Tag: product research

How to Find Products to Sell on Amazon: Advanced Amazon Product Research Strategies for Experienced Sellers

When it comes to thriving in the competitive world of eCommerce, selling on Amazon remains one of the most lucrative avenues, especially for experienced sellers. The question that every seller faces at some point or another is: How to find products to sell on Amazon?

According to Marketplace Pulse research, there are currently over 6.3 million third-party sellers on Amazon, with over 50% of them selling on Amazon in North America. This statistic highlights the fierce competition among Amazon sellers and the need for advanced product research strategies to stay ahead.

This guide will dive deep into some of the most effective and advanced Amazon product research strategies. Experienced sellers can leverage these strategies to gain the competitive edge they need to make their desired sales.

Overview of Advanced Amazon Product Research Strategies

What is advanced Amazon product research?

When it comes to selling on Amazon, there are a few secrets you need to know to succeed, and one of them is knowing how to find products to sell on Amazon. 

Product research involves all the processes used to identify profitable product opportunities. Analyzing key metrics such as market trends, demand, and competition are pivotal to this process.

According to Jim Pendergast, Senior Vice President at altLINE Sobanco, “Experienced sellers may need to dig deeper and go beyond the basic Amazon product research techniques that everyone is already using. That’s where the magic of advanced Amazon product research comes into the picture.”

Advanced Amazon product research goes beyond just scratching the surface. It involves a more in-depth approach to identifying the most profitable and less competitive product opportunities on Amazon. You can remove the guesswork from your product research using an Amazon product research tool and other techniques to analyze data, uncover hidden trends, and make data-driven decisions.

Advanced Amazon product research may require that you invest a significant amount of your time and effort. However, you can be sure that it will pay off handsomely in terms of increased sales and revenue.

Importance of advanced Amazon product research

There are many reasons why sellers on Amazon should be intensely interested in conducting product research and leveling up their strategies.

First, it lets you identify and explore potentially profitable opportunities and niches. Amazon product research can aid you in identifying gaps in the market and finding the perfect product categories – those in high demand but with low competition. This will set you apart from the crowd and help sky-rocket your sales.

Furthermore, Amazon product research can provide you with a head-start by aiding in evaluating and assessing competitors and the potential lucrativeness of a product before committing your time and money to it. This can save you money, as it can prevent you from investing in goods that won’t assist you in reaching your financial targets.

Knowing how to find products to sell on Amazon using an Amazon product research tool and advanced product research techniques can help you refine your product descriptions for search engines and improve your product’s visibility in search results. 

Once you possess a robust knowledge of the key terms clients are searching for, you can devise superior titles, descriptions, and tags for your products. This will facilitate your products to appear higher in the search results, ultimately increasing their visibility and the likelihood of generating more revenue.

Advanced Amazon product research techniques

Having recognized the significance of Amazon product research, the subsequent step entails examining the methods for executing and leveling these methods up. A few of these include the following:

• Reverse Engineering:

It entails carefully scrutinizing the best-selling products in a specific market segment and disassembling their attributes, constituents, and pricing to construct a comparable or superior product.

Reverse engineering can provide you with invaluable insights into what constitutes a specific product’s success. Subsequently, you can apply this knowledge to design a product that surpasses your competitors.

• Bundling:

It involves grouping related products and selling them at a reduced cost. This approach can be highly effective since it enhances the assessed value of the product and stimulates customers to purchase multiple items at once, increasing the seller’s earnings.

• Keyword research:

When customers visit Amazon to explore products, they enter keywords or phrases pertaining to their desired purchase.

By conducting thorough keyword research, you can discover high-traffic search terms that can increase your product’s visibility to prospective customers. This tactic can enhance the likelihood of attracting customers to your product when they conduct a search.

• Identifying and analyzing competitor products and listings:

Acquiring a comprehensive understanding of the competitive landscape and identifying effective strategies to differentiate your offerings is a crucial step. By evaluating the offerings of your competitors, you can identify opportunities to improve your existing products and establish unique selling points that set your products apart.

• Finding unique or custom products to sell:

There exist numerous products that are not commonly available on Amazon or that can be personalized to meet the specific requirements of clients. If you can find such unique or bespoke products, you will achieve a competitive edge and entice niche markets that might not be adequately served by existing products.

These strategies, when applied effectively, can lead to a significant increase in sales and profits and, ultimately, success on Amazon.

However, it is noteworthy that the online shopping landscape continuously changes, and what was effective in the past may not inevitably be fruitful today. Therefore, you must remain updated on the most recent product research trends and tools, including how to find products to sell on Amazon, to facilitate expanding your business on Amazon.

Identifying and analyzing competitor products and listings

Techniques for identifying and analyzing competitor products and listings

When selling on Amazon, one of the most critical factors determining your success is how well you understand your competition. Taking time to identify and analyze your competitor’s products and listings will help you locate loopholes you can capitalize on to stand out from the crowd.

Below are some proven methods of identifying and analyzing your competitors on Amazon.

• Conduct keyword research:

Look up keywords and phrases related to your product or niche on Amazon. 

Anthony Martin, Founder and CEO of Choice Mutual, adds, “Go through the top results and analyze the listings to see what your competitors are doing – what they are selling, how they are positioning their products, and the specific keywords they are targeting.”

• Use Amazon’s “Customers who bought this also bought” feature:

Many sellers on Amazon still don’t know how useful this feature is in helping to identify related products that their customers are also interested in. You must analyze these products to see if your competitors offer them.

• Utilize Amazon’s “Sponsored Products” ads:

These appear on Amazon’s search results page and are a great way to identify and track your competitors. Study these ads to find out what products your competitors are promoting and what keywords they are targeting.

• Analyze your competitor’s product reviews:

Knowing what customers think about your competitor’s products is invaluable when selling on Amazon. Such reviews may provide detailed insights into consumers’ preferences, empowering you to utilize this data to enhance your product offerings.

Having made significant progress in recognizing your competitors, the next phase involves analyzing their product listings. Here are some crucial elements that you should pay attention to:

• Product title:

In this case, it’s crucial to take a few hints from how your competitors are naming their products. Are they utilizing brief or lengthy titles? Are they integrating their brand name? Or are there any other descriptive terms they are utilizing? Answering these questions will aid you in devising your unique and appealing product title.

• Product Description:

Your product description is the perfect avenue to exhibit and highlight your product’s distinctive characteristics and advantages. You can analyze the product descriptions of your competitors and explore methods to distinguish your products from theirs.

• Images:

To draw the interest of potential buyers swiftly on Amazon result pages, deploying catchy images is crucial. One of the most effective techniques to accomplish this is utilizing exceptional-quality images. It is necessary to look at the images used by your competitors to present their products, compare them with yours, and ascertain if there is room for improvement.

Make an effort to identify and analyze the products and listings of your competitors. You will obtain precious insights that reveal how to find products to sell on Amazon efficiently, including what’s effective in your niche, and give you ideas for enhancing your offerings.

Finding unique or custom products to sell

Strategies for identifying and sourcing unique or custom products

Eric Mills, Owner of Lightning Card Collection, says, “As a novice seller on Amazon, it is essential to steer clear of selling products already excessively saturated with competition. This will help you to minimize the risk of being overshadowed by the already established market players.”

To stand out among the multitude of other Amazon sellers and draw in shoppers searching for something distinct, exclusive, or personalized, it is advisable to discover a means of distinguishing yourself. An excellent approach to achieving this is by finding unique or bespoke items to sell.

However, recognizing and procuring these unique products that can put you ahead of the competition may present a challenge. Below are some suggestions that can steer you in the right direction as you embark on your quest to discover one-of-a-kind or personalized products to sell on Amazon:

• Search for handmade products:

Handmade products hold a significant spot in the hearts of numerous buyers, and these consumers are usually prepared to pay a higher price for them. Websites like Etsy, a platform for vintage and handmade items, offer a wide range of handmade products. Additionally, it’s a good idea to prioritize visiting craft fairs and exhibitions to discover artisans who produce one-of-a-kind products.

