Before we dive into the intricate details of an Amazon competitor analysis, it\u2019s essential to first understand the basics of the Amazon Marketplace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As you might\u2019ve guessed, Amazon is the biggest online marketplace<\/a> in the world. It generated around 4.8 billion monthly visits as of April 2023 and managed to generate $513.98 billion in revenue<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These numbers make it clear that the opportunities for your store or products on Amazon are big. However, the bigger the market – the bigger the competition, right? <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to succeed on the platform, there are 5 factors that you\u2019ll need to consider. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The basics of Amazon are pretty clear at first glance – you list your product(s) on the platform, attach some photos, add a description, and try to sell as much as you can. But all of this goes much deeper. So, let\u2019s start our Amazon 101 lesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just like with any other business, your Amazon Marketplace brand should have an awesome product for sale. Choosing the right product can make or break your success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many brands have been on the platform for years and don\u2019t want to give up their #1 spot in a product category. You have to have a strong differentiation point to fight this sort of competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Start by researching different niches<\/strong> to find trends in a market that interests you. You can use tools like Google Trends, Amazon\u2019s Best Sellers, or other software to help you find a niche that\u2019ll be popular and profitable for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, define your\u00a0Unique Value Proposition (USP)<\/strong>. What makes your product better than those of your competitors? Why should a buyer choose your product? This can be anything starting from different product specifications and cheaper pricing to better customer service and quality.<\/p>\n\n\n Pricing your product on Amazon is a delicate balancing art. Since the price of a product is a major (or sometimes the sole) decision factor for buyers, you truly need to pay lots of attention to it when doing your Amazon competitor analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you sell the exact same product as your competitor but they sell it for even $1 cheaper, guess whose product a buyer will purchase? This is not to say that you should always have cheaper products than your competitors, but it\u2019s something to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, start with a competitive pricing analysis. Gather your competitors\u2019 product prices, figure out what sort of discounts they offer, and what other pricing strategies they use. Finding pricing history is easy with tools like Honey<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t forget that your competitors will be looking out for your prices as well. This is where dynamic pricing comes in. Don\u2019t hesitate to use tools that\u2019ll adjust your product\u2019s price based on demand, your competition, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the part where you can get creative. Your listings are your storefront on Amazon – the name, the photo, and the price of your products can attract potential customers or push them away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want your products to get high visibility on the platform, you\u2019ll need to optimize your listings on 3 factors – keywords, images, and product descriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Optimized keywords<\/strong>: To make sure that your product gets higher visibility, you have to use relevant keywords in your product titles and descriptions. Think of it as a search engine. Get into the mindset of your customers and use the words you think they would use when looking for your product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n High-quality images<\/strong>: Use product images that clearly show every aspect of your product from various angles. Make sure that they are visually attractive and eye-catching. Don\u2019t forget to test your thumbnail for maximum visibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enticing product descriptions<\/strong>: Once your images have done their magic and brought a potential customer to your product page, it\u2019s time to seal the deal. Make your descriptions engaging and informative, highlight key features and benefits, and make it persuasive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When making a purchase, customers also pay attention to the shipping times and methods. As an Amazon Marketplace seller, you can choose between FBA and FBM:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amazon customers are also heavily influenced by the reviews and ratings your product has. If a product has 1 review and it\u2019s a bad one, no Amazon customer would risk ordering it. However, if you have 500 raving 5-star reviews, you\u2019ll immediately be trusted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Generating reviews is not easy, but if you truly provide great customer service, you\u2019ll definitely get them. Don\u2019t be afraid to encourage your satisfied customers to leave reviews and feedback, but beware of Amazon\u2019s guidelines. Incentivizing reviews goes against Amazon\u2019s policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve put checkmarks on all 5 of these points, you can start organically growing your store on Amazon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nevertheless, you can\u2019t blindly dive into the marketplace and hope to generate thousands of sales. You\u2019ll need extensive Amazon competitive analysis to be your guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although competitor research might seem like the hardest task in creating your marketing and sales strategies, it is also one of the most vital steps. It can truly give you invaluable insights that\u2019ll pave your way to success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An extensive Amazon competitor analysis can give you info about the marketplace, your competitors, and help you identify your target audience. And that\u2019s just the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to outsmart your competitors, you\u2019ll need to do this analysis in the right way – so that you can generate actionable takeaways to drive your strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This step-by-step guide to the ultimate Amazon competitive analysis will teach you the 9 steps you must go through (unless you choose to use a smart tool instead). So, let\u2019s dive right in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To be able to start researching your competitors, you\u2019ll first need to identify who they are. In the