Keeping up with the pace of Trending Products on Amazon
To succeed in a fast-moving industry like ecommerce, retailers need to develop a special ‘superpower’ for spotting and creating new trends. Or do they?
Like everything else in business, capitalising on industry trends comes down to an efficient mix of innovative technology and smart strategy. If you need a starting point, here are a few tips on how to spot the most profitable trends on Amazon and quickly grow your business.
1) If you spot a hot selling product, offer complementary accessories. To get ahead of the competition you need to be flexible and react very fast. An easy solution for researching the accessories that are in high demand is monitoring Amazon’s ‘Frequently bought together’ and ‘Customers who bought this item also bought’ features.
2) Keep in mind that trends are fleeting so precise timing is essential. If you come in too late, the marketplace might be saturated already, and the chances for good profit margins are low. Prepare your exit when margins start to thin out and avoid the down spiral of the lowest price.
3) Look for innovative products from lesser known brands. They might not have large advertising budgets to create huge buzz, but their products could change the market as we know it.
4) Use reports and analytics to know your stock inside out. Constantly track the hot selling products and the slow moving items. A smart, innovative reporting platform can provide an accurate perspective down to individual SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) level which will enable you to see clearly what sold best at a specific moment in time, what variations you can offer to create bundles and increase your sales, and what the most profitable items are. Don’t forget, timing is everything with trending products so it’s crucial to have a tool that helps you keep up with the volume of orders, dispatch and returns.
Amazon itself is also a great tool for spotting new trends. If you follow the top 100 best sellers on Amazon list and cross check with your internal reports you can easily see if you are taking advantage of the current trend or if there is a gap in the market you could explore for launching a new trend.
5) The demand for trending items can sometimes be overwhelming. Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) or Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) are excellent programmes provided by Amazon that can be of great help when looking to dispatch products that are in high demand.
6) Research social media channels to generate new ideas for complementary items for hot selling products. Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Youtube should be your go to channels. Bloggers and vloggers can be a great source of inspiration for trending products. They also have millions of followers you could attract by offering their favourite items.
7) Build long-lasting and profitable relationships with your suppliers and agents. They can be a vital source of information regarding hot items that are in high demand in various regions of the world.
8) Also, don’t forget your listings. Amazon is a keyword based search-driven platform so the more information you include for your product, the higher are the chances for your product to be listed when potential customers are looking for a specific item. Pictures are also very important. They can save you a lot of time and money if people understand from the beginning what they’re buying. Positive reviews are also an essential element and you should put some effort into building relationships with clients who are willing to provide an unbiased review for your items and service quality.
These tips and tricks can help you find a winning range of products and get your profits up in a short period of time, but you need to keep in mind that you can’t build a long lasting business just on temporary trends. A strong business model and an efficient ecommerce platform that handles your stock, sales and reports will help you build a long-lasting and enduring enterprise.