data and customer feedback. This information can help you refine your product offering and optimize your listing before fully committing to the product.

A graphic image showing a large target with a dart in the bullseye against a background of a mountain range

8. You Need to Think About Amazon SEO

Before you pull the trigger, and put that great new product up on the Amazon marketplace, how are you going to use Amazon SEO to optimize your Amazon product so that it makes it to the top of the page?

To successfully sell on Amazon, you can’t be on page three or four. You need to be on page one!

Amazon search engine optimization (SEO) and l isting optimization both refer to the process of attempting to rank as highly as possible in Amazon product searches.

To do that you need to enhance every aspect of your product detail page, including:

  • Images and Video
  • Product Title
  • Key Product Features
  • Product Description
  • Backend Search Terms

Selling on Amazon isn’t for the faint of heart. Challenges such as addressing a negative review, or getting your product price correct are par for the course. Making sure your Amazon SEO is as good as it can be is one way that you can actually put your finger on the Amazon scale!

How Canopy Management Can Help

We’ve all heard stories of Lamborghini-driving Amazon sellers that rode a brief, but powerful wave of ecommerce sales to life-changing riches.

To maintain your competitive edge, it’s essential to monitor market changes and adapt your product research strategies accordingly. Keep an eye on industry news, competitor activity, and customer feedback to identify any shifts in demand or emerging opportunities.

The problem is that selling on Amazon is taking more and more time to get it right.

To succeed in such a competitive marketplace, you need to be able to combine the latest strategies with deep marketing experience. For many top Amazon sellers, Canopy Management’s full service account specialists have become the X Factor allowing them to move past the competition.

Canopy Management is a full-service marketing agency for Amazon and Walmart sellers. Our team consists of former Amazonians, multi-million dollar sellers, and award-winning experts.

When you consider the many ways that Canopy Management can help you grow your business, you’ll see why selling on Amazon is much easier “under the Canopy.”

  • Strategic Growth Planning
  • Listing Copywriting Optimization
  • Listing Photography
  • Product Videography
  • Advertising Management
  • Customer Service
  • Demand Side Platform (Amazon DSP)
  • Amazon Posts
  • Full Service Management
  • Amazon Review Aggregation

Ready to Grow Your Amazon Business?

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[+12] best amazon fba product research tools.

[+12] Best Amazon FBA Product Research Tools

Table Of Contents

Mastering the art of product research is paramount to success, especially for Amazon FBA sellers. With countless products vying for attention, how do you pinpoint the golden nuggets that will soar to the top of Amazon's rankings and fill your coffers with profits? The answer lies in leveraging the power of cutting-edge tools designed explicitly for FBA product research.

This blog will show the Best Amazon FBA Product Research Tools . Grab your virtual shopping cart, and let's start this exciting journey together!

Overview of Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

best amazon fba product research tool

What Is FBA?

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) revolutionizes how sellers manage their e-commerce operations. It's like having your team of warehouse elves but with the efficiency and scale of Amazon's global network.

With FBA, sellers can offload the hassle of fulfillment of orders to Amazon. You can store your products in Amazon's state-of-the-art fulfillment centers strategically located globally. Once your products are in the system, Amazon takes care of the rest - from picking and packing to shipping and handling customer service and returns.

FBA is part of Amazon's comprehensive Supply Chain suite, which includes Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF). With MCF, sellers can extend the benefits of FBA to orders placed on their websites or other sales channels, further streamlining their operations and maximizing efficiency.

What Are The Benefits of FBA?

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) isn't just a service; it's a game-changer for e-commerce entrepreneurs. Here are some of the key benefits that make FBA the go-to choice for sellers looking to optimize and grow their businesses:

  • Lower Costs: Sellers can significantly slash their shipping expenses. FBA shipping costs 30% less per unit than standard shipping options provided by major US carriers. Plus, it's a staggering 70% less per unit than premium options comparable to FBA. This cost-saving advantage translates directly to improved profit margins for sellers.
  • Increase Sales: One of the biggest perks of FBA is the ability to offer customers reliable two-day shipping. This enhances the buying experience and maximizes exposure and sales in the competitive Amazon marketplace. Additionally, programs like FBA Subscribe & Save enable sellers to secure repeat sales by providing customers with regular deliveries of everyday essentials.
  • Save Time: With FBA handling fulfillment, sellers can reclaim valuable time that would otherwise be spent on tedious tasks like processing orders, managing customer inquiries, and handling returns. This newfound time can be redirected towards developing new products, refining marketing strategies, and overall business growth.
  • Optimize Operations: FBA offers a suite of tools and programs designed to streamline operations and improve efficiency. For instance, Amazon Global Logistics simplifies inventory management by enabling direct shipment from China to US and European fulfillment centers at competitive rates. Moreover, programs like Buy with Prime allow sellers to offer Amazon's checkout experience and Prime delivery directly from their websites, facilitating seamless direct-to-consumer sales channels.
  • Expand Your Reach: Sellers can easily tap into international markets and reach customers across borders. Programs like Remote Fulfillment with FBA enable selling in Canada, Mexico, and Brazil using US inventory, while Amazon Export opens doors to customers worldwide.
  • Flexibility and Incentives: FBA is a flexible program that allows sellers to enroll in as many or as few products as they desire. Moreover, new sellers signing up for FBA can benefit from discounts and incentives on shipping, returns, and more, making it an enticing option for businesses of all sizes.

