Good product research is very important if you're starting any ecommerce business.
After all, blindly jumping into any market is a sure way to waste your time and money, especially because ecommerce is not a gamble but a real business.
One way of finding profitable ecommerce products is by doing product research on Amazon.
If you are curious about how to use Amazon for product research, keep reading to learn more!
Top 4 methods to do product research on Amazon
Here are four great ways to do product research on Amazon:
- Analyze Amazon's movers and shakers list.
- Check Amazon's best-sellers list.
- Check the "Frequently bought together" offers.
- Analyze the "Most Wished For" products.
We know you are eager to learn, so let’s jump straight into it!
1. Analyze Amazon's movers and shakers list
The Amazon movers and shakers list is a great way to identify and find trending products.
This list lets you see which products are quickly moving up the Amazon sales ranks.
Amazon updates the movers and shakers list hourly, making it one of the best trend analysis tools:
On movers and shakers, you can find products that have seen the highest jump in sales rank over the past 24 hours, regardless of whether they are new or staple products.
For example, as you can see from the screenshot below, at the time of researching and writing this guide, the highest-listed product in the kitchen and dining category, the ‘electric hand mixer,’ was previously unranked.
This means it quickly shot up the sales ranks within 24 hours:
Something worth noting is that the ‘hot new releases’ category is somewhat similar to the movers and shakers list.
The main difference is that the ‘hot new releases’ list focuses on new products with the most significant sales increase within the first few weeks of release.
We consider the hot new releases list complementary to the movers and shakers list because newly-released products with an upward sale progression often move from the hot new releases to the movers and shakers list.
For example, should the Mueller coffee maker in the screenshot below continue selling well and being popular weeks after its initial release, it will appear on the movers and shakers list.
Like the movers and shakers list, Amazon regularly updates the ‘hot new releases’ category.
If you would like more information about how to use the movers and shakers list for product research, check out our in-depth Amazon movers and shakers guide!
2. Check Amazon's best-sellers list
The Amazon best sellers list is one of our all-time favorite ways to do product research on Amazon.
You can use it to identify which products are currently the most popular in a specific category.
Like the previous list, Amazon updates the best sellers frequently. This can give you a real-time look at current market trends and what's selling well:
Because the best sellers list shows what people are already buying, it can be an effective product research resource and tool.
As shown in the screenshot below, the best sellers list has many categories, each ranking products in that specific category:
If a product you’re considering selling appears on the best sellers lists consistently over time, you can rightfully assume it’s performing well in the market.
For example, while researching and writing this guide, we did some on-the-fly product research into the best sellers in the ‘kitchen & dining’ category.
We noticed that of the top twenty best-selling products in this category, kitchen scales appeared twice, while assorted tumblers and water bottles appeared on the list several times:
From this, we can conclude that if you have a store in this niche but are not selling any of these products, they would be worth considering because they are doing well in the market.
Let's look at a more comprehensive example of how to use the Amazon best sellers list to find products on Amazon:
In-depth: Using Amazon's best sellers list to do product research
First, define or think about the product category you want to research, then go to that category’s Amazon bestseller page.
For our example, we will dive into the ‘home and kitchen category’ to find an ecommerce product we can research further.
Alternatively, once you’re on the Amazon best sellers page, you can type in specific product keywords if you have a particular product in mind.
The idea is to find one or more best-selling product(s) you may want to add to your product catalog because you believe it would do well with your audience.
In this example, we shall focus on the milk frother highlighted below.
Tip: While researching and writing this guide, we also noted that of the top twenty best-selling Amazon products in the ‘home and kitchen’ category, two were milk frothers.
Given this, if you’re in this niche but aren't selling milk frothers, you may want to research them further and perhaps even add them to your store’s catalog.
Once you find a product you like and think will do well with your audience, click on it and dig into the metrics: ratings, positive or negative reviews, etc.
The product page shows that this product has over ninety thousand reviews, is an Amazon’s Choice product, has multiple color options, and customers love it because it’s easy to clean and use:
The next step is to look into the product’s sale patterns over time, whether the product is seasonal, new, trending, or evergreen.
With our milk frother example, the product information section tells us that this product has a Best Sellers Rank (BSR) of #5 in its category, which is great. It has been on the market since August 2021, is from China, and its special feature is a durable stand.
When you land on your selected product page, look for trends in the data. For example, analyze the good and bad reviews: bad reviews give you invaluable data on market gaps you can potentially fill with a product.
In our milk frother example, one of the top reviews suggests using rechargeable batteries because the product does not come with included batteries.
You can use this information to sell a look-alike product bundled with rechargeable batteries or partner with private label suppliers who sell an improved version of the frother–perhaps one with an in-built rechargeable battery.
With this information, we can conduct further product research.
For example, we can head into Sell the Trend and type in the keywords ‘rechargeable milk frother’ to see if we can explore this product idea further.
Related article: Sell the Trend Review: Best Dropshipping Tool in 2024?
The essence of this example is to show you that the product research you can conduct with the Amazon best sellers list can be instrumentally informative, especially if you’re always looking for great-selling products to add to your catalog.
Let's now move on to the third way you can use to do product research on Amazon:
3. Check the "Frequently bought together" offers
The ‘frequently bought together’ feature is an Amazon upsell tactic that suggests other products Amazon believes will complement the product in question based on previous purchasing habits from Amazon customers.
This feature is a great way to do product research on Amazon and find complementary products that customers often purchase together.
Here is an example of this feature:
Note: Sometimes, you may see 'buy it with' instead of frequently bought together.
The ‘frequently bought together’ list can help you identify a profitable gap in the market, such as potential product bundles or upselling opportunities.
For example, let’s assume you’re an ecommerce store owner in the toy gun niche and selling gel blaster guns.
