As a combined total, we’d like to see at least 3000 sales per month for the top 10 sellers.

Why? Because if you average that out, that’s about 300 sales per listing and if you could get 300 sales per month, that’s about 10 sales per day. That’s a good number to shoot for.

So what does that look like in Jungle Scout?

Using a few promising product ideas from my search on the Web App, I jumped right on Amazon.com to search for the phrase or keyword that is most relevant. In this example it is “disposable wedding cups”:

Once you can see the Amazon product results page, click the Jungle Scout extension:

Now we can evaluate the level of demand by looking at the top 10 results and seeing if there is roughly 3000 sales per month – this is just a rule of thumb we like to use as a benchmark. It can vary by product category or marketplace, but we want to see if these top 10 sellers are actually selling their products!

A quick note about how the sales are distributed across these top 10 sellers – it’s not ideal to have a bulk of the sales dominated by one or two sellers. It would be hard to sell against them with a new product. Best case scenario, the sales would be relatively evenly distributed so that even the seller ranked 10th sells 300 units or more per month.

For example, if we search for “baby lounger”, the Jungle Scout results show me that this is a niche dominated by one brand:

Track Competition and Trends

Using the extension, you can see the number of reviews for each product; if the first five results have less than 50 reviews, the competition is still manageable and leaves room for a new product to enter the market. Additionally, if there are a few products in the top ten results with less than 75-100 reviews, that’s another good sign!

Taking a quick look at the competitive landscape using the Jungle Scout Chrome Extension is the fastest, and most reliable way to dig into your product ideas. But at this point, it’s important that you also track any products that you are super interested in for a week or more. You can add those directly to the Product Tracker in the Web App, and automate your in-depth competitor research.

Let’s take a look at an example that has low competition. If someone searches for “packing paper”, and pulls up the Jungle Scout data for the results, you will see this:

As you can see, in the Top 10 results, half of the products have less than 50 reviews, and some less than 15! If you launch a product in this niche, you could quickly compete against these sellers after you get just a few reviews. This is good for us!

Ok, now how do I find that million dollar product idea?

There are a couple ways you can go about this, and a few schools of thought.

1. Forget what you like.
   Don’t sell what you want to sell, sell what sells. Logically, this focuses on the metrics and ultimately reduces risks you might take with a product you’re passionate about. Therefore, it’s often easier and quicker to profit.
2. Sell what you are passionate about.
   The benefits of selling something you are passionate about is that you know all about the product which makes the learning curve a little less steep, and allows you to really hone in on branding.This directly contradicts the former school of thought. But in this world there is no right or wrong, it all comes down to you and the best fit for your business.

Read more about the two product selection methods here. No matter which way you decide to go, one thing that you are going to need is accurate sales estimates to back-up your research, and maximize your chances of success.

Beyond the subscription-based Jungle Scout products, we are constantly finding new ways to illustrate the product research phase and lead by example.

Million Dollar Case Study

We just so happen to have a real life product launch where we shared every step of the journey with full transparency!

This first case study was for the US marketplace (check out the European MDCS here), and it is the ultimate learning experience for Amazon sellers. You can follow along and watch as the experts go through their product research and uncover a winning product opportunity that goes on to generate over half a million in revenue and growing.

This is an excellent resource for all beginners to walk through the process of finding products to sell, and to refer back to it again and again.

Don’t Wait… Just Get Started 

Sometimes you put so much thought and preparation into the research phase you forget to just start DOING IT! The way to combat feeling overwhelmed at the start of this process is to get started, and take it one step at a time. 

Good product research takes time… but the Jungle Scout toolkit enables you to unearth product ideas faster and with more accurate data than ever before. 

We put some of our own Jungle Scouters up to the challenge to find a product idea based on specific criteria – and only 5 minutes to do it!

Amazon bestselling categories
(and sub-categories)

Of course let’s not forget the most obvious resource itself is Amazon! The best way to get product ideas is to look at what is currently selling well on Amazon. Consumer behavior will ultimately direct what to buy and sell online.

You can go to the Amazon Best Sellers Category here, and browse through the Best Sellers depending on whatever category is of interest to you.

A few important notes:

• Click through into the Sub-categories to get more opportunities. The main category Best Sellers are always very competitive, but if you drill down a couple levels and explore the sub-categories, you can find product ideas that have high demand and less competition – exactly what we’re looking for!

• There are some Categories that are better for selling as a private label brand. We recommend starting with products in any of the following Categories:
  • Home & Kitchen
  • Kitchen & Dining
  • Patio, Lawn, & Garden
  • Pet Supplies
  • Sports & Outdoors

Conclusion

Now that we’ve given you the basic research tactics we utilize every single day, you have everything you need to put together a long list of potential product ideas. Once you’ve gathered that list, we’ll be able to guide you through the rest of the process!

Still hungry for more? Jungle Scout University has everything you need and more to launch a successful Amazon business and you can find all of our free tools in one place.

We’re excited that you are starting your journey to starting an ecommerce business! Amazon private label selling is super profitable, but it’s not some get-rich-quick scheme. It’s an endeavor that requires hard work and persistence, and those who are patient and thorough with their research will be the ones who discover success and profits.

Best of luck to you, looking forward to hearing your success!