Why Do You Need An Amazon FBA Product Research Tool?

best amazon fba product research tool

While Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) offers many benefits for e-commerce sellers, success in the marketplace hinges heavily on the products you sell. With millions of products available on Amazon, how do you identify the lucrative opportunities that will drive your business forward? Enter Amazon FBA product research tools.

These specialized tools are invaluable assets for sellers seeking to gain a competitive edge and maximize their chances of success on the platform. Here's why you need an Amazon FBA product research tool in your arsenal:

  • Uncover Profitable Niches: Amazon FBA product research tools provide valuable insights into market trends, demand levels, and competition dynamics. Analyzing data such as sales volume, pricing trends, and customer reviews, these tools help you identify lucrative niches with high-profit potential. 
  • Validate Product Ideas: Before investing time and resources into launching a new product, it is essential to validate its viability in the market. FBA product research tools allow you to analyze and validate potential product ideas thoroughly. 
  • Identify High-Demand Products: In the fast-paced world of e-commerce, staying ahead of market trends is crucial for success. FBA product research tools enable you to identify high-demand products growing in popularity. 
  • Analyze Competitor Strategies: Understanding your competitors' strategies is essential for discovering your niche and gaining a competitive advantage. FBA product research tools provide valuable insights into competitor performance, pricing strategies, and product offerings. 
  • Streamline Product Selection Process: With thousands of potential products, manually researching and analyzing each can be daunting. FBA product research tools streamline product selection by automating data collection and analysis. These tools aggregate and organize relevant information, allowing you to evaluate multiple products quickly and decide which ones to pursue.

Amazon FBA product research tools are indispensable resources for e-commerce sellers looking to thrive in the competitive landscape of online retail. 

Read more: 

  • Best Amazon Product Research Tools
  • Best Product Research Tools Must-Have For E-Commerce

Top 12 Best Amazon FBA Product Research Tools

1. jungle scout.

best amazon fba product research tool

Jungle Scout is a well-established product research tool in the Amazon marketplace, renowned for its robust features and user-friendly interface. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools designed to empower Amazon sellers to uncover profitable product opportunities, track competitors, and optimize listings for maximum visibility and sales.

Highlight Features:

  • Product Idea Generation: Utilize Jungle Scout's searchable product database to discover new product ideas effortlessly.
  • Competitor Tracking: Track competitors' products, sales, and inventory to gain valuable insights into market dynamics.
  • Keyword Scout: Forecast Amazon keyword search volume with Keyword Scout, aiding in targeted keyword optimization.
  • Niche Identification: Identify profitable niches by locating high-demand, low-competition keywords.
  • Free Chrome Extension: Access live product data while browsing Amazon with Jungle Scout's free Chrome Extension.
  • Listing Optimization: Build and optimize Amazon listings for improved SEO and visibility.
  • Basic Plan: $29 per month (annually) or $49 per month (monthly).
  • Suite Plan: $49 per month (annually) or $69 per month (monthly).
  • Professional Plan: $84 per month (annually) or $129 per month (monthly).

2. Camelcamelcamel

best amazon fba product research tool

CamelCamelCamel is a free price tracking tool designed to monitor product prices on Amazon over time. It serves various purposes, including product research, price comparison, and price monitoring, offering valuable insights into pricing trends and fluctuations.

  • Historical Pricing Data: View historical pricing data to identify trends and track price changes for specific products over time.
  • Price Change Alerts: Receive alerts when the price of a product changes or reaches a predetermined threshold, ensuring timely action for the best deals.
  • Additional Tools: Access product ratings, reviews, customer ratings, sales history, and trends for comprehensive product research.
  • Camelizer Browser Extension: Utilize the Camelizer extension for Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari to access data directly on Amazon pages.
  • Wishlist Integration: Import your Amazon wishlist to track products and receive alerts on price changes.

Pricing: Free

best amazon fba product research tool

Glimpse is a free Chrome extension designed to enhance Google Trends' capabilities by providing users valuable insights into search trends. Ideal for Amazon sellers seeking low-competition products with high growth potential, Glimpse overlays Google Trends data with search volume numbers, visual charts, and relevant insights.

  • Enhanced Data Overlay: Glimpse overlays Google Trends data with search volume numbers, visual charts, and relevant insights, providing a comprehensive view of trending topics.
  • Free Reports: Users can access ten free monthly reports for extensive research without additional cost.
  • Related Product Ideas: Explore Related Trending Queries, the Topic Map, and Related Topics to discover related product ideas and potential niches.
  • Regional and Interest-Specific Trends: Identify trends in specific regions and by interests, enabling targeted product research and optimization.
  • Platform-Specific Trending Information: Access trending information for specific platforms, such as Amazon, YouTube Search, and Google Shopping.

4. Seller Tools

best amazon fba product research tool

Seller Tools is a Chrome Extension that provides Amazon sellers with unique and high-value product data, keyword ideas, and search volume insights. It offers actionable data to assist sellers in making informed decisions about product selection and optimization, eliminating guesswork and minimizing risks associated with product expansion.

