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What should you sell in the Amazon store? Tips for choosing products

Learn how to find the best products to sell on Amazon and assess product viability.

29th Mar, 2023

5 MIN

I want to start an online business - but what should I sell?

You can sell a vast array of products on Amazon Australia, so where do you begin building your own product range as a seller? Perhaps you’re starting with a completely blank page, or maybe you need help narrowing down a wide range of products you already have in mind. Read on for some options to find, select and assess products with potential.

1. How to research products to sell on Amazon: finding ideas

There are plenty of different ways to conduct effective product research. In fact, using more than one method could be helpful to make solid product choices. Let’s look at some possible starting points.

2. Best Sellers

Amazon Best Sellers shows the most popular products based on recent sales, updated on an hourly basis. This page can help you identify products that are trending across different categories, be it Beauty, Home or Electronics. From here, you can delve further into subcategories and gain inspiration from what’s proving popular.

The Best Sellers page also lists frequently repurchased products, which can offer insights into everyday products that have consistent demand.

See Best Sellers on Amazon >

3. Keyword research

There are a number of keyword tools online that can be used to research product ideas and search volume. You can also use Amazon’s discovery bar to explore the listings that are available right now.

Consider that:
• Products with fewer results may indicate lower competition. These may have less demand, but it could be easier to gain visibility for these products.
• Products with more results may indicate higher competition. It may be more difficult to rank highly for these products, but there could be greater customer demand in general.

4. Competitive research

Wherever there is demand, there’s likely to be competition. If you’ve narrowed your choice down to one or two categories, it can be helpful to evaluate the established sellers in each and why their listings do well. Finding a niche within a certain category may mean your product is more easily found by shoppers who are searching for something specific.

There are a number of third party apps that can help with competition analysis.

Explore seller tools >

5. Movers and Shakers

Amazon Movers & Shakers is a page displaying recent sales increases. This tool shows products that have had the biggest improvement in sales over the past 24 hours. Movers and Shakers can be a good way to spot any product or sales patterns that can occur during different seasons, big events and pop culture moments. It can also help to look at these popular listings to see how the seller has optimised their product pages.

See Movers & Shakers >

6. Product reviews

Customer reviews are where shoppers can provide honest, personal opinions about the products they’ve purchased in the past. Reviews for other sellers can be a rich source of information into a specific product type. Which features are shoppers raving about? What were they frustrated by? You could use this information from customer reviews to improve a product or offer a superior option.

7. Solving problems

Lots of popular products solve real, everyday problems. Perhaps there are lots of shoppers searching for a solution to clean pet hair from their clothes, or to keep teabag tags from falling into the cup! Try to pay attention to those common little frustrations we can all experience as we go through our days, because they might just provide inspiration for a profitable product. Looking for examples? Check out how PetShaper found success on Amazon by solving a common pet-related problem!"

8. Get creative

Sometimes when considering how to find the right product to sell on Amazon, it helps to think outside the box. How can you add your own personality to a popular product? Could your hobbies or passions inspire your product choice? Do you have an innovative product design that could really shake things up? Fresh new ideas can be beneficial as you start selling.

Get started with Amazon >

How to tell if a product is viable

You might have identified a great product, but is it a viable product to sell? As you master how to choose products to sell on Amazon, consider these key elements.

9. Demand

Of course you’ll need customers to make sales, so consider whether there’s enough need for the product you have in mind. Is it something a lot of people or households might have use for? Has there been proven demand for similar or related products?

10. Profitability

Consider whether you’ll be able to price the product for an acceptable profit margin after you’ve taken out selling costs like inventory expenses, selling fees and fulfilment fees. Profitability and sustainable sales can provide a strong foundation for business growth.

Grow your Amazon business >

11. Logistics and fulfilment

Think about how easy your intended product will be to make or source, and to store and ship. Products that are small, non-perishable and lightweight tend to be easier to manage for delivery. You may be able to streamline your fulfilment process by using Fulfilment by Amazon for certain products.

Explore Fulfilment by Amazon >

12. Permitted products

While some product categories are open, some can require approval to sell. Be sure to check out Amazon’s product guide and policies before investing in inventory.

See the product guide >

13. Advertising

If your chosen product is widely available, how will you help shoppers find yours in particular? Perhaps you plan to compete based on price, or through improved visibility with a robust marketing plan. Think about how you can put your own unique spin on what you have to offer.

Read about advertising on Amazon >

Final tips: testing products

It can help to test out a product as you work out how to pick a product to sell on Amazon. Some sellers prefer to source and sell products in smaller quantities until they have more certainty about the product’s performance. Some sellers run focus groups, or incentivise early adopters with promotions. Ideally, product testing could help to minimise your overheads and maximise sales.

Explore our product launch checklist for more ideas as you make your new products available.

See the product launch checklist >

The last tip is to never stop researching and refining your product offering – as there are always new opportunities to be found!

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