Amazon Product Sourcing constitutes a very logical funnel that most sellers are unaware of. Quite often sellers find themselves in a fix while deciding the most profitable products to pitch on Amazon. Well, we have closely studied the product sourcing patterns of all-scale sellers who found success in a competitive marketplace like Amazon. We believe that sharing knowledge means the growth of the eCommerce industry and therefore every seller should know about it. So, It goes like this:
Research on most profitable products> Amazon tools to know best-selling products > Ways to source products > Strategies and tips for execution and implementation.
Chronologically we will be walking through these steps for Product Sourcing on Amazon and its optimization:
- What is Amazon Product Sourcing
- Steps to figure out the most profitable Amazon Product
- Amazon tools to select the best-selling products
- Ways to Source Products on Amazon
- Conclusion
What is Amazon Product Sourcing?
As per the bookish definition of Amazon Product Sourcing goes it is defined as the process of finding good quality products to sell on Amazon from trusted and reputable suppliers at good prices.
But this definition is not enough to understand the concept.
Not every seller manufactures their products, therefore it is the need to rely on a trusted and public-acclaimed source for getting products. The source can be a manufacturer, wholesaler, or drop shipping company. In the age of eCommerce, many new and unprecedented sources, ways, and platforms are emerging for potential sellers to make an unimaginable profit on a giant eCommerce platform like Amazon. But jumping directly into the competition, with any random product can be financially injurious to even the smartest of sellers. Therefore, product research can give the best insights into marketplace trends, customer preferences, and future prospect analysis.
Let’s look into how can you dig deeper to hit your golden product:
Steps to figure out the most profitable Amazon Product
Search your Top Products through keywords
The best way to understand what sells the most on Amazon is through its search result. Feed keywords either randomly or of the products you want to sell and observe the search results. Consider only the products that have a monthly search volume of 1,00,000 at least. A good volume can only assure you about the future prospects of the development.
Look at these two pictures:
Amazon
The search results for Men’s leather shoes are 60k with above 13k monthly volume whereas the search results for women’s leather shoes count for 2000 results with an almost equal number of monthly search results.
Now, it will give you a clear picture of which product out of two can hold a stronger financial background for you. The same research can be done for several products that you find suitable to pitch on Amazon.
Boost your sales by adding the Amazon Top Selling Products to your Inventory.
Consider the Dimensions and shipping cost of the Products
It is advisable to go for products with small sizes and less weight. The shipping cost is minimum and the durability of the products is intact even during bad shipping services.
Let’s understand this through an example:
Amazon
Amazon
The above product has a decent feature to learn from while deciding the types of products and their estimated shipping cost and dimensions.
Amazon also mentions its overall ranking in the category and preferred category of women.
The higher the number of Bestseller ranks, the lower the demand for the product. This Cashmere Scarve does have a perfect shipping size and cost but has a lower demand in the women’s section, so you can either think of making it reach your target audience or switch to a different product.
Durable Items
For new beginners, it is always safest to sell durable and non-breakable items. You would not want to get negative reviews from your customers on your very first attempt because of damaged product issues.
Products like: Mirror furniture, vase, sceneries, etc.
The worst part is that you cannot even improve shipping if it is drop shipped or sent through Amazon under Fulfillment by Amazon. You can only control your shipping and inventory if you manage everything on your own.
Learn from the Experts
Your inspiration can be the ones already selling successfully on Amazon. You can learn so much from their story. There are so many sellers who started as mediocre and some of them even succeeded after so many unsuccessful trials.
Look at their failure stories. Failures teach us a lot more than what success can teach us. Read books written by some of the sellers to get their strategies. See what products they pitched and why and how they chose and made money out of selling them.
Pay special attention to what made their product win over others.
Keep some basics intact
Always choose your products by screening them under these criteria:
- Keep a profit margin of 25-35 %.
- Go for the products with at least more than 30 reviews
- Bestseller rank should be under 2000 on Amazon
- Go for light-weighted, durable, and non-breakable items.
- Choose a trusted and publically acclaimed manufacturer or wholesaler.
You might now ask, that analyzing hundreds of products by category, BSR, Weight, and shipment cost is a hugely time-consuming and cumbersome process. Well, What if we tell you that, apart from these ways, there are also some tools to let you know the best products?
Interesting enough?
There are two ways to conduct product research on Amazon – One is a manual way and the second is the automated way. You have already read about the manual way, it’s time to read about some automated ways.
Let’s read about each of these tools in detail.
Tools To Select Best-Selling Products On Amazon in 2023
Jungle Scout
It is one of the leading companies providing a wide range of Product research tools for beginners. Through various tools made available by Jungle Scout, you can easily scrutinize the huge database in one place, filter the categories and make your research specific. You can also do an analysis of the future based on the history of the products.
AMZ Tracker
It is a tracker tool by AMZ, best to research the trends and organic results of the keywords. The sales tracking spy tool allows sellers to see how much their competitors are selling including daily sales, total revenue, available inventory, and more.
CamelCamelCamel
The tool specializes in all the spheres of the Price of the product. It gives you real-time information about the price drop, competitor’s price changes, Amazon price tracker, Price history charts, etc.