  • New Product Ideas: SellerTools helps users discover new and untapped ideas, facilitating product expansion and diversification.
  • Product Differentiation: Identify opportunities for product differentiation to stand out in competitive markets and attract customers.
  • Search Insights: Gain insights into what customers are searching for, enabling targeted product development and optimization.
  • PPC Campaign Optimization: Utilize long-tail keywords to optimize PPC campaigns and improve advertising effectiveness.
  • Chrome Only: $37 per month
  • Lite: $67 per month
  • Starter: $117 per month
  • Professional: $227 per month

5. Helium 10

best amazon fba product research tool

Helium 10 is the ultimate Amazon FBA tool suite, offering everything sellers need to start, manage, and grow their businesses. From elite training to a Chrome Extension for product validation, Helium 10 provides comprehensive support for FBA sellers, including product research, keyword analysis, inventory management, and marketing optimization.

  • Black Box Product Research: With Helium 10's Black Box feature, you can precisely search and analyze potential competitors on Amazon based on specified parameters.
  • Full Suite of Tools: Access a comprehensive suite of tools for product research, keyword analysis, and Amazon FBA management, including Demand Analyzer, keyword idea generation, and robust analytics.
  • Starter Plan: $29 per month when billed annually.
  • Platinum Plan: $79 per month when billed annually.
  • Diamond Plan: $229 per month when billed annually, designed for more extensive use.

best amazon fba product research tool

AMZBase is a free product research tool designed to assist sellers in finding products to sell on Amazon. Its key feature is the ability to quickly obtain ASIN and title descriptions of listings on Amazon, providing sellers with valuable insights into potential products and their market.

  • ASIN and Title Descriptions: Quickly obtain ASIN and title descriptions of Amazon listings to understand products and their market potential.
  • Access to Various Tools: AMZBase offers access to CamelCamelCamel, Alibaba, AliExpress, eBay, and Google search engines, enabling users to compare prices, evaluate suppliers, and analyze competitors.
  • FBA Fee Calculator: Calculate FBA fees to estimate potential profits and make informed decisions about product selection.

7. FBA Wizard Pro

best amazon fba product research tool

FBA Wizard Pro is software designed to assist users in finding profitable products to sell on Amazon and eBay. It offers a range of features and tools for product research, including searches from hundreds of retailers and wholesalers, options for Amazon flips, textbook arbitrage, and other methods.

  • Comprehensive Product Search: Search for products based on criteria like price, demand, competition, and profit margin, aiding in the identification of successful products and profit opportunities.
  • Data and Analytics: Access valuable data and analytics on sales, ratings, reviews, and other relevant metrics to make informed decisions.
  • Competition Analysis: Analyze the competitive landscape to assess competitors and identify market opportunities.
  • Performance Tracking: Track the performance of your products for effective inventory management and optimization.
  • Multi-Region Support: Compatible with the US, UK, and Canadian markets, allowing exploration of product opportunities in these regions.

8. Google Trends

best amazon fba product research tool

Google Trends is a free and powerful tool that provides actionable data on search trends. While not typically considered a free Amazon keyword tool, Google Trends offers valuable insights for validating niche ideas and assessing market trends in seconds.

  • Validate Product Ideas: Use Google Trends to validate niche ideas by assessing search trends and market demand.
  • Gain Powerful Insight: Access powerful insights into search trends, enabling informed decision-making and strategic planning.

best amazon fba product research tool

Keepa is a browser extension and price-tracking tool that enables users to monitor product prices on Amazon and other e-commerce platforms. As a Chrome extension, Keepa offers price tracking, alerts, and access to valuable data and product insights.

  • Historical Pricing Trends: Examine an item's historical pricing on Amazon to make informed decisions about pricing strategies.
  • Alerts for Price Drops and Deals: Receive swift notifications of price drops and special deals, allowing users to capitalize on opportunities.
  • Product Finder and Viewer: Streamline research with Keepa's product finder and viewer, which facilitates easy product search and analysis with category and financial filters, detailed product information, historical prices, and trend projections.
  • Top & Best Seller Lists: Gain insights into Top & Best Seller Lists to identify profitable niches and stay ahead of trends.
  • Monthly Plan: €15 per month.
  • Annual Plan: €149 per year.

10. AMZScout 

best amazon fba product research tool

AMZScout is a trusted tool by renowned companies like Dell, Disney, and Casio. It specializes in assisting Amazon merchants in identifying valuable trends and opportunities within niche markets, empowering sellers to make data-driven decisions and stay ahead of the competition.

  • Niche Market Identification: Pinpoint niche markets are gaining traction on Amazon.
  • Competition Insights: Gain valuable insights into competition levels in specific niches.
  • Google Trend Data Analytics: Access Google Trend Data Analytics to stay informed about evolving market trends and consumer preferences.
  • FBA Expense and Cost Information: Access information on Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) expenses and costs to calculate potential expenditures and profitability.
  • Product Sales Estimations: Obtain product sales estimations to understand market demand clearly.
  • Product Listing Quality Assessment: Assess the quality of listed products to ensure they meet high standards and stand out to potential customers.
  • PRO Extension: $44.99 per month
  • Amazon Seller’s Bundle: $49.87 per month

11. Pixelfy.me

best amazon fba product research tool

Pixelfy.me is renowned as one of the most effective marketing tools, widely utilized by top sellers in the FBA community. It is proven to enhance link traffic, ROI, sales, and rankings, making it an essential asset for Amazon sellers seeking success in the competitive marketplace.

