Competitor analysis: how to stand out from other Amazon sellers

According to the Jungle Scout research platform, more than 2,000 celery sellers register on Amazon EVERY DAY. There are likely to be those whose products and interests overlap with yours. Therefore, analysing and creating a strategy on how to stand out from other sellers is one of the priority tasks for any business.

With information about competitors, you can:

• better understand customer needs and adapt your offer to them;
• identify methods and tactics of marketing strategy;
• adjust to dynamic market changes, etc.

Simply put, competitor analysis has a direct impact on the success and growth of your project. In this article, we will tell you how to conduct it correctly, what metrics, tools, and services to use.

How to analyse competitors on Amazon

Any analysis begins with the search for the subject of research. In our case, we need to find sellers who offer similar/similar and even complementary products. The easiest way to do this is to use a keyword search within the site.

Most of all, we are interested in sellers with the maximum number of sales, which have the Best Seller or Amazon Choice icons. Moreover, it is better to study their behaviour not only at the moment, but to make it a regular task by compiling a table of price dynamics and ongoing promotions.

You can also use the “Similar products from other manufacturers” section offered by Amazon itself.

The second way to find your competitors is to use special tools, such as Helium 10 or Jungle Scout, which we mentioned at the beginning of the text.

Tip. Become an active participant in various forums, channels and social media groups dedicated to selling on Amazon. They can provide you with useful insights into your competitors and niche.

Now that you have found your competitors, it’s time to start analysing them. Let us analyse it point by point.

1. Search for popular keywords

Use special tools to do this: Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or Amazon’s built-in analyser. Determine what keywords others are using to promote their listings. This will help you understand which queries are the most popular among your target audience.

2. Analyse prices and promotions

You may need Price2Spy or CamelCamelCamel to monitor prices. Also, study the promotions and discounts offered by your competitors. This will help you find pricing mistakes, build a sales strategy, and find a way to stand out from the competition without dumping or losing profits.

3. Assessment of reviews and ratings

They play one of the most important roles in customer decision-making. Use such tools as: ReviewMeta or Fakespot to analyse reviews of your competitors. Identify their strengths and weaknesses and use this information to improve the quality of your products and service.

4. Holistic listing analysis

Pay attention not only to keywords, but also to where and how they are used. Analyse the length of the text description and what product benefits your competitors emphasise.

It’s also important to compare graphic content: for example, the composition of photos and the presence of videos. It has long been proven that the presence of infographics in pictures will bring you much more sales than a “dry” image of a product on a white background. In addition, in many niches, the presence of models in the photo demonstrating results (athletes with “cubes” when selling abdominal muscle stimulants or a satisfied woman wrapped in a soft blanket) has a beneficial effect on the attention of the buyer.

5. Digital indicators and qualitative analysis

This can include all the precise data you can find out about your competitor: total sales figures, delivery costs and speeds, variations in the size of their products, the number of items offered in their range, etc.

You can also focus on the design of the storefront, special sales conditions (for example, your competitor offers free gift wrapping), etc.

What to do with the results

The specifics of the final data processing depend on the goal you set at the beginning. For example, you can enter all the data into a table.

	Shop 1	Shop 2	Shop 3
Quantity of goods	200	150	300
Average price	25$	30$	20$
Seller rating	4.9	4.8	4.7
Average product rating	4.7	4.5	4.6
Key feature	Exclusive designs	Free delivery	A wide range of products

Sometimes, SWOT analysis is used to understand the final picture. You can conduct it both for your business and “drive away” competitors using this methodology. A SWOT analysis uses a matrix of 4 elements: strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities. The data obtained can be used for strategy development, decision-making, planning and risk management.

Finally, here are some more tips on how to be original in selling goods:

1. Personalised service. For example, if you sell clothes, offer individual style consultations for each customer to help them choose the best look.

2. Creative marketing. Use unusual ways to attract the attention of your target audience. For example, launch a viral advert on social media using an unconventional approach to product promotion. Remember successful campaigns such as “Old Spice: The man your man can smell like.”

3. Exclusive products. Offer limited, exclusive options that cannot be found from other sellers. For example, if you sell glassware, you can offer inlaid glasses with Swarovski crystals.

4. Introduce an element of social responsibility into your marketing. For example, you can donate part of your profits to protect the great pandas from extinction or participate in other environmental initiatives. This approach will help to attract customers who share such values.

It is important to remember that originality in sales is not so much a way to stand out from other sellers as it is to meet the needs and desires of your customers. Finding opportunities to make your business unique and interesting for consumers is a guaranteed way to succeed, no matter how competitive a niche you work in.