• Consider private label products:

Not sure what private label products are? Don’t fret. They are products you don’t manufacture yourself but can be sold under your brand name. After receiving the product, all you have to do is customize it to your taste and make it appealing to customers. 

This strategy can be very effective, primarily when you identify a currently trending product with few customization options.

• Take advantage of online marketplaces:

There are so many online marketplaces, such as DHgate, where you can find reliable suppliers specializing in custom or unique products.

You can ask these suppliers if they offer a range of customization options. Options, such as different colors, sizes, or materials, so you can be creative and bring your unique product to life.

• Work with a designer:

If you have a specific idea in mind for a unique product but need to know how to put the pieces together, you can employ the services of a designer to create a custom design.

Where to find designers? Easy! You can go on sites such as Upwork and Fiverr or attend design conferences and events to network and collaborate with designers in person.

You need to be ready to explore new opportunities and put your creativity to use when trying to learn how to find products to sell on Amazon. These unique products might just be what you need to take your sales game to the next level!

Tips for finding and working with suppliers for custom products

Identifying unique source products can be overwhelming, particularly if you lack experience collaborating with suppliers. Here are some pointers to facilitate and streamline the process of discovering and engaging with manufacturers of bespoke items:

• Know your product requirements:

Before commencing your search for suppliers, it is vital to carry out research. Have a distinct understanding of your product requirements, including the type of material, dimensions, and design you desire.

A clearly outlined product specification will make explaining to potential suppliers what you are looking for easier and ensure you get the exact product you want.

• Check supplier credentials:

When encountering a potential supplier, look at their credentials. It’s imperative to find a supplier with substantial expertise in dealing with your category of merchandise and a favorable reputation in the industry.

• Request samples:

To discover the appropriate supplier, demand samples of products from potential suppliers. This will grant you a glimpse into the quality of their work. Asking for samples should assist you in determining whether you intend to proceed and collaborate with the supplier.

• Negotiate prices:

While collaborating with suppliers, it is crucial to ensure that you negotiate cost-effectively to secure the best deal. Disclose your budget and expectations transparently, and do not be reluctant to negotiate a deal that is favorable to you.

Conclusion

In the world of e-commerce, the competition is intense. Only the most seasoned sellers who implement advanced product research techniques will prosper.

Although traditional product research strategies are still utilized, they possess limitations, and sellers who exclusively rely on them are likely to miss numerous opportunities.

Performing advanced product research requires time, energy, and resources. Sellers must allocate resources to reliable tools and stay current with the most recent advancements to make more informed decisions.

By implementing the strategies detailed in this guide and continuously refining their tactics, sellers will know how to find products to sell on Amazon, maintain a competitive edge, and establish themselves for long-term success in Amazon’s marketplace.

Top 5 Profitable Amazon Product Categories: Find Your Niche Today

If you’re an Amazon seller, you already know that choosing the right product categories can make or break your sales. Some are simply more profitable than others, making it crucial to focus on those that are in high demand and offer good profit margins. In this blog post, we’ll explore the most profitable Amazon product categories and provide some insights into why they’re so successful. 

Finding profitable product categories can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. With tools like Viral Launch’s Product Discovery or Market Intelligence, sellers can quickly and easily identify high-potential products and categories to target. These tools use data-driven insights to help sellers make informed decisions about which products to sell and which markets to target. By leveraging Viral Launch’s expertise and resources, sellers can stay ahead of the competition and maximize their profits on Amazon.

From electronics to toys and games, we’ll cover the categories that are making the biggest impact on Amazon and provide some tips for sellers looking to capitalize on these trends. So, whether you’re just starting out or looking to expand your product offerings, read on to discover the most profitable Amazon product categories.

Top Amazon Product Categories

1. Electronics

When it comes to product categories that are consistently profitable on Amazon, electronics is certainly near the top of the list. Not only are electronics some of the most in-demand products on the platform, but they also offer sellers the potential for high profit margins. In fact, according to a recent report by Jungle Scout, the electronics category was responsible for more than $96.97 billion in sales on Amazon (US) in 2022, making it one of the top selling categories on Amazon.

Within the electronics category, there are a few specific product categories that stand out as Amazon trending products:

  • Laptops: These are a hot commodity, as remote work and online learning continue to drive demand for high-quality, portable computing devices.
  • Smartphone: People upgrade their devices seeking out the latest features and technology. 
  • Smart home technology: Devices like thermostats, security cameras, and voice assistants are increasingly popular.
  • Gaming consoles
  • Headphones
  • Home theater systems

What’s particularly appealing about selling electronics on Amazon is the potential for high profit margins. While it’s true that some electronics can be expensive to source and ship, the demand for these products can make up for the extra cost. Additionally, many electronics have a high retail value, which means that sellers can mark up their prices and still offer competitive pricing. 

Of course, it’s important to research each product category and carefully consider factors like competition and seasonality before diving in. With the right strategy, though, electronics can be a very lucrative Amazon product category.

2. Health and Personal Care

The Health and Personal Care category has emerged as a growing segment on Amazon. With the increase in health awareness among consumers, this category has seen rapid growth in recent years. The convenience of online shopping and competitive pricing offered by Amazon makes it an attractive option for customers looking to purchase health and personal care products.

Some of the best-selling health and personal care products on Amazon include:

  • Vitamins and supplements: Vitamins and supplements category has seen steady growth in recent years, with a wide range of products from various brands. 
  • Personal hygiene products: Shampoo, soap, and toothpaste, etc.
  • Medical equipment: This subcategory has seen significant growth on Amazon, with products like blood pressure monitors, thermometers, and nebulizers being among the best-selling items.

The Health and Personal Care category also has the advantage of the potential for high profit margins. Many of these products have a high markup, making it easier to generate a healthy profit margin. 

However, researching products in the health and personal care category is crucial. As these products may be FDA-regulated, they could require specific labels, disclaimers in their product descriptions, and other selling requirements. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in legal consequences, such as account suspension or even lawsuits, making it imperative for sellers to understand and follow all necessary guidelines. 

3. Home and kitchen 

It is no surprise the Home and Kitchen category is one of the most profitable given the demand for products that make our lives easier and more comfortable. According to Amazon, home and kitchen products have been among the top-selling categories for several years. This category includes a wide range of products from small kitchen appliances to furniture and home decor. In 2021, the category saw a surge in sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as people spent more time at home and invested in their living spaces.

Some of the best-selling home and kitchen categories on Amazon include:

  • Home appliances: Air fryers, coffee makers, and blenders have been trending products on Amazon due to their convenience and functionality.
  • Cooking utensils
  • Home decor 

Sellers can also utilize Amazon’s Best Sellers in Home & Kitchen page to keep track of the top-selling products in this category and stay ahead of the competition.

4. Beauty and Personal Care

The beauty and personal care category is one of the fastest-growing and most profitable categories on Amazon. With the rise of social media and influencer marketing, people are being ”influenced” to invest in high-quality beauty and personal care products. In fact, in 2022, beauty and personal care e-commerce sales more than doubled that of 2019.

Some of the best-selling beauty and personal care categories on Amazon include: 

  • Skincare
  • Hair care: Hair care products, such as shampoos, conditioners, and styling products, are also in high demand, especially those that address specific hair concerns such as hair loss, thinning, and damage.
  • Makeup

With the right strategy, sellers can achieve high profit margins in this category by offering unique and high-quality products that meet the needs and preferences of their target audience.

However, it should be noted that some of these products may also be FDA regulated and require more intensive research. For example, the FDA’s definition of a “medical device” is considerably vague meaning products like facial rollers and electric toothbrushes are regulated. Sellers should be aware of potential restrictions and requirements when selling products in the Beauty and Personal category. For more information on products that have been cleared by the FDA, check out Amazon’s permitted products list.

