Selling online continues to be profitable. In 2023, Amazon selling partners in the US sold more than 4.5 billion items—that’s 8,600 every minute—and averaged more than $250,000 in annual sales, up from about $200,000 in prior years.
But how do you choose what to sell on Amazon? With so many products out there, it can be tough to decide what might be profitable. In this post, we’ll show you how to review Amazon Best Sellers lists to find top-selling items in the Amazon store and generate product ideas. Let’s cover some tools and strategies for zeroing in on product ideas and fueling online sales in 2024.
4 strategies to find product ideas
1. Put your own spin on trending products
If you’re interested in a specific product category or type of product, ask yourself whether you can improve on what’s already selling well. This question can help you identify unique product ideas and determine what to sell in the Amazon store. Try these strategies:
- Look for higher demand, lower competition products: You may see products in high demand, but what’s the competition like? The number of reviews can give you an idea. Generally, high-demand products with a lower number of reviews indicate lower competition and an opportunity for you to jump in.
- Use product reviews to guide product improvements: Browse product reviews to get a sense of customer feedback. Write down the pros and cons, and look for areas where you can exceed customer expectations by offering something different.
- Get creative: Is there something you can do to make a trending product unique? Can the product be sold all year? Could you launch a product of better quality?
Even the best product ideas won’t sell successfully online if you run into issues procuring them, listing them online, or getting them to customers.
If you’re just starting out in ecommerce, be sure to:
- Research affordability and customer demand
- Choose products that are easier to package and ship
- Consider products with a long shelf life
- Think about branding potential
- Avoid products on the restricted products list, if you want to sell in the Amazon store
2. Monitor sales and other metrics
How do you know if you’ve chosen the best items to sell online? There’s always room for improvement, so monitor store performance and continually look for opportunities to boost sales of your products in the Amazon store.
The right ecommerce solution can give you the infrastructure and insights you need to know what’s selling. As an Amazon seller, you can use Seller Central to monitor sales, brand health, customer feedback, and more:
- View your account health and related metrics.
- Download the Amazon Seller Health Guide.
- Track performance metrics, get sales reports, and track analytics using Brand Analytics dashboards.
- Monitor customer feedback and follow best practices to maintain positive feedback and ratings.
3. Get inspired by examples of successful businesses
Fitness equipment, fashion, handmade art—whatever your interests are, you can likely turn your passion into a profitable venture by finding the best items to sell in the Amazon store.
Check out these online business ideas from successful entrepreneurs who turned their expertise into thriving businesses.
We launched our business straight out of the gate with Amazon and went from about 20K to 30K a month all the way to 130K a month. Mind blown!
4. Conduct product research
There are a lot of products out there. Which ones can be most profitable for your ecommerce business? Give yourself time to explore and try a variety of methods. Conduct product research to find the best items to sell online. You can:
- Research and validate your business idea
- Talk to potential customers
- Use ecommerce tools to explore products for sale
One free resource is Amazon search. Browse product categories to identify up-and-coming products, spot opportunities, and analyze patterns in niches that interest you. Then you can look further into subcategories and identify products you can capitalize on. For example, you might start with the Kitchen & Dining category, refine to storage and organization items, then narrow down even further to travel and to-go containers.
Get more product research tips in this ecommerce business guide. There are also ecommerce tools that can help you zoom in on best-selling products.
5 Amazon tools to find best-selling items
1. Explore Best Sellers lists
Amazon Best Sellers lists rank the most popular products in the Amazon store based on sales. Use them to find the best items to sell online and generate new product ideas. Experiment to see if your idea has potential by browsing the departments and product types that matter to your business. The lists are updated frequently, so return to Best Sellers rankings often to inform your procurement strategy.
2. Check Best Sellers Rank
Look for each product’s Best Sellers Rank (BSR) to gauge demand for a given product. To research manually in all departments, type product keywords in the Amazon search bar to get page one results.
A good starting point can be to look in the product detail page’s “Product Information’ section, find the product’s BSR, and take detailed notes. Some products have more than one BSR if they appear in multiple categories.