  • Increase Brand Awareness: Utilize Pixelfy.me to elevate brand awareness and recognition among potential customers.
  • Increase Clicks to Product Listings: Generate more clicks to your product listings with shortened, branded links, enhancing visibility and engagement.
  • Retarget Interested Customers: Retarget customers based on past behavior and engage them with personalized discounts, improving conversion rates and customer loyalty.
  • Increase Sales by Keeping Customers in Amazon App: By directing mobile clicks to the Amazon app, Pixelfy.me enhances the likelihood of purchases, maximizing sales opportunities.
  • Professional: $19.99 per month
  • Business: $49.99 per month
  • Enterprise: $99.99 per month

12. Guru Tool

best amazon fba product research tool

Guru Tools is a collection of free Amazon seller tools tailored to assist new sellers in optimizing their product listings and making informed decisions. These tools offer valuable features to enhance product visibility and overall performance on the Amazon platform.

  • Keywords on Fire-Lite: Provides users with accurate and up-to-date monthly search volume data for any keyword through a partnership with Amazon, facilitating effective keyword optimization.
  • ASIN Index Checker: Simplifies the process of checking whether a product is listed for all relevant keywords, saving time and effort for sellers.
  • FBA Calculator: This enables sellers to understand various fees associated with selling on Amazon, empowering them to make informed business decisions.

How To Become An Amazon FBA Seller

best amazon fba product research tool

Becoming an Amazon FBA seller is a straightforward process that can unlock a world of opportunities in the e-commerce realm. Here's a step-by-step guide to getting started:

  • Step 1: Create an Amazon selling account and choose a plan .
  • Step 2: Enroll your selling account in FBA through Seller Central.
  • Step 3: List your products on FBA by creating new listings or converting existing ones.

Requirements to be an Amazon FBA Seller: Before diving headfirst into FBA, you must familiarize yourself with the requirements and obligations of an Amazon seller. Review Amazon's terms and conditions and the specific requirements for adding inventory to FBA. These may include criteria related to product eligibility, packaging standards, labeling requirements, and compliance with Amazon's policies on prohibited items.

Amazon FBA Product Research Tool - FAQs

1. which tool is used for amazon product analysis.

The choice of tool for Amazon product analysis depends on your business's specific needs. I recommend referring to the list of 12 FBA research tools mentioned above to select the right tool for your requirements. Each tool offers unique features and capabilities tailored to different aspects of product analysis, allowing you to make an informed decision based on your business objectives and preferences.

2. What tools do you need for an Amazon FBA business?

You'll need various tools for your Amazon FBA business to streamline operations and maximize efficiency. These tools include:

  • Product Research Tools: Tools like Jungle Scout, Helium 10, and Camelcamelcamel help you identify profitable products, analyze market trends, and assess competition.
  • Inventory Management Software: Platforms such as SellerTools and AMZBase assist in managing inventory levels, forecasting demand, and optimizing stock replenishment.
  • Keyword Research Tools: Tools like AMZScout and Glimpse aid in keyword research, enabling you to optimize product listings for maximum visibility and relevance.
  • Sales Analytics Software: Solutions like FBA Wizard Pro and SellerTools provide comprehensive sales analytics, allowing you to track performance metrics, monitor profitability, and make data-driven decisions.
  • Pricing Optimization Tools: Software like Keepa and Helium 10 offer features for dynamic pricing, competitor analysis, and repricing strategies to maximize profits and stay competitive in the marketplace.
  • Shipping and Logistics Solutions: Programs such as Guru Tool and Google Trends help streamline shipping processes, manage logistics, and optimize supply chain operations.
  • Marketing and Promotion Platforms: Tools like Pixelfy.me and Google Trends assist in launching and promoting products, driving traffic, and increasing sales through targeted advertising and promotions.

In a nutshell

Navigating the world of Amazon FBA requires the correct set of tools to maximize success. The top 12 Amazon FBA product research tools highlighted in this guide offer invaluable assistance to sellers at every stage of their journey. By leveraging these tools effectively, sellers can streamline their operations, enhance their visibility, and ultimately achieve their business goals on the Amazon platform. Explore these top-rated tools, empower your FBA endeavors, and embark on a journey toward sustainable growth and success.

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  • ISBN-10 1108792693
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  • Publisher Cambridge University Press
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  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cambridge University Press (March 11, 2021)
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35 Content Marketing Statistics You Should Know

Stay informed with the latest content marketing statistics. Discover how optimized content can elevate your digital marketing efforts.

market research methods used by amazon

Content continues to sit atop the list of priorities in most marketing strategies, and there is plenty of evidence to support the reasoning.

Simply put, content marketing is crucial to any digital marketing strategy, whether running a small local business or a large multinational corporation.

After all, content in its many and evolving forms is indisputably the very lifeblood upon which the web and social media are based.

Modern SEO has effectively become optimized content marketing for all intents and purposes.

This is when Google demands and rewards businesses that create content demonstrating experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) for their customers – content that answers all of the questions consumers may have about their services, products, or business in general.

Content marketing involves creating and sharing helpful, relevant, entertaining, and consistent content in various text, image, video, and audio-based formats to the plethora of traditional and online channels available to modern marketers.