5. Toys and Games

Toys and games have always been popular on Amazon, especially during the holiday season when people are searching for gifts for their loved ones. 

The toys and games category is a diverse one, with products for children of all ages as well as adults who enjoy playing board games or building sets. The vastness and diversity of this category means more opportunity for sellers regardless of competition. According to eMarketer, the toys and hobby category on Amazon generated $33.38 billion in sales in 2022, and this number is expected to grow in the coming years.

Some of the best-selling toys and games categories on Amazon include: 

  • Action figures
  • Board games
  • Puzzles 

The potential for high profit margins in the toys and games category is significant, especially for products with a loyal fan base or popular licenses. 

Final Thoughts

We’ve covered some of the most profitable Amazon product categories including, electronics, health and personal care, home and kitchen, beauty and personal care, and toys and games. Each category has its unique characteristics and offers potential for success. 

However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. With Viral Launch’s Amazon seller software suite, sellers can further research each category with real-time data to identify profitable opportunities and stay ahead of the competition. Choosing the right product category is crucial to step in the Amazon seller journey. 

Whether you’re new to Amazon or a seasoned seller, it’s essential to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and research each category thoroughly to find the right product to sell. By doing so, you can increase your chances of success and thrive in the ever-changing world of e-commerce.

Free Amazon Chrome Extension for FBA Sellers

Discover how to build, grow and scale your Amazon business with the Market Intelligence, the best Amazon Chrome Extension for sellers.

Is your Amazon research process fully optimized? If you aren’t using the Market Intelligence Chrome extension from Viral Launch, your product research regimen could likely use a boost! Utilizing Viral Launch’s Amazon Chrome Extension for sellers can save you time, effort, and clicks while still providing the powerful data crucial to your business.

At any stage of selling on Amazon, performing product research stands as a constant task. While the data you value most might change, analyzing market trends and checking in on the competition is perhaps the one commonality all Amazon sellers perform, making it a distinctively important part of the selling process.

Due to the numerous data points, complexity, and tedious nature of digging into the data of individual products and segmented markets, it’s no wonder why Amazon sellers often view product research as grunt work.

The importance of product research regarding an Amazon business’s success is why we created Market Intelligence, packed with accurate sales estimates and virtually every key metric about the Amazon marketplace you could ask for. But why the Chrome Extension? It’s simple: to streamline your product research process for maximum efficiency.

What is the Market Intelligence Chrome Extension?

It’s exactly what it sounds like! The industry-leading Market Intelligence tool from Viral Launch has been a favorite for Amazon sellers for years. The Chrome extension lets you bring Market Intelligence directly to Amazon pages. Once you’ve installed the Market Intelligence Chrome extension and have an active subscription including Market Intelligence, you can skim through Amazon and pull up in-depth insights into the marketplace with the click of a button.

This tool provides real-time insights into competitors’ sales and marketing strategies, including pricing, sales volume, and keyword rankings. Armed with this information, sellers can adjust their approach to remain competitive in the marketplace.

Amazon Market Intelligence Chrome Extension: New Features

What data can I find in the Market Intelligence Amazon Chrome Extension for sellers?

AI-powered insights and billions of Amazon data points give a seller’s advantage no other tool can provide. Access historical trends, monthly sales, monthly revenue, keyword search volume, and much more, all while browsing products on Amazon.com. You can use this data to make smart sourcing decisions, discover products that haven’t been found, and start or scale your eCommerce business.

Gain a wide-ranging comprehension of a product market in the Sellers tab.

In the Chrome extension, you’ll find five unique tabs: Sellers, Keywords, Trends, Analysis, and Calculator.

Sellers

The Sellers tab stands as the primary section of the Chrome extension, with the data points found in the standard Market Intelligence tool. When on an Amazon search results page or Product Detail Page, the extension populates information for that product that’s been tracked over time. Brand name, monthly revenue, unit margin, monthly sales, and review quantity are just a fraction of the data in this tab. Additionally, you can track products with the push of a button, which will transfer to your Viral Launch account.

Keywords

The Keywords tab integrates the search volume estimates from Keyword Research for advanced accessibility.

The Keywords tab takes information from our Keyword Research tool, showing a complete list of similar or related keywords on a search page. The most popular data point within Keywords is estimated search volume, with the most accurate estimates driven by our innovative data science. You can find the most popular keywords used to find products like the one you’re searching for, along with the average price, sales, and revenues for each keyword market.

Trends

You can find quick-hitting information about the selected market in the Trends tab. You can quickly see any price changes, the best-selling period, and annual sales trends. At the same time, a chart with years of data tracking shows peaks, valleys, and stagnation points.

While performing product research, it’s easy to make mistakes based on outdated data. As any seller knows, things change quickly. If a product generated sales and search volume in the past but is on a downward trend or has increased competition, your research can do more harm than good. The Trends tab seeks to help avoid these mistakes and help you get a better feel for the trajectory of a product or market.

Analysis

Like a great virtual assistant, the Analysis tab offers AI-generated insights into a market. You can find helpful tips, warnings, and alerts to help make you aware of issues such as seasonality, saturated markets, price declines, and more. Consider the Trends tab an extra set of eyes, offering an enhanced outlook on potential pitfalls. For example, the image below details that Amazon sells products in this market, a helpful tidbit when perusing a market.

Avoid blind spots in your product research with the AI-generated details in the Analysis tab.

Calculator

The Calculator tab lets you calculate fees and potential profit per unit sold. This feature uses industry standards from our FBA Calculator and averages to deliver a rough idea about profitability. Since costs may differ for different sellers, you can edit the numbers if you have a more precise and personalized range of costs for a more accurate approximation.

How much does the Market Intelligence Chrome Extension cost?

It’s free, sorta! Technically, the extension is free and available as an add-on to anyone in the Google Chrome browser. However, if you’re not subscribed to a Viral Launch subscription plan, you’ll quickly find the data inaccessible. Once installed and activated, you’ll be asked to sign in with your Viral Launch credentials. After doing so, you’re ready to take your research outside the Viral Launchpad.

Since the extension is free, it’s something every Viral Launch subscriber should add to their browser extensions.

Conclusion

In summary, the Viral Launch Chrome Extension is a powerful tool for e-commerce sellers looking to streamline their research for maximum efficiency and convenience. With real-time data on product sales, revenue, and profitability, the extension has certainly become a popular choice for entrepreneurs looking to succeed in the competitive world of e-commerce.

Whether you’re a seasoned seller or just getting started, the Viral Launch Chrome extension is a tool that can help you achieve your goals and grow your business on Amazon. Thus, if you haven’t already, download the Market Intelligence Amazon Chrome extension for sellers today and incorporate it into your Amazon research tool set!

7 of the Best Amazon Seller Tools To Boost Sales

“A carpenter is only as good as their tools.” – unknown origin. The same goes for amazon seller tools.

While we won’t claim to know much about carpentry, we can confidently say this quote is just as applicable regarding selling on Amazon.

It’s simply unrealistic to expect to do run an Amazon business without some help.

Fortunately, there’s no shortage of Amazon seller tools to help you save time, stress less, and skyrocket sales.

But not all tools are created equally. To help you efficiently run your business, here are a few of the best Amazon seller tools to optimize your process!

Glorify

Consider Glorify to be your one-stop-shop for product images. With its background-removing tool, a massive collection of stock images and models, and templates created for Amazon, Shopify, Instagram, and many other e-commerce platforms in mind, Glorify is the perfect tool for anyone who needs product photography.

Just as Canva makes graphic design a breeze for novices, Glorify simplifies product photography for e-commerce entrepreneurs. Designed to fit the needs and wants of online brands, Glorify is a time-saving, sales-converting necessity.

