As of 2022, there are about 1.9 million active sellers on Amazon, according to Marketplace Pulse. An average of 3,700 sellers join the platform every day. And about 7,000 products are being sold, on average, every minute.
With its unprecedented growth, the more that Amazon becomes appealing to sellers and customers alike. However, it also becomes increasingly challenging for sellers to stay competitive and get a huge piece of the pie when it comes to sales and profits.
The Challenge
One of the major and foremost challenges that every entrepreneur faces is choosing the product to sell. And with a dynamic platform like Amazon, product research and development are crucial to every seller.
The product is the heart of any business and most of the time, it is overwhelming to find a product that is not only saleable but also profitable. Add to that the challenge of competing with tons of sellers in your niche.
With that, we came up with this guide to help you find what are the best products to sell on Amazon.
What to Look for From the Best Products to Sell on Amazon
Given the plethora of products that you can sell on Amazon, you should begin trimming down your options. It can buy you more time to understand your market, launch your product, and innovate it as you move along your seller journey.
With that, you have to tailor criteria to help you remove a chunk of those options.
Here are the key metrics you need to keep an eye on when it comes to deciding the best product to sell on Amazon.
Market Gaps
As the saying goes, ‘Necessity is the mother of invention.’, which remains true today. The best product either solves a problem or fulfills a need. As our lives progress, so as human challenges and needs.
Start by checking for unfulfilled market gaps that you can solve through your own curated product or innovation of an existing one. Who knows, you might be revolutionizing the industry with a million-dollar product idea.
Competition
Another perspective you can look at when it comes to checking for market gaps is by considering your competition.
When doing product research, start with the most in-demand products. And then, trim down your options by being more specific about the product you want to sell.
For example, you want to sell eye makeup. I bet you’ll see thousands of sellers selling eye makeup on Amazon. But, if you will look at glitter eye makeup, you will notice that the numbers have gone down. You know that there’s a demand but now your competition is less stiff.
Demand
It is not often that the light bulb will switch on in our minds to come up with an awesome invention. But, it does not mean we cannot be entrepreneurs of something that can help consumers lead better lives.
Be conscious of what’s trending and on-demand at the moment given the circumstance of things on a larger scale. For example, when the Covid-19 pandemic came, essentials like alcohol and face masks become more in demand. Many sellers took part in fulfilling the great demand for these products.
However, trends come and go, so make sure you have alternative game plans when the demand starts to wean.
BSR
Another way to check for strong demand is the product’s Best Selling Rank or BSR. This metric denotes a product’s historical and current data, enabling you to assess its demand, as well as the category it is part of.
Specifically, you should check if there are multiple products in a category that has a BSR of 5000 or better. This signifies that no single product or listing dominates the competition, therefore, you have a good chance to compete and become successful as well.
Essentials
One also cannot go wrong with other essentials that need continuous replenishing like beauty products, cooking ingredients, and hygiene products. It is almost foolproof to sell items with continuous and steady consumer demand and product sales.
However, these niches tend to get saturated with sellers and options, so make sure you work heavily on your marketing and product quality to secure loyal customers.
Reviews
Customer reviews from the seller account of your competitors are like compasses in your product research. They will point you to an understanding of a variety of aspects like customer behavior, demand, competition, and innovation.
Obviously, the best products will have a lot of reviews given the magnitude of sales they generate. However, you must also be critical about the percentage of positive reviews versus the negative ones.
Product Dimensions
You can now sell almost everything online, particularly on Amazon. However, certain items are not ideal to go through Amazon because you will pay ridiculous fees for storage and shipping. Add to that, Amazon may not give the product the proper care during shipping, which puts your customer satisfaction rating at risk.
You should ideally look at items weighing less than 5 lbs. and no greater than 18 x 14 x 8 inches in dimension. These items will require less space in the storage and be less risky to ship, therefore, lowering the shipping fee.
Profit Margin
Aside from aiming for high sales, you should also not forget your profitability. Consider items that can be sold with a considerable markup. Your cue here is your competitors – check for their prices, scour for bargain suppliers, and see if you can get decent profits after subtracting all the costs.
How to Do Product Research
There’s no better avenue to start your product research than on Amazon itself. The performance of the products and categories here are constantly being measured, and you can derive so many insights about these data.
1. Start looking at Amazon’s Best Sellers list.
This list is updated hourly and shows the top 100 best-selling products that are ranked according to popularity. You can start curating your list and then carefully narrowing down your options to the products with high demand, low competition, and low BSR.
You can then take on doing much more thorough research by checking the product listing, reviews, and competition.
Check for gaps in the market, product features you can add or improve, or products you can innovate. Exhaust all possible sub-categories of the all-time best-selling categories to look for products you can sell and get a decent profit from.
2. See the “Movers and Shakers” and “Hot New Releases” Lists.
See new and currently trending products you can possibly bank on or innovate. You can get a sense of what’s currently trending or going to trend and then tap the opportunity to become a pioneer seller in the niche.
3. Do the math.
After coming up with a narrowed-down list of products you can possibly sell on Amazon, it’s time to do the math.
Check for possible suppliers, add up your costs, apply a profit margin, and compare your price with your competitors. You can also consider reselling products instead of curating your own if you find this more cost-efficient in the long run.
You must understand your numbers to make informed decisions. Though it depends on your goal as some brands aren’t as particular with high profits and are merely using Amazon for visibility. But, if you are a new entrepreneur and are launching your product on Amazon, you should then be very particular about numbers.
Best Performing Categories of All Time
Based on historical and analytical data, here are the best-performing and most profitable categories on Amazon:
Books
Everything started in this category, and its enduring capacity just attests to the founder’s outstanding product research skills. And with the advent of electronic books, the more that the demand rose higher than ever. Books are inexpensive to ship, have a big profit margin, and are saleable.
Baby Products
Parents are getting more conscious about what things to spend on for their babies. Therefore, paving a way for many sellers to offer a wide array of products to address the different needs and concerns of both first-time and seasoned parents. Baby products also tend to be consumed largely so there sure is a steady demand for them.
Toys and Games
There’s a steady and growing demand for toys and games (physical and computer-based) as people get cozier indoors. We can also observe that toys and games have expanded their market, not just appealing to kids but also to adults as well.
Electronics
Technology made everything fast-paced, and we can definitely see many new gadgets being introduced faster than ever before. Electronics make our lives easier, and more convenient and even allow us to be more advanced than our peers.
And because of the growing competition in this niche, the cheaper these items become. Therefore, you must be wary about your profitability and carry out as much time to do your product research before diving in.
Parting Thoughts
Remember, there’s no magic formula to follow when it comes to product research. In the same way, there are aspects of it that will depend on your personal preferences and goals. There are also some that you can adjust along the way, depending on the prevailing market situation.
Even finding the best product to sell on Amazon today does not guarantee steady success. Continuous optimization and innovation are the keys to maximizing your opportunities in the platform. You have to stay updated with current trends and in tune with your customer’s evolving needs and tastes.
To summarize, selling on Amazon is continuous work. And if you do not have all the time to spend growing your Amazon business, we at Signalytics can help you with the leg work. Our team has the expertise and experience that can help you stay on top of your competition. Contact us today to know more about our services.