The primary focus should be on attracting and retaining a clearly defined audience, with the ultimate goal of driving profitable customer action.

Different types of content can and should be created for each stage of a customer’s journey .

Some content, like blogs or how-to videos, are informative or educational. Meanwhile, other content, like promotional campaign landing pages , gets to the point of enticing prospective customers to buy.

But with so much content being produced and shared every day, it’s important to stay updated on the latest trends and best practices in content marketing to keep pace and understand what strategies may be most effective.

Never has this been more true than in 2024, when we’re in the midst of a content revolution led by generative AI , which some feel represents both an opportunity and a threat to marketers.

To help you keep up, here are 35 content marketing statistics I think you should know:

Content Marketing Usage

How many businesses are leveraging content marketing, and how are they planning to find success?

  • According to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), 73% of B2B marketers, and 70% of B2C marketers use content marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy.
  • 97% of marketers surveyed by Semrush achieved success with their content marketing in 2023.
  • A B2B Content Marketing Study conducted by CMI found that 40% of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy; 33% have a strategy, but it’s not documented, and 27% have no strategy.
  • Half of the surveyed marketers by CMI said they outsource at least one content marketing activity.

Content Marketing Strategy

What strategies are content marketers using or finding to be most effective?

  • 83% of marketers believe it’s more effective to create higher quality content less often. (Source: Hubspot)
  • In a 2022 Statista Research Study of marketers worldwide, 62% of respondents emphasized the importance of being “always on” for their customers, while 23% viewed content-led communications as the most effective method for personalized targeting efforts.
  • With the increased focus on AI-generated search engine results, 31% of B2B marketers say they are sharpening their focus on user intent/answering questions, 27% are creating more thought leadership content, and 22% are creating more conversational content. (Source: CMI)

Types Of Content

Content marketing was synonymous with posting blogs, but the web and content have evolved into audio, video, interactive, and meta formats.

Here are a few stats on how the various types of content are trending and performing.

  • Short-form video content, like TikTok and Instagram Reel, is the No. 1 content marketing format, offering the highest return on investment (ROI).
  • 43% of marketers reported that original graphics (like infographics and illustrations) were the most effective type of visual content. (Source: Venngage)
  • 72% of B2C marketers expected their organization to invest in video marketing in 2022. (Source: Content Marketing Institute – CMI)
  • The State of Content Marketing: 2023 Global Report by Semrush reveals that articles containing at least one video tend to attract 70% more organic traffic than those without.
  • Interactive content generates 52.6% more engagement compared to static content. On average, buyers spend 8.5 minutes viewing static content items and 13 minutes on interactive content items. (Source: Mediafly)

Content Creation

Creating helpful, unique, engaging content can be one of a marketer’s greatest challenges. However, innovative marketers are looking at generative AI as a tool to help ideate, create, edit, and analyze content quicker and more cost-effectively.

Here are some stats around content creation and just how quickly AI is changing the game.

  • Generative AI reached over 100 million users just two months after ChatGPT’s launch. (Source: Search Engine Journal)
  • A recent Ahrefs poll found that almost 80% of respondents had already adopted AI tools in their content marketing strategies.
  • Marketers who are using AI said it helps most with brainstorming new topics ( 51%) , researching headlines and keywords (45%), and writing drafts (45%). (Source: CMI)
  • Further, marketers polled by Hubspot said they save 2.5 hours per day using AI for content.

Content Distribution

It is not simply enough to create and publish content.

For a content strategy to be successful, it must include distributing content via the channels frequented by a business’s target audience.

  • Facebook is still the dominant social channel for content distribution, but video-centric channels like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are growing the fastest .  (Source: Hubspot)
  • B2B marketers reported to CMI that LinkedIn was the most common and top-performing organic social media distribution channel at 84% by a healthy margin. All other channels came in under 30%.
  • 80% of B2B marketers who use paid distribution use paid social media advertising. (Source: CMI)

Content Consumption

Once content reaches an audience, it’s important to understand how an audience consumes the content or takes action as a result.

  • A 2023 Content Preferences Study by Demand Gen reveals that 62% of B2B buyers prefer practical content like case studies to inform their purchasing decisions, citing “a need for valid sources.”
  • The same study also found that buyers tend to rely heavily on content when researching potential business solutions, with 46% reporting that they increased the amount of content they consumed during this time.
  • In a recent post, blogger Ryan Robinson reports the average reader spends 37 seconds reading a blog.
  • DemandGen’s survey participants also said they rely most on demos ( 62% ) and user reviews (55%) to gain valuable insights into how a solution will meet their needs.

Content Marketing Performance

One of the primary reasons content marketing has taken off is its ability to be measured, optimized, and tied to a return on investment.

  • B2C marketers reported to CMI that the top three goals content marketing helps them to achieve are creating brand awareness, building trust, and educating their target audience.
  • 87% of B2B marketers surveyed use content marketing successfully to generate leads.
  • 56% of marketers who leverage blogging say it’s an effective tactic, and 10% say it generates the greatest return on investment (ROI).
  • 94% of marketers said personalization boosts sales.

Content Marketing Budgets

Budget changes and the willingness to invest in specific marketing strategies are good indicators of how popular and effective these strategies are at a macro level.

The following stats certainly seem to indicate marketers have bought into the value of content.