Glorify is everything you need for photo-editing

It’s no wonder 51,000+ entrepreneurs utilize Glorify for their design needs. With their tools, you can handle all of your product photography needs other than taking the actual pictures. Speaking of which…

Dripped Image Product Photography

A sample of Dripped Image’s portfolio

When creating your Amazon listing, the value of product photography cannot be understated. In the old days of Amazon? Sure, you could skimp on high-quality product images and still pick up sales. But in 2021? High-resolution, professional images are a necessity for any seller looking for long-lasting success.

But not just any photographer will do. You’ll want a photographer with experience in e-commerce. One who knows the value of eye-catching product photography that shows how a product might be used.

That brings us to Dripped Image.

Photographer/owner Jason Weller has plenty of product photography experience under his belt, in addition to years capturing sports, concerts, and events from around the world with his camera. The result? Professional-quality photos that highlight the best of your product and lifestyles that wouldn’t feel out of place in a prestige magazine.

Alibaba

Although simple, it’s vital to remember one of the foundational elements of a successful product is the product itself. You can do everything right to identify a winning product idea, create a product listing with captivating images and search engine optimized copy, and perform advanced advertising strategies. But if you have a crummy product, you’ll likely be inundated with negative reviews and experience dwindling sales.

Thus, it’s critical that you find a manufacturer or supplier that you can trust to deliver a quality product and work with to make improvements.

Ironically, Alibaba appears much like Amazon, but for Amazon sellers.

Alibaba became one of the world’s largest companies, largely on the strength of its B2B e-commerce platform. Buyers choose from hundreds of importers and exporters worldwide to find their ideal product.

The sheer size of Alibaba’s marketplace makes it convenient for Amazon sellers looking for a perfect supplier.

[RELATED: 11 Tips to Source Best Selling Products on Amazon]

The Amazon Seller App

Selling on Amazon is an incredible opportunity for those with the entrepreneurial spirit and attitude, and has paved the way for countless people to make their dreams come true and find financial freedom.

So it only makes sense that the go-getter ethos of entrepreneurs can lead to intense competition in the pursuit of perfection. As a result, that commitment and determination can lead to constant tinkering and monitoring of your store’s performance. And unlike traditional retail stores, your store is open 24/7/365.

Thus, you’ll want to keep an eye on the many aspects of running a business when away from the computer screen.

The Amazon seller app lets you take many aspects of managing your Amazon business from Seller Central with you everywhere you go.

Use the Amazon Seller app to track sales, fulfill orders, find products to sell, respond to customer questions, capture and edit professional-quality product photos, and create listings—all from your phone.

Amazon

Thankfully, the Amazon seller app lets you manage your business so you can live your best life!

Viral Launch

With the wide variety of responsibilities on an Amazon seller’s plate, a true one-stop-shop just isn’t realistic. However, Viral Launch has you covered when it comes to reliably accurate product and market research.

Viral Launch’s data-packed Market Intelligence tool

Whether you’re starting on Amazon and looking for your first product or managing a sizable catalog of ASINs, Viral Launch’s comprehensive software suite can help you make intelligent decisions backed by a treasure trove of Amazon data.

For those looking for a profitable product to sell, the Product Discovery tool reverse engineers results based on filters you apply based on your goals and resources. Our most popular tool, Market Intelligence, provides continuously updated sales data that sellers can peruse to be a master of their market.

Once you’ve found your product idea, utilize Keyword Research to find a complete keyword list to maximize SEO and experiment with your listing in Listing Builder. Track your rivals with Competitor Intelligence to know their every move so you can counter strategically. Automate and optimize PPC campaigns in Kinetic and monitor your rank performance by keyword with Listing Analyzer.

With thoughtfully integrated tools, Viral Launch truly is a one-stop-shop for Amazon product research. With pricing packages catered to your needs based on where you are in your Amazon journey, you don’t need to spend an arm and a leg to gain that numerical advantage.

Simply put, Viral Launch’s Amazon seller tools offer almost everything a seller could ask for. In business, there’s no greater advantage than the statistical advantage.

Listing Dojo

Split Testing tests potential changes and provides data for you to optimize multiple aspects of your listing.

One of the most anxiety-inducing facets of running a business is understanding the possibility that you’re not maximizing your potential.

“Is my hero image costing me sales? Would a price decrease significantly boost sales and increase profitability? Would tweaking the product title lead to more traffic?“

These are just a few of the countless questions you may have about your Amazon product listings. Implementing significant changes to your listing can be nerve-wracking due to the unknown outcome. Luckily, you can find the answers with actual results by split testing in smaller doses with Listing Dojo.

With Listing Dojo, you can let the data make the decisions. Listing Dojo allows you to run tests on your listing’s title, price, images, or description. As you run the split testing, you’ll be able to see how these changes are impacting your bottom line. Once the tests have run for an appropriate amount of time (recommended: 7 day minimum), you’ll have informative reports comparing and contrasting each’s performance. You may be surprised at how one minor tweak can impact your bottom line.

Moreover, Listing Dojo is entirely free, making it a no-brainer for maximizing profitability.

The Empire Flippers Valuation Tool

The topic of selling your Amazon business is one we’ve tackled recently, and the business valuation tool from Empire Flippers is the best starting point you’ll find. You can fill out their brief form at no cost, and they’ll run the numbers for your company evaluation.

Within minutes, you can discover your business’s estimated valuation to consider if selling is right for you.

Once you’ve received your valuation, you receive a breakdown that operates as a SWOT analysis for your valuation. , the tool provides automatic feedback to help you understand your valuation at a categoric level. Consequently, you can keep that feedback in mind as you advance your business.

An innovator in the e-commerce business transaction industry, Empire Flippers is as trustworthy as they come. Whether considering selling your business or not, every seller should take a few minutes to understand their business a little better from a buyer’s perspective. And if selling sounds right for you, you can certainly entrust the Empire Flippers team to guide you through the process.

In conclusion, these Amazon seller tools are among the many that can make life easier. What Amazon seller tools have been a tremendous asset for you? Let us know in the comments!

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Ways to Start, Grow, or Scale Your Amazon Business with $1400

As the largest and latest round of stimulus checks make their way into bank accounts across the USA, we take a look into how you can use it as an investment into your business.

According to the IRS, about 90 million Americans were sent their $1,400 stimulus checks on Wednesday alone, with more to be sent in the coming weeks.

The newfound financial flexibility creates opportunities previously not afforded for those fortunate enough to receive the $1,400 as “extra” money. One popular way to view the stimulus check is as an avenue into investing, but investing isn’t limited to stocks.

Instead of investing in another company, why not invest in your own?

Whether you’re a longtime seller, beginner, or considering leaping into FBA, there are plenty of ways to rejuvenate or jumpstart your Amazon business with $1,400. By investing in your e-commerce business, you could easily turn your stimulus check into a long-term money-making machine.

[YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN: 10 Ways You Can Make Money with Amazon]

We should mention this isn’t necessarily a guide. Every seller’s journey is different. The options we’ll highlight below are merely a few options you may want to consider. With prudent planning, these options present a promising opportunity for you to get a great return on investment from your stimulus check.

Without further ado, let’s dive into it!

Elevate Your Product Research Game

When it comes to selling on Amazon (and in most aspects of life), having the luxury of reliable data to base your decisions on is a tremendous luxury. For Amazon sellers, this is made possible through product research.

Whether you’ve yet to begin your FBA journey or have a catalog full of successful products, product research is crucial for sustained profitability. When you have access to comprehensive market data, it’s almost like having the answers to a test.

While reliable Amazon sales data is crucial at all stages, it’s especially vital for beginners. The research that goes into deciding upon your first product serves as a foundational aspect of your Amazon career. Choosing to source and sell a product without conducting intensive research with data you can trust is a surefire way to make your first product your last product.

