There are no shortcuts and understanding, finding and validating the product to sell on Amazon requires a lot of time and research. Just like W. Edwards Deming said “Without data you’re just another person with an opinion.”
Now let us understand how to find that product to sell on Amazon
Doing the market research for that one product that can make you rich and successful has 3 steps,
- Finding product ideas
- Validating product ideas
- Improving the product ideas
Let's go through some Important points in brief,
- Preferred products are the ones with a high or medium demand and low or medium competition
- Low or no competition means the product has no or very little demand
- Healthy competition can help with improving or upgrading the product that is available
- Buyers pay higher prices for better products
- Baby steps, always start small with just 1 product
- Know the capital and invest 30% or 40% to begin, balance will be required later
- Amazon allows multiple brands under one account
What is Buying Power?
- Important section to plan budgets
- Buying is more important than selling to achieve success as it helps
- Helps us pinpoint,
- Inventory Capital
- Suitable products for the inventory capital
- Entire capital is not the buying power
- Pre- and Post-Production like Amazon fees, Shipping, Sampling etc requires budget allocation
Important ideas and points to keep in mind while Finding & Selecting a product,
- Simple and easy to consume everyday product to avoid complications and hassles are preferred
- Recommended to choose products that are cheap and affordable (will help with impulsive purchase as well)
- Small products help with low storage, warehousing and shipping expenses
- Research should be focused on products with high or medium demand and medium or low competition
Product and Categories to avoid
- Seasonal products can end in dead inventory once the season ends
- Electronics can tricky and are full of hassles
- Clothing can have issues with sizes and materials and have the highest number of returns
- Shoes are same as clothing
- Edible products will need a lot of extra licenses and will have to adhere with the expiry dates
- Toys can be hazardous
- Chemicals are highly regulated
- Oversized products come with a lot of problems related to shipping and storage
- Fashion changes and so does the demands of Designer Items
- Also, all product that are easily available offline in every general store nearby
- All the restricted, gated and prohibited product categories on Amazon.
You can find the list of the restrictions here
- Any and all products being sold by Amazon under their brand
One wrong step in the selection process can end up with a wrong product that won’t sell. You know what this means right? Losses and potential end of the business!
You will need tools for market research, finding, launching and selling products on Amazon.
Finding Good and Viable Product Ideas
- Listing stage, no research or validation needed
- Most preferred method is the Creative mind method
- Search for all products that come in mind
- Search all the suggested products listed by Amazon
- Check the demand and supply using the online tools
- List all interesting product ideas
- Some recommended categories are
- DIY & Tools
- Garden & Outdoor
- Home & Kitchen
- Office Products
- Pet Supplies
- Sports
Product Validation
- Step after making the list with at-least 20 to 30 potential products
- Aim to find products with High Demand and Low Competition
- Not the final step to product selection
- Important points (shouldn’t rely on Opportunity Score alone)
- Demand
- Preferred High or Medium
- Avoid products with low demand
- Competition
- Preferred Medium or Low competition
- Avoid High competition
- High Sales figures can be appealing but the competition affects sales
- Reviews
- Low the reviews the better for sellers
- High number of reviews may indicate high competition
- Also highlights improvement scope for the product
- Rating
- Can be used to understand if the buyers are happy with the product that is currently available
- Improved product can grab the market if the current available products are not satisfactory
- Avoid product with good ratings as there may be no room for improvement
“Never try to compete with products that are FMZ which means that the product is sold by Amazon”
In-Depth Research
Product list could be now as small as just 5 product ideas. This will require personal attention and manual labour and the steps are,
- Becoming the expert in the products and understanding the current and potential customers will help target potential customers later.
- Identifying the areas where the current available product can be improved or upgraded and sold at a higher
- Understanding the likes and dislikes of current and potential customers to create a hard-hitting brand image
“This step can make or break your business so pay close attention to every detail”
