Is it worth adding more products to Amazon? In what cases will increasing the assortment lead to an increase in income, and in what cases – to the dissipation of resources. How to expand the product line correctly. We talk about all this in our new article.
Let’s take an existing Amazon store as an example. We found it by searching for “made in Ukraine”. It currently has 10 items in its assortment. Let’s try to figure out which factors indicate that the lineup should be expanded and which ones signal the opposite.
Почнемо з того, як позиціонує себе бренд. Це крафтове виробництво екологічних виробів для кухні. Звідси перший висновок.
| Let’s start with how the brand positions itself. It is a craft production of eco-friendly kitchen products. Hence the first conclusion. |
A limited product range helps to strengthen brand identity. By offering a small list of products, you can focus on developing a strong positioning, achieving an association with a certain style, quality, and values.
However, this does not mean that the store does not need new products. Each product has a specific life cycle, so your most popular product will eventually lose its former relevance. It should be replaced by a new “flagship”.
At the same time, the need to systematically expand your Amazon product catalog is dictated by marketing principles. Thanks to new products, you get the opportunity to “reanimate” your departed customers, get a new target audience, and cross-sell.
Expanding the product range cannot be a single action. It must be considered in the context of the overall strategy and the needs of the target audience. Let’s take a look at a few strategies that will help you draw some conclusions and make the right decision.
Let’s go back to our example. The most popular item in the store is an 18-centimeter mixing paddle (500+ sales in the past month). For comparison, the rest of the items had about 80-100 buyers (also last month. The data is relevant at the time of writing).
In other words, our task is to analyze the main characteristics of the product and understand the reason why most customers choose it. In this example, it is clearly the size. We assume that it can be chosen by owners of restaurant businesses and various fast food outlets. It is also convenient to use such a spatula when cooking outdoors, i.e. various barbecue parties. Alternatively, this size of the spatula makes it an unusual gift.
Based on the information received, we conduct a brainstorming session. We answer the following questions: “What other products with similar characteristics can we offer to the target audience?”
One of the strategies to expand the product line is to add products that complement the main range. For example, blades have holes with a rope to make them easy to hang on the wall. Alternatively, the manufacturer can offer hooks or convenient holders. Or pots for storing kitchen utensils.
Amazon does not always dictate what will improve business performance. The product catalog can be updated based on internal guidelines. For example, every business has production residues. In our case, it is sawdust and shavings. With the right marketing positioning, we can turn them from residues into a sought-after product: raw materials for firewood, mulch to protect the root system of plants, etc.
The easiest way to find out what your potential/existing customers think is to ask them. Conduct a survey to find out what products they are missing or what additions they would like to see in your assortment. This can be done through a survey on your brand’s social media channels or through an email newsletter.
Tip: People are reluctant to spend time participating in other people’s research. So you need to motivate them with a prize/discount or other value.
We have repeatedly written that Google Trends helps us track the popularity of queries. Based on the data obtained, you can create several theories-concepts that would be “interesting” to the target audience. For example, if the Internet is discussing an upcoming sporting event, you can make gifts for fans with logos of famous teams.
The same applies to seasonality, or rather, local and international holidays. At this time, we expect a surge in demand for products with a certain theme. You can introduce a limited edition collection dedicated to a certain date.
It is important and necessary to expand the range of products on Amazon. The strategies described above or more classical approaches will help you with this: competitor and market analysis, search for high-frequency keywords, analytics of various relevant services.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with adding new products to your assortment. Or contact our team of business analysts and digital marketers for advice if you are not sure how to build a strategy.
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