So if you’re beginning to look into FBA, test out a few software providers. Most software providers will offer a free trial, giving you time to see if they’re right for you.

How to Find Successful Amazon Products with Viral Launch

Feel free to test trials from different software providers simultaneously to compare and contrast the data. If you notice any inconsistencies, don’t be shy. Ask their customer service team how they arrive at their numbers. With such an important decision that can pay off handsomely, don’t leave any stones unturned.

Aspiring Amazon entrepreneurs aren’t the only ones who can take their product research game up a notch. Often, Amazon sellers don’t utilize all tools within their toolset.

Whether there are underutilized tools in your current software plan or an opportunity to upgrade your plan for additional access, there’s no better time than now to explore unfamiliar tools. Amazon is constantly evolving, so sellers must evolve with it.

Boost Your Business with Captivating Creatives

It’s springtime! You know what that means. Spring cleaning!

For Amazon sellers, the seasonal cleaning isn’t limited to dusting ceiling fans, clearing out the refrigerator, and giving your home a good deep cleaning. It may be worth considering if your listing creatives are due for an upgrade.

Do your listing’s copy and product photography abide by Amazon requirements and follow the style guidelines? Is your competition doing something with their photos that seems to be working? Are you maximizing your visibility by having a keyword-optimized product listing, or are you missing out on indexation for keywords customers are using to products like yours?

These are just a few of the questions you should ask yourself when considering updating your creatives.

Even if your product photography is in tip-top shape, additional photos can still provide plenty of benefits for your business. For example, possessing extra product images opens the door for creative advertising.

One way you can spruce up your advertising with enhanced photos is Amazon Posts, a relatively new option to increase brand visibility. Amazon Posts is a social media-like platform within Amazon that allows brand registered sellers to flex their advertising muscle. Appearing on product detail pages selected by Amazon, brands get the ever-important chance to poach customers from competing listings.

How Amazon Posts appears to shoppers.

The best thing about Amazon Posts? It’s totally free. Well, submitting your Posts is free, anyway. You’ll still want professional photos capable of enticing customers to earn a click. Since Amazon Posts is somewhat new, it’s flying under the radar of many sellers, but can be an incredibly efficient weapon for stealing customers from the competition.

Additionally, having extra photos come in handy if you sell outside of Amazon or may consider selling elsewhere at a later time.

Lastly, having extra photos at your disposal provides an even better opportunity to experiment for peak optimization. Once you’ve got premium product photography, don’t forget to split test! With a plethora of split testing sites to choose from, it’s an easy step to maximize your conversions and profitability!

Flex Your Marketing Muscle with PPC

Another great way to invest your stimulus money into your business is by using it to take the next step with Amazon PPC (pay-per-click) advertising.

Although Amazon debuted PPC advertising in 2012, it has grown considerably over the last 2-3 years and shows no sign of slowing down. With Amazon expected to net nearly $13 billion in advertising in the United States marketplace alone, the company has every reason to continue pushing and developing PPC.

Whether this means finally taking that PPC course, creating your first campaign, or trying out an unexplored ad type, doing it with a bonus $1,400 makes it a prime opportunity to experiment with PPC.

For sellers currently selling, it especially makes sense to test out new campaigns now as plenty of customers are flush with their stimulus money and tax season right around the corner.

Want to know more about Amazon PPC? Enroll in our FREE PPC Playbook Course.

After all, you’re not the only one receiving the stimulus. More customers shopping with more money is a recipe for more customer searches. As your product appears more frequently through search and on competitor listings, the sample size for your campaigns grows larger and, thus, more reliable.

Fortunately, the options are flexible for you regarding your PPC campaigns. Set your budgets as low or as high as you feel comfortable with, and barring disaster, let them run until the reporting data begins to stabilize. Once they’ve matured, you’ll have real data on your performance that you can use to optimize to your advantage.

Scale Your Store by Expanding Your Brand

Suppose you feel like you’ve squeezed nearly all the juice you can out of a product. First off, congratulations! It’s every Amazon sellers’ goal to reach and maintain peak performance, but what do you do once you’ve achieved it? For many, it can be a never-ending pursuit of perfection.

However, it may be more beneficial to scale your brand by finding your next home run. Think of your stimulus check as $1,400 off the development of your next product, and this becomes especially beneficial.

Of course, this entirely depends on your goals, resources, and risk appetite. Ideally, the learning curve for launching a new product shortens with each new product. If you’ve built a strong brand on Amazon, the likelihood of your next product being a success increases exponentially.

Instead of squeezing every penny possible out of your current storefront, dig into your sales reporting numbers and do your best to determine the best course of action for your business.

In Conclusion

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to supercharge your Amazon business! Whether jumpstarting your entrepreneurial career or looking to take your existing e-commerce operation up a notch, investing in your business with your stimulus money could provide an excellent, long-lasting return on investment.

No matter what you decide to do with your stimulus money, enjoy it! Without a doubt, extra cash in your pocket is nice. But creating long-lasting, sustainable sources of income is even better.

Thanks for reading! Want Amazon news sent directly to your inbox? Just drop your email below.

Amazon Market Intelligence Chrome Extension: New Features

With Viral Launch’s Market Intelligence Chrome Extension, discovering insights into product markets directly on Amazon has never been easier. And it just got even better.

In the latest version of our chrome Amazon extension, we’ve pushed major updates to conveniently elevate your product research to new heights!

Without further ado…

Introducing The Keywords Tab

We’ve added a Keywords tab with key metrics from our Keyword Research tool in addition to the four existing tabs (Sellers, Trends, Analysis, and Calculator). Open up the Keywords tab when examining a page of Amazon search results or on an individual ASIN’s page, and you’ll see the following updates:

Related Search Terms

Using our proprietary ARCS algorithm and powerful collection of Keyword Research data, the extension now provides related search terms for you.

For example, researching “couch pillows” might come in handy. However, the search term “throw pillows” generates more than triple the search volume and would be a better primary keyword to use for your research.

Too often, sellers make the mistake of performing product research under a secondary or tertiary search term instead of the primary keyword. With this feature, you can now avoid making that mistake by quickly comparing search volume estimates for a handful of the most relevant search terms for the keyword.

Google Trends Integration

Think you’ve spotted an emerging trend? Use Google Trends to validate ideas beyond the Amazon marketplace in just a click.

On top of receiving access to our Amazon search volume estimates, you can now check Google Trends to see how in-demand a search term is outside of Amazon. Under the displayed search term, just click on the Trends icon to see search interest directly from the company synonymous with search.

While we stand firmly behind Amazon search volume estimates being the most significant consumer demand indicator, we also believe the more data available at your fingertips, the better equipped you are.

Why do we recommend Amazon search volume estimates? Easy. While Amazon and Google are both search engines, they serve two entirely different purposes. Google’s mission is to organize information and make information universally accessible; Amazon search takes you to a marketplace.

At the very core, Amazon searches are done with buyer intent, while Google searches are made to learn. However, Google trends data can help determine seasonal interest and provide another avenue of product research for the growing number of Amazon sellers expanding their brand beyond the confines of the Amazon marketplace.

Scout Your Competitors Like Never Before

We’ve incorporated our reverse ASIN lookup tool, Competitor Intelligence, into our chrome Amazon extension so you can uncover how an individual ASIN is performing across crucial keywords.

When running the chrome Amazon extension on a product page, the Keywords tab quickly compiles the organic rank for the selected ASIN.

Now you can instantly dig deeper into the performance of competitors! Knowing where the competition is succeeding and where opportunities exist helps you stay one step ahead and fast-track your Amazon success.

For an even more comprehensive look into your competitors and how they’re ranking on a keyword-by-keyword basis, be sure to add the competing ASIN into Competitor Intelligence for a deep dive into their performance.