AppEagle
The tools provided are again best for price optimization on Amazon. What makes these tools different from Camelcamelcamel is that they also guide on creating the best price strategies for the users, based on the huge product price data collected by the tool from Amazon.
Amazooka
You can rely on this tool for looking beyond the keywords and price. The tools assist you to give you real-time information about the PPC campaigns run and automate customer engagement. This customer engagement enables sellers to build a good relationship and proves instrumental in getting 5-star reviews.
Rank Tracker
Rank Tracker is a tool that serves another purpose of collecting the ranks of the products and building ranking strategies for you based on what other competitors are up to.
Ways to Source Products on Amazon in 2023
Having read about the best ways to research and decide on the most profitable product on Amazon, it’s time to read from where the sellers have been getting their products. This is quite an important key for Product Souring on Amazon. So, based on the favorite spots of sellers for transporting their products, here is the list of some best ways sellers tread to get their products.
Based on the origin and nature of the products, the major categories of the products are –
- DIY ( self-made) products or services
- Manufacturer or wholesaler
- Dropshipping
Let’s start looking at how can you source your most suitable products
Wholesale/ Retail Arbitrage
Many sellers buy their selected and well-researched products in bulk from retailers or wholesalers.
MERITS
- The products are on as much as 75% discounts.
- The products can be ordered in bulk and shipped to the desired place of storage.
- The product can easily be obtained, thus it happens to be a cost-effective and time-effective method of product sourcing.
DEMERITS
- You don’t control the quality of the product as you are not the manufacturer.
- Checking the reliability and credibility of the wholesaler or manufacturer is your responsibility.
- Orders in bulk can rip you off, if not done after a lot of research.
The classic example of whole retail is ALIBABA, which is one of the topmost sites to source your product from. There are other eCommerce sites also that do not only offer drop shipping but also cross-border programs.
Online Arbitrage
Another way for Amazon product sourcing is through online stores that specialize in selling the bulk of products at discounts to their customers.
You can look up the products that are marked down, are on clearance, or are seasonally demanded.
Your research about the product should be smart and should result in profit. You must also pay attention to the payment method you choose as not every online retailer accepts the same payment method.
You can profit heavily by ordering products in bulk or even in small amounts and experimenting with the product. It does not incur any financial loss.
Did You Know? 35% of Amazon sellers are selling used items.
Auction and Thrift Stores
This is another kind of retail arbitrage that works on the auction module. These retail sales use slightly used items but are filled with a unique variety of items to choose from at cheaper prices.
This retail is both online and offline. Works in two ways. You can sell your used products to them and also buy the product they have for sale.
There are many such auction and thrift stores both online and offline, two of which have been mentioned here:
Goodwill
Goodwill is a famous auction and thrift retailer and works much like eBay.
Shop Goodwill
Goodwill offers a huge category of products to participate in the auction.
Gone Tomorrow
Gone Tomorrow is another renowned auction and thrift store where you can buy and sell your used items. Look at some of the wide-range categories offered by Gone Tomorrow:
Gone tomorrow
There are several shipping-related categories:
- Free Pay shipping
- Ship for free items
Liquidation/Surplus
These are the stores that are on the verge of closure and are clearing out the products at lower prices.
Such clearance opportunities are actually opened by big-box businesses that sell their items at as much as 70-75% discount.
This is one of the best places to buy your products from. Variety, quality, and cost, all are in your court.
Private Label
Private label is branding and naming your product and giving an identity to the product.
According to a report published by a Web retailer, 50% of sellers sell some or all private-label products on Amazon.
You can either get your products prepared or look for some unique products which are not claimed by any other known brands or business houses and buy those items in bulk from a wholesaler and give them your name.
Private Labelling is at times costly but can give you identity and establish your brand authority and name amongst millions of other sellers, selling similar products.
Did you know? Copied items are called counterfeit products and are prohibited seriously by Amazon. Selling Counterfeit products can lead to Seller’s Account suspension on Amazon along with many other reasons.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is another widely chosen method of product sourcing. It is the best way if you are a seller who cannot afford to manage an inventory, own real products, or ship it to customers.
Dropshipping allows you to rely on a legit and credible manufacturer or wholesaler who would do storage, picking and packing, and shipping for you, and in return, you have to pay for their products after getting an order on your Amazon store.
It is good as far as the process is concerned. As a seller, you just have your marketing to focus on and get sales on your Amazon store to rest everything is handled by your manufacturer or drop shipping company you have tie-ups.
As every coin has two sides, dropshipping can sometimes also lead to negative feedback because of late shipments or quality issues. In dropshipping you have no control over the quality of the products, shipment and delivery speed, etc. However, a good company and manufacturer with a reputation can reduce your risks.
Create Your Products:
Not so easy to execute but there are products that can attract a huge customer base if you manufacture them on your own and add your signature creativity into that.
There are many eCommerce websites that work on the self-made creativity of sellers and the finest example is Etsy.
Art and craft pieces, customizable and DIY products, home decor, etc, can be created at home and shipped handle safely to the doorsteps of the customers.
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Final Words
So we have finally come to an end!
These were some of the well-researched tips and ways of Amazon product sourcing that we have compiled for you in one place.
Make the most out of this information and be confident enough to execute your own way of sourcing products on Amazon.
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