  • 61% of B2C marketers said their 2022 content marketing budget would exceed their 2021 budget.
  • 22% of B2B marketers said they spent 50% or more of their total marketing budget on content marketing. Furthermore, 43% saw their content marketing budgets grow from 2020 to 2021, and 66% expected them to grow again in 2022.

Content Challenges

All forms of marketing come with challenges related to time, resources, expertise, and competition.

Recognizing and addressing these challenges head-on with well-thought-out strategies is the best way to overcome them and realize success.

  • Top 3 content challenges included “attracting quality leads with content” ( 45% ), “creating more content faster” (38%), and “generating content ideas” (35%). (Source: Semrush’s The State of Content Marketing: 2023 Global Report)
  • 44% of marketers polled for CMI’s 2022 B2B report highlighted the challenge of creating the right content for multi-level roles as their top concern. This replaced internal communication as the top challenge from the previous year.
  • Changes to SEO/search algorithms ( 64% ), changes to social media algorithms (53%), and data management/analytics (48%) are also among the top concerns for B2C marketers.
  • 47% of people are seeking downtime from internet-enabled devices due to digital fatigue.
  • While generative AI has noted benefits, it also presents challenges for some marketers who fear it may replace them. In Hubspot’s study, 23% said they felt we should avoid using generative AI.
  • Another challenge with AI is how quickly it has come onto the scene without giving organizations time to provide training or to create policies and procedures for its appropriate and legal use. According to CMI, when asked if their organizations have guidelines for using generative AI tools, 31% of marketers said yes, 61% said no, and 8% were unsure.

Time To Get Started

As you can clearly see and perhaps have already realized, content marketing can be a highly effective and cost-efficient way to generate leads, build brand awareness, and drive sales. Content, in its many formats, powers virtually all online interactions.

Generative AI is effectively helping to solve some of the time and resource challenges by acting as a turbo-powered marketing assistant, while also raising a few procedural concerns.

However, the demand for content remains strong.

Those willing to put in the work of building a documented content strategy and executing it – by producing, optimizing, distributing, and monitoring high-value, relevant, customer-centric content, with the help of AI or not – can reap significant business rewards.

More resources:

  • 6 Ways To Humanize Your Content In The AI Era
  • Interactive Content: 10 Types To Engage Your Audience
  • B2B Lead Generation: Create Content That Converts

Featured Image: Deemak Daksina/Shutterstock 

Jeff has been helping organizations manage, measure and optimize their Web presences for over 20 years. He has deep knowledge ...

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Tested: Best Car Wax for 2024

Wax is the final step to give your ride that impeccable shine—here are the best ones to buy.

But before you waltz into the store to pick up some new wax, arm yourself with the knowledge we've presented here to ensure the products you choose will give your car, truck, or SUV the suit of waxy armor it deserves.

Looking for more car cleaning and detailing? Check out our tests for the best car vacuums , best pressure washers , and best upholstery cleaners .

Our Top Picks

Meguiar's Quik Wax

Best Spray Car Wax

Meguiar's quik wax.

Chemical Guys Butter Wet Wax

Best Liquid Wax

Chemical guys butter wet wax.

Collinite No. 476s Super DoubleCoat Auto Wax

Best Paste Car Wax

Collinite no. 476s super doublecoat auto wax.

Formula 1 High Performance Carnauba Car Wax

Easiest Paste to Apply

Formula 1 high performance carnauba car wax.

Griot's Garage Best of Show Spray Wax

Honorable Mention — Spray Wax

Griot's garage best of show spray wax.

Adam's Polishes Buttery Wax

Honorable Mention — Liquid Wax

Adam's polishes buttery wax, things to consider about car wax.

When shopping for the best car wax for you and your vehicle, there are a number of factors to consider. Here are just a few.

Spray Waxes

Spray waxes work best for new cars with excellent finishes. Pluses include convenience, plastic compatibility, ease of use, and spot waxing. They're quick to apply and some can even be wiped off without drying, but they are not good for cleaning and are the worst for durability.

Liquid Waxes

Liquid waxes provide excellent cleaning, gloss, and durability, but they can be more difficult to apply evenly and buff out. Most dry to a haze within about a minute, but this varies with wind, sunlight, and thickness of application.

Paste Waxes

Paste waxes tend to be the easiest to apply, but it can be difficult to remove wax from the container as you near the bottom. Paste waxes usually dry to a haze within 30 seconds. Traditionally, paste waxes were heralded for their durability, but as synthetic polymers improve, many liquid waxes are now on par with paste waxes.

Application Method

Make sure you have the correct tools to apply the wax appropriately. You can apply manually or use a dual-action polisher for a fast, even application. Always be sure to use the correct cleaning cloth or foam applicator. Terry cloth or towels will leave residue behind, so be sure to use a clean microfiber cloth.

How We Evaluated Car Wax

For this test, we applied each wax to a separate panel on a freshly washed Toyota Prius. We felt the only accurate way to compare these products was a side-by-side observation. Once each wax was applied—following the directions of the liquid and paste waxes—dried, and wiped, we called in members of the Car and Driver staff to come get a look for themselves. Here's what we looked for:

  • Ease of Application
  • Visual Shine
  • Drying Speed
  • Package Quality
  • Long-Term Durability (in progress)

Once we gathered the information and opinions from the group, we determined which car waxes were better than others. We'll keep an eye on the car's panels in the upcoming months and adjust this list based on durability and how well each wax ages.