The Market Intelligence extension is free to add to your Chrome browser. However, you’ll need a subscription to our Essentials package to earn access to the abundance of impactful data that has helped thousands with their product research.

Lastly, drop your email below to receive the latest Viral Launch product updates and Amazon news in your inbox!

The Viral Launch Black Friday & Cyber Monday Special

Thanks to sellers, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the most anticipated shopping dates on the calendar.

At Viral Launch, we believe the sellers deserve a deal too!

That’s why we’re offering them 50% off the first month of Pro monthly, our most popular plan.

What’s included in a Pro Monthly subscription? Everything you need to find winning products, be a master of your market, and keep tabs on your listing’s performance. Whether you’re looking for your first product to source and sell or an FBA veteran, our Pro plan has everything you need for every step of the way.

With a Pro Seller plan, you’ll receive access to SEVEN insightful tools to take the next steps in your FBA journey:

  • Product Discovery: Quickly uncover brilliant product ideas to start selling on Amazon! With 4 unique search types and plenty of filters, sellers can reverse engineer product ideas that align with their goals and resources.
  • Market Intelligence: Master your market to ensure your product’s success! Gain access to the most accurate sales estimates along with price, and review trend data to understand the market and validate product ideas.
  • Keyword Research: Eliminate the guesswork with the most accurate search volume estimate data available. Search for a product and instantly see a list of all related keywords with current and historical search data.
  • Competitor Intelligence: Know the competition better than they know themselves with our cutting-edge reverse ASIN lookup tool. Find out what they’re doing right or wrong and use that info to optimize your listing, ads, and more.
  • Listing Builder: Craft an SEO-optimized product listing designed to convert with our time-saving tool. With a comprehensive keyword list to draw from and real-time feedback with our Optimization Score, anybody can create their listing’s copy like a pro!
  • Listing Analyzer: Never miss out on a sale due to a lousy listing ever again! The innovative tool provides data-based feedback and performs a SWOT analysis to make sure every aspect of your listing is top-notch.
  • Keyword Manager: Uncover cutting-edge keyword analytics such as index checks, organic and ad rank tracking, search volume trends, badge notifications, and keyword scores.

But this deal won’t last forever! Lock this in before the end of day on Cyber Monday 2020 to gain access to the seller tools powering some of Amazon’s most successful sellers.

February Feature Updates With Lasting Impacts for Your Business

Imagine signing into a single platform that fully equips you to build a successful e-commerce brand through innovative solutions and data-driven automation. This is our mission here at Viral Launch, and we work tirelessly towards making this a reality for you.

Some people may call our team “obsessive.” But hey, we’ll take it as a compliment. We’re obsessive about data. Obsessive about innovating. Obsessive about driving real results for your brand. And because we are so invested in truly driving success for our customers, we want our tools to be as effective and user-friendly as possible. To achieve this, we release product improvements and bug fixes every single day.

Most recently, we made a few game-changing updates to our newest tool, Competitor Intelligence, along with pushing a few other notable improvements to our other seller software.

8 Notable Updates to the Viral Launch Software Suite in February

1. BSR Added to Rank Trend Graphs

Competitor Intelligence, Keyword Manager

Have you ever wondered which keywords are driving sales for you or your competitors? With this update, you can view the correlation between BSR and keyword rank, which gives you insight into how heavily the product’s sales depend on that specific keyword’s ranking. If the historical BSR trend closely resembles that keyword’s rank trend, you can conclude that an important portion of sales are being driven through that keyword.

For example, let’s say you sell fish oil. Looking at your product’s historical data in Keyword Manager, you see that your organic keyword rank dropped significantly for the keyword “burpless fish oil,” but your BSR remained relatively consistent. Here, you can infer that not many sales were being driven through that keyword. But if your keyword rank dropped for “fish oil,” and your BSR dropped along with it, you know that “fish oil” is an important sales-driving keyword for you. The more similar the trends, the more your sales depend on that specific keyword. This same method can be applied to competitor ASINs in Competitor Intelligence.

Close correlation
No substantial correlation

To find which keywords are driving sales for your products or competing products:

  1. Toggle on “track” in Keyword Manager or Competitor Intelligence for keywords you’re interested in
  2. Click the blue “Org. Rank” or “Spons. Rank”
  3. Toggle on BSR

2. ‘Your Keyword Rank’ Comparisons to Your Competitor’s Rank

Competitor Intelligence

Tracking your competitor’s keyword rank is a great way to understand their strategy and revenue-driving keywords. This update allows you to take it one step further by viewing your organic keyword rank side-by-side in a brand new column called “Your Rank.” This way, you can visualize which keywords your competitor is out-ranking you on to take action.

3. CPC Suggested Bid Enhancements for Greater Accuracy

Keyword Manager and Competitor Intelligence

Did you know that Amazon may suggest a different advertising bid for your product vs. a very similar product? Your suggested CPC bid is dependent upon a number of factors (basically, Amazon is going to prioritize products that convert over those that do not). For this reason, we typically show a generic suggested CPC bid, or one that is not specific to any individual product. However, with a recent update to Keyword Manager, you will now see your product’s suggested CPC bid, tailored to your specific ASIN directly from Amazon. Plus, if you have linked your product in Competitor Intelligence, you will also see this enhanced, tailored suggested CPC bid. Three cheers for increased accuracy! 🤓

4. Real Sales Data instead of Estimates for Your Linked Products

Competitor Intelligence

In Competitor Intelligence, you can view your ASIN and a competitor’s ASIN side-by-side through linking your product. This allows you to compare and contrast your organic keyword rank, price, units sold, review rate, and more. With this update, instead of seeing sales estimates for your product, you will now see your real sales data pulled from MWS access for your units sold, revenue, and net profit, which allows you to more confidently measure your success and strategize for the future.

5. Faster Keyword Load Times

Competitor Intelligence

When plugging in a competitor’s ASIN to get a list of their relevant keywords, you previously had to wait for all results to load before getting started with your competitor keyword research. We’ve now optimized performance so that you can start researching right away while results come in as loaded.

6. Adding Keywords to Your Bank in Bulk

Competitor Intelligence

You can track other brand’s ASINs in Competitor Intelligence, but to track your own ASINs, you’ll want to use Listing Analyzer. As you’re completing your competitive research in CI, you’ll come across keywords that you may be interested in tracking for your own products. In the past, you could add competitor keywords one-by-one to your Keyword Manager bank in order to track them for yourself. But with this update, you can now select multiple competitor keywords and add them to your product’s bank all at once!

7. ASIN Tracking from Your Competing and Complementary Products

Listing Analyzer

Amazon recently released new targeting options for Sponsored Product campaigns. The Product Targeting feature allows you to choose specific products to target placements for your sponsored ads, which changes the way you manage your campaigns and helps shoppers find your products on detail pages. In January, we added a Competing and Complementary Products tab to Listing Analyzer. By understanding your listing, we’ll give you a list of suggested products for you to target where you may convert well. And recently, we added the ability for you to easily track these suggested products in Competitor Intelligence. To utilize this update, simply click the three “more options” dots next to the product, and click Track in Competitor Intelligence.

8. Tutorial Videos Added to Better Understand the Tools

Competitor Intelligence

Because there are so many features and capabilities in our 7 seller tools, it can be overwhelming at times. Each feature is thoughtfully integrated, and by fully understanding each tool, you can harness the power of the entire suite to have massive impacts on your bottom line. Of course, our goal is to equip you with the data and insights you need. But beyond that, we want to enable you to utilize the full functionality of each and every tool. So, we’ve added additional tutorial videos to Competitor Intelligence, and we will continue adding how-to’s and walkthroughs on the Viral Launch YouTube channel.

Two bonus enhancements to improve your Viral Launch experience:

  • We now auto-refresh keyword analysis when you track an ASIN with data more than seven days old in Competitor Intelligence
  • We pushed an update to your tracked keyword quota in Competitor Intelligence and Listing Analyzer; we now deduct per unique keyword across all of your products to ensure you’re getting everything you pay for.

