How to Find a Winning Product to Sell on Amazon in 2022
Updated on June 1, 2022
Launching and running a successful store on Amazon starts with finding a solid and profitable product. That was once a pretty easy job, especially in the early days of the “smiling A”, when you could sell just about anything and everything with next to zero competition, but the dynamics have changed a lot since then.
Now you face competition from more than 1.9 million sellers globally. Your audience has become more educated and mature when making shopping decisions online.
Although the Amazon search algorithm has evolved for the better, it can be pretty ruthless with products and listings that don’t provide much value to the ecosystem.
In short, what worked in the past isn’t going to work in 2022. If you want to make it big on Amazon, you need to spend considerable time and effort on product research.
So how do you find that winning product for your Amazon store? Or even more importantly, what type of product should you sell on Amazon in 2022?
What makes a good product to sell on Amazon in 2022?
When launching a private label on Amazon, your goal should always be to identify low competition, high (or moderate) demand products.
It seems like a straightforward approach, but we’re barely scratching the surface.
At a deeper level, there are many things you need to study and evaluate before you can confidently say that a product will be successful on Amazon.
Attributes of a good product
1. Healthy search volume
Healthy search volume is the first place to look. If people are searching for your product regularly, it’s a good indication that the product is in demand, and you can probably sell it.
But what do we mean by that? What signifies a good target search volume?
If you are selling in a crowded marketplace, like Amazon.com, you should aim for a minimum monthly search volume of 5k. Competition is particularly fierce in the US market, and if your product doesn’t get that many searches at minimum, you can struggle to generate sales.
2. Good sales
Healthy sales are another indicator of a potentially solid product. If conversion rates are low for the product you’re looking at, that’s typically a red flag.
You should choose a product that does a minimum of 250 unit-sales per month. This is, of course, if you are selling in the US, where you need to generate enough revenue to hit a decent ROI. For less competitive marketplaces, you can compromise on the sales volume as long as the growth prospects look bright.
3. Retail price point > $25
Anything over $25 works best when it comes to locking in decent profits. You must remember selling on Amazon doesn’t come cheap. There are COGS, PPC costs, FBA fulfillment and referral fees, and other overheads that can take a significant chunk off your revenue. You need a good sales price point to keep things in order.
Of course, the higher the retail price, the better. However, that doesn’t mean you should start selling expensive stuff. Your audience is likely to spend more time doing research when shopping high-ticket items, which is always bound to affect conversions due to the long sales cycle. That’s why it’s recommended that you pick a product that you can sell for under $100.
4. Minimum profit margin of 30%
While everyone has their preferred numbers in mind when it comes to calculating profits, we recommend going for a minimum profit margin of 30%. It gives you enough breathing space for any unaccounted events in the future, while making sure you make decent dough to keep things afloat and your growth prospects well intact.
To provide some context, Amazon sellers were hit by an increase in FBA fulfillment and referral fees by up to 12% at the start of this year. You don’t want to pass on any such liabilities to your loyal customers.
5. Less than 500 reviews for the top sellers
This is important if you want to have a chance to compete in your niche.
Popular sellers tend to inspire a greater deal of trust, which leads to higher conversions and repeat sales. If you’re launching a product in a category where all the top sellers have thousands of reviews, the chances of someone finding your listing, clicking on it, and ordering from you are greatly reduced. People are going to gravitate towards your more well-known competition. You just don’t have the social proof to convince and convert them yet.
Make sure to check the reviews of the top 10 sellers in your niche. At least five of them should have less than 500 reviews. The more the better.
6. Non seasonal
Establishing consistent sales on Amazon can be a challenge in itself, and you don’t want to make things even more difficult by picking a seasonal product.
Find something that is evergreen and runs throughout the year. The sales volume can fluctuate during certain months but the demand should always be there.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with launching seasonal products. You can make this strategy work if you diversify your product offerings to have an even spread of sales throughout the year. If you’re new to the Amazon space, this strategy is one you might want to avoid until you’re a little more confident in your brand.
7. Easy to ship
You want a product that is small, lightweight, non-fragile, and doesn’t come with moving parts. This won’t only save you on shipping, but it will also reduce your returns.
How so?