A note on car waxes: While we understand there are many other popular brands of car waxes we didn't test, there's only so much sheetmetal real estate on a Prius—and using a different vehicle to test more waxes would have muddled our comparison. So we worked with what we had. Keep your eyes on this space for future updates to this test. Until then, here's what we learned.

The Best Car Waxes

Meguiar's Quik Wax is popular with car enthusiasts for good reason—it worked well in our test. Of course, the performance aspect doesn't quite match the liquid or paste waxes, but that's the nature of a spray wax: convenience is key.

Along with ease of use, we were pleasantly surprised how little work was needed to apply. It's "quik" for sure—simply spray and wipe. Done. Shortly after all of our test waxes were dried, the blind "feel test" by the Car and Driver team revealed a striking similarity to the other waxes.

The verdict? Immediately after application, spray wax—particularly Meguiar's—was on par with other types, although that may not be true when it comes to longevity. If you simply want a quick shine, Quik Wax is the stuff to buy.

When it comes to liquid waxes, the Chemical Guys Butter Wet Wax is our pick. It's an interesting consistency, something called "Carnauba Creme," and Chemical Guys says it "melts into the paint like butter." We don't know about that, but it does wax on nicely.

Featuring a scent we could only describe as "childhood," Butter Wax went on smoothly and dried within minutes. After the final buff with a separate microfiber, the shine and finish rivaled any other waxes we tested.

If you're looking to enjoy the car-waxing process rather than rush it, the Butter Wet Wax is our pick.

Straight outta your grandpa's garage, Collinite 476s Paste Wax is a tin of nostalgia. There's something special about waxing your car with the old-school stuff, regardless of how good new wax gets with its fancy polymers and whatnot. Put on a Bob Seger record in the background and enjoy the process.

The container took us two flathead screwdrivers to pry open, but once that lid was off, the classic-car scent made it worthwhile. The wax—like a shoe-polish consistency—requires a bit of friction to warm up, but once it's ready, the wax spreads on paint nicely. Collinite recommends waxing two-by-two-foot sections at a time, letting it dry, and buffing with a clean microfiber for best results, and that's what we did.

Collinite claims seven to 10 months of protection and even calls the 476s its "winter wax" to be used as a protective cover during the cold months. We haven't verified that, but we'll keep an eye on it. If you prefer to do things the old way, this is the most rewarding car wax to buy.

The Formula 1 Car Wax Paste is an interesting one. It's defined by the brand as a paste, but what's inside is more akin to a liquid—described by one of our testers as the consistency of hummus. We suppose that's not a bad thing, as you'll avoid needing to warm it up before applying.

The fragrance is reminiscent of a typical garage, but not strongly so. Thanks to its consistency, application is a breeze and the results are great. Immediately after application, we did notice a slight slickness difference between this and the Collinite, and we're curious to see how that translates long-term.

For an easy paste-waxing experience, you can't go wrong with this.

Griot's Garage Spray Wax is a very solid spray wax, proving again that spray waxes hold up to other waxes in the immediate term. Convenience and performance are just about on par with the Meguiar's, and we didn't feel any difference between the two once dry.

If you're a Griot's fan, this stuff doesn't disappoint. The only reason the Meguiar's wins out is we prefer their bottle ergonomics over the Griot's. Besides that, the two spray waxes are neck and neck; you can't go wrong with either one.

The Adam's Polishes Buttery Wax worked great—it was the aftermath that made us scratch our heads. Like other liquid waxes, you apply it with a clean microfiber, let it dry, and wipe it off. This stuff did that totally fine, leaving behind a slick finish.

However, the wax stained our applicator and hands as if we had washed our hands in popcorn butter. With some scrubbing, the color did eventually come off, but we feel it's an additional step that would be ideal to avoid. This is good stuff, but the need for gloves knocks it down our list.

How We Tested Car Wax

best car wax tested

To get a proper evaluation of these car waxes, we decided to test them side by side on individual panels of a freshly washed Toyota Prius. We followed each bottle's directions and used clean microfiber cloths. We took notes on the ease of application , whether by cloth, pad, or spray bottle.

We also observed the drying time and dry feel on each panel with our hands. We then looked at the car to see if we could determine any differences in the visual shine .

Other parameters we noted were smell , bottle quality , and other notes like consistency and cloth stain. Finally, we'll keep an eye on the car panels and update this article with any long-term durability observations.

best car wax tested

What is car wax?

Car wax is a substance applied to the exterior of a vehicle to protect it from dirt, debris, and environmental damage, while also enhancing its shine. Formulas vary from one brand to the next, but the base for nearly any wax you'll find is carnauba, a wax made from the leaves of a palm native to Brazil.

Why do I need car wax?

Waxing provides a protective layer over your car's paint, shielding it from UV rays, salt, and pollutants. It also makes the car easier to clean by making it easier to remove contaminants.

How do I apply car wax?

This varies depending on the wax you use, but generally, you start with a freshly cleaned car, apply the wax with a foam applicator or microfiber towel, and then buff it out after a designated drying time. Conditions for application can vary, so check the product details. In the words of a professional detailer we recently spoke with, default to the initialism R.T.F.L., otherwise known as "Read The [Friendly] Label."

