The entrepreneurial journey is about innovation, determination, and problem-solving, all combined to help business builders create and market their brands effectively. But with the mass influx of Amazon sellers to the Amazon marketplace in the last few years, competition has only gotten more challenging.
Gone are the days of slapstick branding and small capital investments in the hopes of turning a 3 to 5 multiple in an exit. To level up your Amazon FBA Business, you’ve got to be more innovative and ready to pivot at any given moment within the FBA business framework.
In this article, we’ll explore the latest, most beneficial tools and solutions to help you beat out your competitors on Amazon, one listing and SKU at a time.
How Do You Know Exactly Who Your Competition Is on Amazon?
To outsell your competitors on Amazon FBA, you must understand your playing field. You must be able to identify your competition, including those who could soon match your brand or selling model in comparison.
FBA Sellers
To start, you’ll want to find your product on whichever Amazon FBA marketplace you are selling in. If you are selling in multiple markets, you will perform this search in each respective location. Hopefully, you’ve differentiated your product and brand to such an extent that, at the very least, you are visually striking on the platform.
Begin a basic level search in the Amazon search bar, using a broader keyword to identify your product. Understand that your search will yield a high number of competitors, but as you gain focus on long-tail search terms, the number of competitors will lessen. What is left is your target competition.
Once you’ve narrowed in on these longer tail keywords and highly relevant ASINs, you’ll want to review the following critical points for competitor analysis:
- Branding
- Keywords
- Title
- Images
- Copywriting
- Enhanced Brand Content
- Pricing & Competitor Sales Volume
A spreadsheet can help you organize all of this data to carefully analyze each metric to determine your top Amazon FBA competitors.
Wholesale Sellers
As an Amazon FBA wholesale seller, sifting through the millions of products on Amazon is a huge undertaking. Some tools can help you streamline this process with highly effective results.
Using the SmartScout product finder, you’ll begin by preparing your search, determining your brand criteria with a list of drop-down items, and finally, viewing your results in a few short seconds.
Search by categories or brand and find values such as:
- Monthly Revenue Estimate
- Amazon In Stock Rate
- Average Number of FBA Sellers
- Dominant Sellers
- Average Selling Price
- Brand Score
This competitor research method for the wholesale model allows you to flush out products that are Amazon-owned brands. Based on your research, you’ll also be able to remove products from your idea log that you know won’t be worthwhile in sourcing or too competitive.
What Tools Are Available To Help You Find Innovative Ways To Compete?
Once you’ve narrowed in on who your competitors are or what products you see value in selling, it’s time to find a leg up against your competition.
FBA and Wholesale Sellers
Differentiation is the key to your success, alongside a strong marketing plan and healthy ppc budget. But, there is another determining factor that can help you dominate against your competition — Cash Flow.
Did you know that many Amazon FBA businesses fail early on, in some cases, due to cash flow restrictions? In today’s e-commerce climate, amidst the penetrating effects of a global pandemic, challenges to grow inventory can effectively close an Amazon FBA business in short order.
A great way to drum up additional cash flow for either selling model is by performing an Amazon audit and making FBA reimbursement claims. An Amazon FBA reimbursement is the recovery of funds from Amazon when your inventory is lost, damaged, disposed of, destroyed, or affected with overcharges in fees.
Performing an Amazon audit that goes back the full 18 months can prove fruitful in your cash-increasing venture. Remember that you want to attain the maximum recovery you are eligible to receive, and without that ability, you are potentially leaving money owed to you behind.
Increasing your Amazon FBA cash flow can help you find 3PL solutions when inventory restrictions feel almost impossible. More capital can also help you boost your marketing plan, raise your brand awareness, and, lastly, allow you to outsource some vital areas of your Amazon FBA business.
Being competitive on Amazon means keeping up with trends and expecting change as a regular part of your FBA Business. Your competitors could be doing their own FBA reimbursements or not doing them at all. Seize the opportunity and use FBA reimbursements to maximize available cash.
Once you’ve found some potentially profitable wholesale products to sell, you’ll quickly realize which products start to gain popularity and saturation. To outsmart your competition, you’ll want to consider bundling.
Bundling means the combining of different products to create a new product. An example would be selling a brand-name shampoo; you can make a bundle by adding the conditioner and a hair towel to create a unique product from your competition.
Whether wholesale or FBA, many Amazon sellers are keenly interested in the SmartScout Traffic Graph, and for good reason.
The traffic graph allows both types of sellers to view frequently bought together products and, in turn, the best Amazon product pages for advertising. It also helps FBA sellers find ways to differentiate, one of the most significant factors in beating the competition in the marketplace.
Final Thoughts
Jeff Bezos said, “We innovate by starting with the customer and working backwards. That becomes the touchstone of how we invent.”
Innovation is what drives e-commerce. Always be willing to explore new solutions to outsmart your competitors, whether Amazon FBA private label or wholesale.
What’s an innovative tool in the Amazon FBA landscape that stands out to you? Comment below.
A special offer for SmartScout customers! Get $500 free in Amazon FBA reimbursements.