Anything that is easily breakable can get damaged in transit, raising your return and refund rates.
What’s even worse, if your return rates start climbing up, it can raise a red flag against your listing, and Amazon could penalize you.
8. Ungated with minimum liability risks
While this isn’t a must, launching a product in an ungated category with minimum liability risks is a safer bet, especially if you are selling on Amazon for the first time.
Gated products come with extensive listing and regulatory requirements before you can add them to your account. Amazon is also quite strict with these items and even a small error or mistake on your part can result in a suspension.
There are also higher insurance costs that you must pay to launch these types of products. Electrical items, ingestibles, topicals, etc. carry health and safety risks. You’ll need a robust liability protection plan for your business if you are selling these types of items. It’s better to avoid them altogether, especially if you’re a new seller.
9. Offers a room for differentiation
Whatever product you are looking at, make sure it can be differentiated in some way. In other words, why would someone buy from you versus buying from one of your competitors?
Product differentiation is the key to succeeding on Amazon in 2022. Don’t think you can avoid this in the initial stages and get back to it when things get more serious further down the line. Start thinking about differentiation during your research process.
While you can differentiate your product in terms of design, functionality, or even listing presentation (so to speak of), we would recommend going for a functional USP as this approach works the best, both in the short and long run.
10. Provides prospects of brand extension
Not many sellers consider this when doing their product research. You must always think about the future and how you can grow and scale your brand with different items to avoid saturation.
Almost all successful Amazon stores have multiple SKUs in their catalog. That’s how you become a household name. You start with one product and then extend to multiple items that fit within your brand concept.
Let’s take an example of selling wedding arches on Amazon. You can start with a typical arch and later introduce designs for birthdays and other social events to grow your store and customer base.
Image: Wedding arches, a great product example that offers plenty of room for brand extension
With all that said and done, where do you even find products to sell on Amazon? How do you find the inspiration for that million-dollar idea?
Where to Find Products to Sell on Amazon
A good place to start is within your own interests. Are you into the home and kitchen category? Do you like spending time outdoors? Are you a pet guy or girl? Come up with some product ideas and write them down.
Next, throw these into Amazon or Google search and see what recommendations pop up. Add the ones that interest you to your list.
Image: Doing manual keyword research on Amazon for product ideas
This is just one of the many methods to find product inspiration. You can also try these:
Amazon Best Sellers
This is a section dedicated to the bestselling items on Amazon. It’s located on the homepage of the marketplace, just below the search bar. It groups the products into categories, making it easier for you to navigate and filter your picks.
Image: Amazon Best Sellers Page
Discoverahobby.com
As the name implies, it’s a website dedicated to hobbies. This one works great if you’re looking for product ideas on the go.
You can select the Hobby Categories option from the top menu to view the different listed hobbies on the website. Alternatively, you can let the algorithms pick a random hobby for you by clicking “Find a Random Hobby.” The latter brings up some cool suggestions.
Image: Find a Random Hobby in action
Pinterest is another excellent resource for finding product ideas. While it’s primarily a social platform, it can act as a goldmine for private label sellers looking for some inspiration for what to sell. The pinboards and the Lens feature are the best ways to get started with your Pinterest product research.
Image: Pinboard on Pinterest
Amazon Trend Report
Amazon Trend Report is like an extension of Amazon Best Seller Page. It gives you a list of trending products over the last 12 months. Think of it like a cheat code where you simply hack into Amazon’s own findings and use them to find a product best suited to your interest and business goals.
Image: Amazon Trend Report 2021
Other Marketplaces
Just like Amazon, you have other online marketplaces that you can visit for product ideas. The popular ones include eBay, Etsy, Alibaba, and AliExpress. You can check out their hot-selling items or do a manual keyword research to get inspiration for your own private label launch.
Image: Popular Categories and Daily Deals on eBay
In Conclusion
All in all, finding a profitable product for your Amazon FBA business in 2022 isn’t difficult if you know what and where to look at. Third party seller tools like ZonGuru, Helium10, and Jungle Scout can definitely help you with that.
We hope you found this blog helpful. And before we say goodbye, here is a gift for you: A Downloadable Custom Product Tracker Sheet to Guide You on Your Product Research Journey.