3. Look for trends on Movers & Shakers lists
Updated hourly, the Amazon Movers & Shakers lists shows the biggest gainers in sales rank over the last 24 hours.
Click on any category in a list to discover:
- The top 100 trending products by performance
- How much the sales rank has increased
- Previous rankings for products
- Number of reviews and stars
- Pricing range
4. Watch Hot New Releases
Do you have an idea for a new product? Check out hourly updates on the Amazon Hot New Releases to research how similar products are performing and get a sense for what type of market may be out there for your idea.
5. Use Product Opportunity Explorer
Product Opportunity Explorer lets you explore detailed analytics reports for trending products across various niches like:
- Customer purchasing behavior
- Customer reviews and ratings
- Seasonality of the product
- Search volume and growth for the product
- Average number of units sold
- Average price of the product
- How many sellers are in a given niche
- Launch date of the products in that niche
Once you find a product you’re interested in, you can select it to learn more.
What are the best products to sell in the Amazon store?
The best products to sell in the Amazon store will depend on your business model, goals, and various other factors. Consider your ideal audience and what type of products they’re looking for. Then you can explore trending products across a wide range of product types. To spark ideas, here are some examples of popular items and categories in the Amazon store based on Best Sellers lists:
- Beauty & Personal Care: Hair growth oils, acne products, false eyelash mascara, skin moisturizers, anti-aging products, makeup, skin exfoliants, and cotton swabs
- Kitchen & Dining: Food scales, travel tumblers, stainless steel water bottles, collapsible microwave covers, meat thermometers, manual smoothie blenders, can openers, dish cloths, toddler sippy cups, rice cookers, veggie slicers, knife brushes, and oil sprayers
- Automotive: Windshield wiper blades, car cup coasters, car seat headrest hooks, car phone mounts, car trash cans, bumper retainer clips, scanner code readers, jump starters, car interior cleaners, microfiber cleaning cloths, headlight restoration kits, car vacuums, portable air compressors, leather conditioner, and phone screen protectors
- Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry: Adult clogs, shapewear, running shoes, slippers, hoodies, moisture control sticks, yoga pants, loafers, leggings, boxer briefs, bikini brief underwear, vacuum storage bags, sweatpants, sweatshirts, compression and packing organizers
- Electronics: Wireless earbuds, Fire TV stick, Apple AirTag, Apple AirPods with lightning connector, 4-pack Apple AirTags, USB wall chargers, Apple lightning adapters, fitness trackers, iPads, Kindles, Roku remote replacements, 4K smart TVs, Amazon Fire HD tablets, Roku streaming devices, surge protectors, Amazon Fire tablets for kids, and monitor wall mounts
- Appliances: Ice makers, ice machine cleaners, ductless range hoods, countertop ice makers, ice filters, fridge locks, mini fridges, mini freezers, compact portable washing machines, and compact portable burner cooktops
The top-selling products are always changing. What’s hot one week might not sell well the next. So build ongoing product research into your business model for best results and to achieve lasting success.
How to get started with your product idea
Even with the best product ideas, you don’t want to run into issues procuring products, listing them online, or getting them to customers. Before you decide what products to sell, consider how you’ll:
- Source the products
- Get the products to customers
- Share products with customers online
- List the products to drive traffic
- Market the products to boost sales
Let’s explore each of these and how they can play into your business strategy.
1. Procurement: Source your products
After you’ve narrowed down what you want to sell, the next step is figuring out how you’ll source products.
As an ecommerce seller, you have several options. Will you resell existing products? Or maybe you plan to create or build products on your own? Another option is working with a manufacturer to make products according to your specifications, or produce branded items.
Different procurement methods come with considerations of their own. Learn about some of the ins and outs with our ecommerce business guide.
2. Fulfillment: Consider your shipping options
How will customers get their orders? Amazon sellers have several options for fulfillment:
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
- Send products to the Amazon fulfillment network, where we pick, pack, ship, and provide customer service.
- Take advantage of specialized services like Pan-European FBA, FBA Export, and Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MFC).