In this case, you can check the ‘frequently bought together’ section of a best-selling gel blaster gun to see what people commonly purchase with that product.
For example, we checked out a best-selling gel blaster in Amazon’s ‘toy foam blasters & guns category.’
As shown in the screenshot below, gel blaster ammo and tubs are some of the ‘frequently bought together’ items.
If you are in this industry, such information can help you decide which accessories to stock, pair, bundle, or promote in your store:
4. Analyze the "Most Wished For” products
Amazon updates the ‘most wished for' list daily by examining the number of times customers have added a product to a wish list and then creating a list ranking these products.
The more products appear on a wish list, the more popular they are.
You can use this list to identify potentially profitable products to sell.
For example, when writing this, the ‘most wished for’ product in the ‘kitchen & dining category’ is the simple modern tumbler with a lid and straw shown below.
Using this method in conjunction with the other ways to do product research on Amazon, you can do a comprehensive product and market analysis to see whether this or a similar product would work for your audience.
Additionally, you can use this list to find products you can offer and how you can present your product in a way that bests the competition.
There you have it: four great ways to do product research on Amazon!
Pro tip: When using any of these methods to do product research on Amazon, always consider your competition, market saturation, product demand, pricing, and other factors that determine a product’s overall profitability.
As you use these methods to find products on Amazon, keep the following costly mistakes in mind.
3 Costly mistakes to avoid during product research on Amazon
Here are the most common mistakes you can make when using Amazon to find ecommerce products:
1. Failing to conduct ongoing Amazon product research
One of the worst mistakes you can make when using Amazon to find products is failing to conduct ongoing product research.
Here is why:
As you may have noted, Amazon updates most of the lists we have discussed frequently, some even hourly and daily. Thus, products are constantly shifting around the various ranks and lists.
When you fail to conduct ongoing or regular Amazon product research, it can be challenging to see trends or learn invaluable insight that can inform which product ideas are worth pursuing and which are not.
2. Niching down too much
As we have covered before, there are benefits to starting a niche store or even starting over in a new niche.
However, niching down too much is a costly mistake you should avoid because it can limit your product choices and even cause you to miss out on viable product trends.
Niching down too much can also limit your product research process because it shortens the list of products you can research based on what you know about your customers or industry.
One of the most effective ways to avoid niching down too much is to create a brand identity that resonates with the broader niche, then retarget a smaller niche segment with spot-on brand messaging that resonates with smaller pockets of your target audience.
3. Not reading product reviews
Amazon product reviews are a product research gold mine you should take advantage of whenever possible.
Unfortunately, failing to read reviews is another common mistake people make when using Amazon to find products for ecommerce.
Amazon product reviews can give you a deeper understanding of your target audience and their needs.
They help to understand which criteria you should keep in mind when deciding which products are worth it, more so when doing product analysis to determine the best price, seasonality, whether a product is in high demand, etc.
5 Product criteria to remember when using Amazon to find products
Ideally, go for products that have the following features:
1. A good value proposition
When doing product research on Amazon, lean more toward products with a promising value proposition, i.e., products that solve a problem.
A good and profitable product should meet and solve a market need.
2. Price range
A good product should be inexpensive while leaving room for a good profit margin.
Your audience should feel like your products are great value for their money. A great way of verifying this is by checking Amazon product ratings and reviews.
3. Cost-effective product and shipping costs
When using Amazon to find products for ecommerce, always consider the logistics.
Consider the milk frother example we used earlier, which has an average shipping cost of five dollars on Amazon.
Generally, smaller products are cost-friendlier to ship than larger, bulkier ones.
4. Product seasonality
Whereas seasonal products are an excellent way to boost sales, great products are evergreen: they sell throughout the year.
As a store owner, it is common to have 20% of your products that bring in 80% of your recurring income, also known as the Pareto principle.
Keeping product seasonality in mind as you do product research on Amazon will ensure you can strike a balance between having staple products and capitalizing on emerging product trends.
5. Sales data
Sales data analysis involves looking at various Amazon sales data metrics like BSR, number of units sold, revenue generated, and conversion rate.
You can use tools on the Amazon Seller Central dashboard to dig into this data.
A good product should have positive and high sales data. That’s why when doing product research, we should look at the best-selling items, the hot new items, and the movers and shakers list. This way, we are sure there is demand for a specific product.
A summary of how to do product research on Amazon
Before we go to the conclusion, here are a few key things to remember about doing product research on Amazon:
First, there are many ways to do product research on Amazon.
This guide has focused on only four, namely:
- Analyzing Amazon's movers and shakers list.
- Checking Amazon's best-sellers list.
- Checking the "Frequently bought together" offers.
- Analyzing the "Most Wished For" products.
Secondly:
When doing product research on Amazon, avoid the following costly mistakes:
- Failing to conduct ongoing Amazon product research.
- Niching down too much.
- Not reading product reviews.
Thirdly, remember the following product research criteria when using Amazon to find ecommerce products:
- A good value proposition.
- Price range.
- Cost-effective product and shipping costs
- Product seasonality.
- Sales data.
If you keep these main points in mind, you should be able to use Amazon to find products for ecommerce.
Conclusion
Based on everything we have discussed in this guide, you now know four great ways to do product research on Amazon, the mistakes you should avoid when engaging in this process, and the criteria you should look at to narrow down to particular products.
Over to you now.
Which of the top four ways we discussed will you now use to find products?
We recommend experimenting with all four to determine which one or two will work best for your needs.
Remember to share your Amazon product research results, questions, or comments in the comments section. We respond to all comments.
Until the next one, have a rocking day, and never stop learning, experimenting, and growing.
Want to learn more about product research?
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