Pro Tips: Unlocking the Full Value of Your Subscription

Most people understand the basics of what is available inside of each Viral Launch tool. But for those that truly understand the deep-rooted capabilities, the impact to their business is absolutely game-changing. For example, you may know that Competitor Intelligence allows you to track a competitor’s keyword rank, but did you know it can also be used as a powerful hijacker monitoring tool for your own product?

Your subscription is a treasure chest that you’ve already uncovered; we want to help you unlock the value inside. To get the most out of your Viral Launch subscription, here are three Pro Tips.

  • Hijacker Monitoring: Plug in your own product ASIN to Competitor Intelligence, head to Manage Notifications, and turn on Buy Box Owner Change alerts. And wa-lah, you’ve just set up hijacker monitoring! You’ll get an email immediately if/when another seller takes the buy box from you.
  • Monitor Your Competitor’s Product Strategy: To stay in the loop on strategic changes your top competition is making to their product offering, head to Competitor Intelligence and turn on product notifications. You can specify when you want to receive an email notification about changes to their Best Seller Rank, sales quantity, review quantity and rating, price, and buy box ownership. If you notice a strategic and successful pattern, you can implement a similar strategy for your own product.
  • Product Targeting Suggestions: We mentioned this briefly, but the Competing and Complementary Products tab in Listing Analyzer makes it quick and easy to get started with product targeting, saving you time by cutting down on manual research so you can make smart decisions quickly. Using this feature, you can discover complementary products frequently bought together, identify competitor products in your keyword markets, and sort/filter by products with high sales to maximize your ad’s exposure.

“No excuses. No explanation. You don’t win on emotion. You win on execution.” -Tony Dungy

What is the biggest difference between you and the brands sitting atop page one for your main keywords? Time in the market? Budget? Expertise?

There will always be a reason not to push harder for your brand’s success. The competition is too big. They’re too good. They’re too far ahead. But you can compete, even with your toughest competitors. You just need a competitive advantage that they won’t see coming.

Here at Viral Launch, our team of around 70 go-getters work hard every day – innovating, analyzing, building – to equip you with the data, insights, and automation you need to rise to the top of your market and then replicate the process over and over again. These updates are more than just tool improvements; they’re our way of contributing to your brand’s success – because at the end of the day, your success is our success.

Check out all of the new capabilities in your Viral Launchpad, and let us know what you think! We thrive on your feedback, and the best feature updates are ones that are sourced from sellers like you.

See the New Features Live


Sell FDA Regulated Products on Amazon

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees the regulation of products, medicines, and foods that affect public health – and that includes products sold on Amazon. Even though a product may check all of the boxes – low competition, affordable manufacturing costs, high demand – the risks of running afoul of a federal agency may cancel out the rewards of selling FDA regulated products on Amazon.

As a general rule, anything that has not been cleared for over-the-counter use by the FDA or is considered dangerous by the FDA is barred from being sold on Amazon. But what about products that might or might not have FDA restrictions? Are derma rollers medical devices? Is hand soap a cosmetic? How can you be sure that your product fulfills both the legal requirements of the FDA and the selling policies of Amazon?

For private label sellers, understanding this information and integrating it into product research is crucial for avoiding disastrous financial consequences. Listen to our recent podcast for more details on selling in restricted and niche markets. 

Am I Selling FDA Regulated Products?

Generally speaking, the FDA is in charge of regulating foods, drugs and biologics, medical devices, electronic products that give off radiation, cosmetics, animal drugs, and tobacco products. Some of these products need FDA approval before being sold, and others do not. All of these FDA regulated products fall into Amazon restricted categories.

Categories that require the most regulation from the FDA – tobacco products, drugs, biologics, animal drugs and foods – are outright prohibited or require special permission to sell on Amazon. We will focus on products that do not need FDA approval and may be easier for private label sellers to market successfully.

Keep in mind that these products are restricted by Amazon and may have additional requirements other than those stated in this blog. Amazon takes restricted categories very seriously. If you list a restricted product without the proper FDA approval or complying to listing guidelines for that category, you could permanently lose your Amazon selling privileges.

Label Requirements

All Amazon products, even those that do not require FDA approval before being sold, must follow certain labelling guidelines:

  • Labels must not state that the products cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent a disease (this includes conditions like dandruff and acne) in humans unless that statement is approved by the FDA
  • Labels must not state that the product is “FDA Approved” if it is not FDA approved
  • Labels must not use the FDA logo

The FDA logo is for federal government use only. Displaying the logo on a product, a product’s label, or a listing detail page may violate federal law and will likely lead to the removal of the listing from Amazon as well as to possible legal consequences.

The FDA logo cannot be used to suggest the FDA endorses a product or service. We have seen Amazon remove many listings that do not follow guidelines.

Third party sellers must ensure that their manufacturer understands these Amazon labelling guidelines, especially since they often do not get a chance to see the finished product until it has already been manufactured. And though it may be tempting to use “FDA Approved” to advertise the safety and effectiveness of your product, misleading buyers can lead to negative reviews and returned orders, which in turn can cause your seller account to be suspended. It is always better to be open and honest about a product’s functionality and to rely on keyword optimization and advertising strategies, rather than false claims, to gather reviews and boost sales.

Medical Devices

All sellers are permitted to list medical devices that are authorized by the FDA for over-the-counter purchase that are not otherwise restricted and are appropriately described and labeled. All products that have not been cleared for over-the-counter use, are considered dangerous, or have been recalled by the FDA are barred from being sold on Amazon.

Medical devices that do not need approval and can be marketed by all sellers include:

  • Eyeglass frames
  • Tanning devices
  • Otoscopes
  • Ionized or ionic bracelets
  • Personal Sound Amplification Products (PSAPs)

For sellers in the Professional Health Care Program, the list of permitted products is more extensive and includes Class I, II, and Class III medical devices that have been cleared by the FDA, like tongue depressors, powered wheelchairs, and some pregnancy tests.

Some products ride a fine line between being considered a medical device or not. Derma rollers, for example, are commonly used to treat acne scars. But the FDA considers any device that treats a disease or condition, like acne, to be a medical device. In addition, features like the length of the needles and method of use could cause a derma roller to be classified as a medical device. To avoid breaking FDA regulations, both the seller and the manufacturer must be careful of how they make and describe the product.

Dietary Supplements

Dietary supplements do not require FDA approval before going on the market. The only exceptions are supplements that contain a new dietary ingredient, in which case the manufacturers are required to notify the FDA at least 75 days before selling.

Amazon requires that supplements be correctly described and labelled. Most importantly, supplements cannot make structure-function claims on their labeling or listing, unless the claim has been approved by the FDA. Structure-function phrases make claims that the product can affect the structure or function of the body. This includes phrases like “reduces pain” “anti-bacterial” and “fights Parkinson’s Disease.”

If the label includes structure-function claims, the manufacturer must submit a notification to the FDA and include a disclaimer on the label that states the product has not been reviewed by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent any disease. Any content on the listing that includes these claims must also have the disclaimer.

Cosmetics

The FDA does not approve perfumes, makeup, moisturizers, shampoos, hair dyes, hair relaxers, face and body cleansers, shaving preparations, or ingredients within those cosmetics. The only ingredient that has FDA oversight is color additives (an extensive list of additives can be found here). The FDA also monitors reports of adverse reactions to these products.

Some cosmetics may count as drugs, and would therefore require FDA approval. Products that intend to make people more attractive are generally classified as cosmetics, but if a product intends to affect the structure or function of the skin or body, it is classified as a drug or even a medical device. Soap has its own set of definitions and may be monitored by a separate regulatory committee.