Fulfilled by Merchant
- Use a suite of solutions to save time and money when you fulfill customer orders yourself.
- Use tools and automation to sync your inventory and streamline the orders you receive from Amazon, as well as other sales channels.
- Get great shipping rates and offer customers fast, reliable delivery while enjoying increased protection for delivery claims.
Learn more about Fulfilled by Merchant
Seller-Fulfilled Prime
- This program allows Amazon sellers to deliver directly to domestic Prime customers.
- Use your own warehouse while earning the Prime badge to increase product visibility.
- Seller Fulfilled Prime offers guaranteed delivery-date messaging and other perks.
Learn how to qualify for Seller Fulfilled Prime
You can mix and match methods to meet your fulfillment needs. For example, you can combine Fulfilled by Merchant with FBA or an Amazon-approved third-party fulfillment solution through the Amazon Service Provider Network.
Remember, you can choose one fulfillment solution now and another later as your needs change. Learn more about fulfillment options and get a strategy checklist with our ecommerce fulfillment guide.
Improve your ecommerce logistics with trusted third parties
Discover Amazon-approved third-party tools in the Selling Partner Appstore and Service Provider Network. Applications from third-party and Amazon software providers can help you automate pricing, manage inventory, conduct product research, improve customer response time, and more.
3. Listing: Add products online
The type of listings you create will depend on the products you offer, and small details can make a big difference between listings that perform well and those that don’t. Learn more in this step-by-step guide to optimizing product listings, and read on for the basics.
To start selling products, match or create a product listing in Seller Central—your go-to resource for selling in the Amazon store.
- Once you create an Amazon selling account, you will automatically gain access to Seller Central.
- If you already have an Amazon selling account, simply sign in with your registered email and password.
To begin listing products, you may choose to match an offer to an existing listing or create a new one if the product isn’t already in the Amazon catalog. Learn more about how to create listings.
You can list many products online, but some hazardous materials have special requirements. If you want to sell a product, but foresee any issues with listing the products online, you may need to reevaluate your business plan or go back to the drawing board with ideas on what to sell.
4. Connect with customers
Think about the products you want to offer, then look for ways to help customers find them.
With many free tools at your fingertips, an Amazon ecommerce storefront can help drive discovery for your brand name, showcase product, and make it easier to connect with customers.
Once you create a selling account and enroll in Amazon Brand Registry, you can build a storefront that introduces customers to your brand story and entire product catalog through customized rich media, including text, image, and video content.
Give customers a multi-page, immersive experience. Learn more about how to build an online store featuring your brand.
5. Tailor your marketing and adjust as needed
In the expanding ecommerce space, it takes intention to gain attention. The right ecommerce marketing strategy can help you boost product visibility, improve online conversions, and drive customers and repeat purchases.
Effectively marketing products is not a one-and-done activity. Revisit your marketing strategy often and adjust as needed. Learn eight steps to build a marketing plan, plus 15 top ecommerce marketing strategies in our ecommerce marketing guide.
Find product ideas and stay inspired
No matter what stage your ecommerce business is in, it can be a challenge to strike the right balance between sticking with popular products or switching it up with something that might sell even better.
As you weigh your options, don’t hesitate to check back and use the Amazon Best Sellers lists, Product Opportunity Explorer, and other tools. Whether you’re looking to compare profitable niches or diversify product offerings, these resources can help you boost online sales.
Unlock selling opportunities with a variety of Amazon programs
Play to your strengths and develop your selling strategy with a variety of programs made to support your business model:
- Protect your brand and unlock a suite of brand-building tools with Brand Registry.
- Sell handcrafted goods with Amazon Handmade.
- Offer customizable products with Amazon Custom.
- Earn artwork royalties with Merch by Amazon.
- Sell pre-owned products with Amazon Renewed.
Explore these and more as you find your niche. You can also mix and match programs to grow sales and reach even more customers.
● Build an online store
● Source products
● Fulfill orders
Looking for more inspiration?
Check out these 38 online business ideas to hear from successful entrepreneurs who turned their passion into thriving businesses.
Frequently Asked Questions
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