simplest words, your competitors are the sellers who have closely similar products to what you offer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finding your competitors is a good place to start learning about your market. Here are 3 ways to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The top results will usually be your top competitors. Write down their names, and save their Amazon product pages so that you can analyze them all later on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With this second step of your ecommerce competitive analysis, you\u2019ll need to check out the product pages of the competitors you gathered up in step 1. This will give you a deeper understanding of their sales strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later on, you\u2019ll also analyze their pricing and reviews, but for now, here are the main things to pay attention to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Understanding the way your competitors have set up their product pages can serve as your guide in this matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To fully understand the pricing strategy of your competitors, you\u2019ll need to look at 2 things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tracking the trends in your competitors\u2019 pricing can help you understand seasonality and demand for your own product. Since your pricing strategy won\u2019t only be about setting a price and leaving it the same, this info will help you plan for the future as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your ecommerce competitor analysis can answer questions like these: Are your competitors consistently lowering prices? Are they offering special discounts? Do they bundle products for the holiday season?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you notice that your competitors are pricing their products much higher than you are, then you\u2019ll know what sort of market penetration strategy to use. If their prices are much lower, then you\u2019ll know to position yourself as a high-end seller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reviews and ratings your competitors\u2019 products get can help you discover their strengths and weaknesses. This will play a crucial role in another stage of your Amazon competitor analysis – the SWOT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this section, you\u2019ll need to pay attention to 2 things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Understanding the shipping methods, pricing, and times can help you learn a lot about your audience. This has a high impact on customer satisfaction, so if your customers are used to fast and cheap shipping, they won\u2019t settle for anything less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you can potentially offer lower costs or faster shipping than your competitors, you\u2019ll be able to gain a competitive edge in this area. Usually, if you\u2019re eligible for Prime shipping, you\u2019ll be set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After you finalize your product category competition analysis over on Amazon, it\u2019ll be time to move to other platforms such as Instagram and other social media. This aspect of your competitors\u2019 strategies will help you craft your own marketing strategy to outsmart them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do your competitors run Amazon PPC campaigns? Do they participate in special Amazon deals? These internal marketing efforts are important to note down for your future campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since Amazon is not the only platform for driving sales to your Amazon products, you should also analyze the social media presence of your competitors. What platforms are they using? What posts are they making?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis is a core part of any competitor analysis, including an Amazon competitor analysis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Think of it like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A SWOT analysis of your competitors can also help you understand and assert your positioning in the market. You\u2019ll see gaps in the market that you\u2019ll be able to fill easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are essential to paving your way to success. From a North Star metric to traffic and engagement metrics, you should track your competitors\u2019 and your own performance month-over-month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This will help you understand areas where you need lots of improvement and also highlight your strengths you can leverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An Amazon competitor analysis is not a one-time deal. Instead, it\u2019s an ongoing process that will keep influencing your sales and marketing strategies for as long as you\u2019re in the business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With this last step, it\u2019s a good idea to set periodical reminders for yourself to check out your competitors\u2019 performance. For example, you can check them on a monthly basis and compare your results to optimize your strategy further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that we\u2019ve discussed the manual Amazon seller competitor analysis steps, let\u2019s talk about how to run a competitor analysis on Amazon the easy way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to cut down on your competitor analysis steps, using new and smart tools is the best way to go. We\u2019ve identified 3 top-tier Amazon analysis tools along with their pros and cons, key features, and descriptions to make your choice easier. Let\u2019s dive right in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With all the new AI tools available to small business owners today, you\u2019re giving up your competitive edge by doing manual research. One of the best tools available right now for Amazon competitor analysis is Prelaunch\u2019s AI Market Research Assistant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a specialized tool for doing the most comprehensive research on your Amazon competitors. As opposed to other tools on the market, this one doesn\u2019t give you just data – it gives you actionable information you can use to level up your Amazon product and sales strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to hear what your actual customers are saying about your competitors\u2019 products, this is the only tool you will need. This AI-powered system is focused on putting you on the right path by getting inside the minds of your customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Key features:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pros<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cons<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jungle Scout is an all-in-one solution for entrepreneurs who want to start selling on Amazon. From finding trending products to evaluating product potential