For example, Face Cream A claims to make people more attractive by making wrinkles less noticeable: it would be classified as a cosmetic. Face Cream B claims to remove wrinkles or increase collagen: it would be classified as a drug or a medical device. Even if Face Cream B could not actually remove wrinkles or increase collagen, the claim alone is enough to cause the product to be reclassified and fall under FDA scrutiny (this is why avoiding structure-function claims in your product listing is so important!)

Amazon prohibits the sale of cosmetics that have been determined to present “an unreasonable risk of injury or illness” to users. If you are unsure as to whether your product falls under this category, a complete list of prohibited items can be found in Seller Central.

Medical Foods

Medical foods are used to manage a disease or health condition that requires special nutritional needs. This includes gluten-free foods, but does not include meal replacements, diet shakes, or products for the management of diabetes which can be managed by modifying a normal diet. Medical foods are intended to be used under the supervision of a technician. If your food product is gluten-free but is not intended for the management of Celiac disease, it cannot be marketed as such and does not fall under this category.

The FDA does not have to approve medical foods before they are marketed, but medical food manufacturers must comply with other requirements including good manufacturing practices (GMP). Medical foods do not have to include nutrition information on their labels, but the same substance-function claim restrictions apply.

Final Thoughts on Selling FDA Regulated Products

Because private label sellers do not manufacture their products themselves, it is more likely that they will be penalized for not complying with Amazon restricted category listing guidelines rather than for going against FDA violations. But the FDA can take regulatory action if safety issues arise with a product after it has been sold, which could be disastrous for a seller’s reputation. These requirements are as much for the seller’s safety as for buyers.

All of these regulations prove just how important product research is to becoming a successful seller on Amazon. Of course, the easiest way to stay out of trouble would be to choose an unrestricted product that does not need FDA approval in the first place. Luckily there are millions of profitable products just waiting to be discovered.

If you decide to move forward with selling FDA regulated products, do not hesitate to reach out to us for market research tools, listing optimization services, and more. At Viral Launch, we want to provide you with all the information you need to become successful on Amazon. For more on Amazon selling strategies, we encourage you to subscribe to our blog, check out our Youtube channel, and listen to our Follow the Data podcast.

How You Can Find Products to Sell on Amazon

Amazon’s FBA program provides an incredible opportunity for driven individuals to make money online with a small upfront investment. Amazon is a well-established platform where hundreds of thousands of shoppers go every day to purchase products.

If someone buys your product, Amazon will pack and ship the item with their guaranteed 2-day delivery. All you have to do is find a product to source, list it on Amazon, and convince shoppers to purchase.

Sounds easy enough. But not all products are created equal. The price point might be too low or competition too high.  These factors can leave you stuck paying Amazon’s storage fees for inventory that won’t sell.  If you want to reap all the rewards of the Amazon FBA program, you must pick a product with potential. Here’s how to find products to sell on Amazon.

1. Generate Ideas for Products to Sell on Amazon

Before you can dive in and start evaluating potential profit for a market, you need a handful of product ideas. Think of small items that are within Amazon’s standard size requirements—18” x 14” x 8”—and are mechanically and electronically simple.

PRODUCT MARKET: A product market refers to the products that appear on a search result page for a keyword.

Most people want to start with something that is easy to manufacture and lightweight to ship. You also want to find an item that sells at a good price point between $15 and $30. Don’t feel boxed in by these criteria, but this is a great first step to find products to sell on Amazon.

You can walk around your house or the store to look at the items and start writing a list. You can also browse on Amazon to try to find ideas to add to your list. Or to quickly find a list of profitable ideas, you can use a product finder tool, like the Viral Launch Product Discovery tool.

Product finders are really helpful because they allow you to filter for the kind of product you want to sell.  For example, you can filter a product in a certain category or one that sells about 1,000 units a month.   It allows you to specify several filters within the tool and see catered results that are much more likely to be favorable markets.

You can get a pretty good list going by just looking around your house. But when you do your market research, you might find that all of the ideas on your list have too low of a price point. And then you’re back to square one. With a product finder, the product ideas that you’re starting with are much more likely to end up being ideal markets. For more information on how to use Product Discovery to find product ideas, check out our Product Discovery strategy guide videos.

2. Do Market Research

Once you have a list of product ideas, it’s time to do market research to make sure the market is favorable. You can try to do this manually, but with affordable tools like our market research software, Market Intelligence, there’s really no reason for the extra work.

A market research tool will quickly gather all the data for an Amazon product market for you. You can see estimated monthly sales, price point, number of reviews, etc. And with Market Intelligence, you can see sales, price, and review trends as well. Trends are helpful because they can show you whether a market is on the up and up or if it’s declining.

Market research helps you ensure success for your products to sell on Amazon. You want to know that you will achieve sales and make your money back multiple times over. As you look at the markets for the products on your idea list, here are a few things you’ll want to look for:

    • Monthly Sales: Typically, well-priced products with about 1,000 monthly sales per product provide great revenue for someone just getting started. However, if you are looking at a product with a higher price point, lower monthly sales may be just as lucrative.
    • Price: Products that sell for about $15 – $30 are the sweet spot for new private label sellers. They offer a healthy margin as long as the product is mechanically and electronically simple and easy to manufacture. This is just a guideline, and products to sell on Amazon outside of this range can be profitable with the right margins and sales numbers.  
    • Sales Distribution: By looking at estimated monthly sales for page one products in the market, you can see sales distribution. Sales distribution is how often shoppers purchase products on the lower half of the first page of results for the product’s main keywords. Design-oriented products typically have better sales distribution because shoppers browse for the product that is the color, pattern, or design they prefer. Distribution matters because the more shoppers browse, the easier and cheaper it is for you to win a sale without having to fight for that very top slot.
    • Number of Reviews: The fewer reviews top sellers have, the easier it is to launch a new product in that market. Shoppers look to reviews for social proof of a product’s desirability and quality. If you can get a competitive number of reviews in your market, your product can quickly sell competitively.
    • Product Ratings: If the average rating for top products in a market is low, there is likely room for product improvement. Read customer reviews and find out what the common complaints are. Then ask your manufacturer to make changes to your product to address these pain points. And, continue to make product quality your number one priority with regular inspections. If your product is the only 5-star product in the market, you’re going to win the majority of the sales.
    • Sales Trends: Using Market Intelligence, you can see sales, price, and review trends. Trends help you understand the trajectory of a market. For example, if you look at the sales estimates for beach towels in the coming months, they will be much higher than if you had looked in January. Make sure you know what to expect from the market you’re getting into. Most new sellers want a product that sells consistently all year around. You’ll want to beware of fad products that are seeing  recent spikes in sales and drop in price. You don’t want to have to sell your product at or below cost just to get rid of it.
    • Other Obstacles: Don’t forget to consider your competition. Take note of whether or not Amazon is an active seller in the market. Make sure that the main keyword for your market is not trademarked. For example, Band Aids is a trademarked term, and the top seller in the market is a recognizable brand. Do your due diligence to ensure you understand the market that you’re getting into as you’re finding products to sell on Amazon.

 

3. Calculate Upfront Cost and Profitability

Once you’ve narrowed down your product ideas, calculate your upfront cost and potential profitability. To help with this step you can use the free Viral Launch FBA Calculator. Just plug in a competitor ASIN and edit the weight, dimensions, and unit cost for your product. You can get this information from prospective suppliers before you purchase.

Remember to err on the side of pessimism with your profit projections. Just because the top product in your market sells 5,000 units a month doesn’t mean you can replicate those numbers. They could be running constant promotions or using black hat tactics to drive sales. Don’t base your projections on a single listing. Look at market averages, and be realistic.

You’re well on your way to FBA success!  Remember to put together a good list of product ideas, do thorough market research, and calculate your costs and profits. 

For more information on finding profitable products to sell on Amazon, download our guide: 3 Steps to Finding Your Next Great Product

 

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