How much does car wax cost?

Prices range from under $10 to over $50, depending on the brand, type, and quantity of the wax.

What are the pros and cons of using car wax?

The primary benefit of using car wax is the protective shine it adds to your vehicle. The downside is that applying wax can be time-consuming, and some waxes may need frequent reapplication.

Why Trust Us

Hearst Autos combines the talent, resources, and expertise of three of the largest, most influential automotive publications in the world. The Gear Team has tested a wide variety of automotive products, parts, accessories, and gear, such as car window/windshield cleaners , pressure washers , and interior cleaners . We get our hands on each and every product we test. Most are purchased; some are supplied by manufacturers.

The Gear Team doesn't need to game algorithms for traffic or promote lousy products for clicks. We're more concerned with our reputation and the trust that our readers have in Autoweek , Car and Driver , and Road & Track to deliver honest opinions and expert evaluations.

Visit our Tested & Trusted page to see the very best in automotive gear. Read more about our product testing and evaluation process here .

Headshot of Collin Morgan

Collin Morgan is a Commerce Editor at Hearst Autos, where the former Rust Belt mechanic and gadget enthusiast presents the best gear for your automotive endeavors.

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Gannon Burgett loves cameras, cars, and coffee: a perfect combination for his Hearst Autos work. His byline has appeared in USA Today , Gizmodo , TechCrunch , Digital Trends , the Detroit Free Press , and more.

Headshot of Katherine Keeler

Katherine Keeler is an Assistant Testing Editor at Hearst Autos. By day she evaluates tools for your enjoyment; by night, she Frankenstein’s her ever changing fleet of rust-bucket-oddities back to repair. Her dream is to open a roadside attraction where the public can view, drive, and learn repairs at her emporium of curious cars.

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IMAGES

  1. Common Types of Market Research

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  2. 13 Ways to Use Amazon.com for Market Research

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  3. Market Research: An Overview and Step-by-Step Guide

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  4. BEST PRODUCT RESEARCH METHODS FOR AMAZON IN 2020!

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  6. Amazon Market Research Tips & Advice

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COMMENTS

  1. 11 Amazon Product Research Strategies You Need For 2023

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  2. How to Do Market Research on Amazon: Seller Case Study

    A seller needs to calculate the cost of manufacturing, shipping, and the 3 Amazon FBA fees: Referral, Storage, and Fulfillment. There are free calculator tools for this purpose, and most Amazon market research tools will give you this breakdown as well. 3. Use proper keyword research and PPC.

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    Amazon Product Research in 6 Steps. #1: Identify Your Target Market. Define Customer Demographics. Analyze Current and Emerging Trends. Research Customer Preferences, Reviews, and Feedback. #2: Conduct Product Research Using Amazon Tools. Google Trends.

  10. How To Perform Realistic Amazon Product Research For Beginners

    In 2022, I recommend 50 to 100+ hours of research to come across profitable products on Amazon for your first launch. While that might seem excessive, you'll come away more confident and assured that your product is likely to perform well. After all, you don't want to blow your hard-earn money on a product that flops.

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    Step 3: Choose Your Product Category on Amazon. Browse Amazon categories: Once you have a refined niche and product idea, browse Amazon's product categories to find the most relevant fit. Look for categories with sub-categories that align with your product's specific features and target audience.

  13. Marketing Research: A Complete How-To Guide with Examples

    There are many examples of marketing research from Amazon Ads. A key example is our 2023 Higher Impact study, where we explored consumer sentiments in connection with five industries to better understand how they feel about the role of brands around the issues of sustainability and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

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  15. Amazon Product Research: Detailed Guide 2024, 3 Best Tools

    Here's how you use the tool: Step 1: From the AMZScout PRO dashboard, click the arrow next to your chosen product. Step 2: Select Profit Calculator. Step 3: Enter product price and other costs in the new window. Step 4: Review the product weight and sizes, Amazon FBA Fees, Net Margin, and Estimated Monthly Profit.

  16. Amazon Product Research Guide: Tips and Real Product Examples

    AMZScout offers the most accurate Amazon product research tools with a web app and Chrome browser extension, giving you detailed sales and market data for any product or niche category. By using AMZScout's collection of services, both new and experienced Amazon sellers can utilize a plethora of information to help them formulate better ...

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    Once you've done keyword research, use the information to optimize your products and listings in a way that'll boost your rankings. Amazon's A10 ranking algorithm is complicated, even for insiders. Luckily, Helium 10's Amazon keyword research tools do the work for you, saving you valuable time. 3. Conduct customer surveys.

  18. Amazon Market Research Tips & Advice

    Amazon's own search bar is one the best research tools available. If you're looking to resell, then type in the exact name of the product, including the make and model. Then, you need to look at the other sellers on the existing listing for that product. If you're a reseller, then you need to assess the pricing strategy of your competitors.

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    Before you begin your product research, it's essential to have a clear understanding of your target market and customer. You might have a great product idea, but if you don't know who your potential customers are, it's still not going to work. 2. Take Advantage of Amazon's Best Sellers List.

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    Application Method. Make sure you have the correct tools to apply the wax appropriately. You can apply manually or use a dual-action polisher for a fast, even application. Always be sure to use ...