and calculating potential profits, this tool is a powerful option to use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Due to its wide range of features, Jungle Scout might not be the best at analyzing your competitors to uncover customer insights. However, it\u2019s a smart tool for beginners who don\u2019t know what product to start with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jungle Scout is also a good resource for new Amazon sellers who want to learn more about best practices. This tool can also help you optimize your product listings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Key features:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pros<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cons<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When performing an Amazon competitor analysis, another great tool you can use to automate the process is AMZScout. Just like Jungle Scout, this tool can also help you find popular products to start your Amazon journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AMZScout is a good source for finding relevant keywords to optimize your product page. This tool has lots of different features, but it might be hard for a beginner to navigate through them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A great advantage of this tool is its academy which can teach you about dropshipping, private labels, and more. If you don\u2019t know where to start, their learning platform can be a good guide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Key features:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pros<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cons<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There you have it folks – our ultimate guide to an Amazon competitive analysis. We\u2019ve taught you all there is to know about optimizing your Amazon store, the 9 steps to doing competitor analysis yourself, as well as the best Amazon competitor analysis tools for automated research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you wish to do a competitive analysis yourself, it might take some time, but you\u2019ll gain valuable insights to drive your sales and marketing strategies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to make your job easier, it\u2019s better to use tools like the Prelaunch AI Market Research Assistant<\/a> to get all the insights you need in less than 1 minute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Always remember that your customers are your prime source of learning how to optimize your product offering. At the end of the day, they will be the ones who purchase and use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We hope you\u2019ve learned what you came for in this guide, and we wish you the best of luck in your next Amazon adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The frequency of your Amazon competitor analysis highly depends on your niche. If you\u2019re operating in a competitive industry, it\u2019s a good idea to perform the analysis every 30 days. For less competitive industries, you can perform it quarterly (every 3 months). It\u2019s also a good idea to perform a deeper competitive analysis anytime there are any major industry events or shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Running an Amazon competitive analysis yourself is a good idea if you\u2019re already familiar with ecommerce and have the experience of gathering data. If you need a more comprehensive analysis or you\u2019re short on time, you can opt for hiring an analyst. Another great option for doing it yourself is to use tools like the Prelaunch AI Market Research Assistant<\/a> for the best results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, you can understand the marketing strategy of your competitors in different ways. It can be done manually through our 9-step guide, or by using tools like Prelaunch AI Market Research Assistant<\/a>, Jungle Scout, or Helium 10. Depending on the platform you wish to analyze, there are different tools you can use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The short answer is yes. This is a smart strategy if you want to stay competitive and maximize your sales. Lower prices attract customers who are cost-conscious and will be choosing products based on price. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you struggle to keep up with your competitors\u2019 price changes, it\u2019s time to use dynamic pricing tools that\u2019ll adjust your product\u2019s price based on demand, competitors, and your own profit margin preferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, you can offer different pricing for the same products on Amazon and your online shop. Since Amazon pricing is more dynamic, it requires you to stay competitive by changing your price and offering deals. The only downfall here is that you\u2019ll have to be transparent to maintain your customers\u2019 trust.<\/p>\n\n\n 5 characteristics of successful Amazon Marketplace sellers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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9 steps to do a comprehensive competitor analysis on Amazon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Find your competitors<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Analyze their product pages<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Analyze their pricing strategy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Check out their reviews and ratings<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Understand their shipping methods<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Dive into their marketing endeavors<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Perform an educated SWOT analysis<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Set KPIs and start benchmarking<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Keep monitoring their performance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3 Amazon competitor analysis tools to optimize and automate your research<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Prelaunch AI Market Research Assistant<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Jungle Scout<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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AMZScout<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
FAQ<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How often should I do competitive analysis on Amazon?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Can I do the analysis myself or should I hire an analyst?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Can I find out what marketing strategies are the competitors using?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Should I change my product’s pricing based on the competition?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Can my product’s price be different on Amazon and the online shop?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n