Becoming a Rainmaker Mama
Launching a product on Amazon can be life changing, but it’s not without risks. Over the years we’ve seen BIG wins, as well as BIG lessons learned. The old adage in business goes something like, you’re either earning, or you’re learning! And hopefully after reading this blog post, you’ll be doing both
The primary reason products “fail” on Amazon boils down one thing: poor market research. Without understanding what customers truly want, or how much they’re willing to pay, sellers can end up offering products that are either oversaturated or lack enough demand to sustain long term sales.
Not to worry however, we have some solutions for you to help guide you through this journey.
Common Pitfalls of Poorly Researched Products:
- Overly Competitive Niches: Entering a market dominated by established brands makes it hard to gain visibility.
- If there’s tons of brands with thousands of reviews, it’s going to be hard to break into that space. This is especially true if you’re a new seller who’s learning this process. Learn it on an easier product and then if you want to come back to this one that has high competition later, you’ll be more equipped then to take a swing at it.
- Misaligned Pricing: Setting prices too high or too low can alienate customers or erode profits. Two of the biggest factors in whether someone buys on Amazon is visual (what the product looks like) and pricing.
- A pitfall we see is a student may get really excited about the innovations and changes they’re making to a product, but each one is slowly adding up. Their per/unit cost goes up and possibly even the fees because they increase the size. This forces them to try to sell the product at a much higher rate than what the market is willing to pay for and is a recipe for inventory not selling. Be sure to check up-to-date profit margins BEFORE you place your bulk order to avoid this mistake.
- Know your fees! You can calculate your fees in advance when you know the size tier of your product, if you’re close to a tier, if you can find a creative way to get your product made smaller, it can save you thousands. Every bit of margin will help you in the long run, so do it if you can!
- Ignoring Reviews: Overlooking feedback trends can result in a product that doesn’t meet customer expectations.
- If everyone is complaining about other products and a certain feature they have, you want to avoid that feature or make it better! For example we remember seeing one product that was electronic but used near water. All the negative reviews of competitors said that it wasn’t waterproof and would break when it got splashed. A recipe for failure would be to ignore (or miss because of lack of research) that feedback and to make another version of the product, but still have it not be waterproof.
The #1 Mistake To Avoid: Making an “Invisible Innovation”
Here’s the thing, Amazon is a VERY visual platform. Outside of price, the visuals for a product are what sells it. However most people (80%+ and growing yearly) are shopping on their tiny smartphone screens, where they’re making buying decisions off tiny thumbnails.
In our curriculum we encourage students to NEVER launch a “me too” product. These are those copycat products where everything looks the same, outside of maybe a logo. This worked in 2013 on Amazon but now is a recipe for disaster. Your product needs to be INNOVATED in some way, making it better and helping it “stand out” from the crowd.
We’ve made this message loud and clear, and ask any Rainmaker and they’ll tell you we’ve yelled it from the rooftops. However, as the Amazon platform and the buyer experience has evolved, we’ve seen a slight nuance to this theory, that we want to make JUST as loud.
If at all possible, make your innovations SHOW, especially in the main photo. We know it’s not possible with every product, but if at all possible, DO IT!
Sometimes we see students who have a great innovation on a product, however that innovation is “invisible”. For example, selling a backpack and the cool standout feature is hidden inside the backpack. If the customer has to read through your Amazon description to hear about your innovation, you’ve already lost.
People’s attention spans are going down and they’re shopping off your photos. The main photo gets them to click, then they scroll through the rest of the photos and make their decision.
So the takeaway here to avoid failure is this: make a VISUAL INNOVATION to the product you are selling when you can, and show it off!
Let Data Drive Your Decisions:
It’s worth you taking time to invest in deep market research before you place a bulk order of any product. Don’t just make a visual innovation based off a “good idea” or because your friends said it was cool.
Our community uses cutting-edge tools to help identify demand trends, competition levels, and pricing sweet spots. We even have one that’ll validate your ideas by running your product in a competition against other top sellers in a simulated buying environment. If buyers aren’t selecting your product over the others, they probably wont on Amazon either! We run this poll to at least 100 shoppers BEFORE placing any bulk orders of products, thus reducing the risk that we missed the mark on market research.
Success on Amazon doesn’t happen by chance. Strategic planning, backed by solid data, is your best safeguard against failure. If you are interested in speaking with our team more about the Mastermind, we are offering one complimentary Family Freedom Design Session with a certified Rainmaker Family Advisor. This is a personalized, 1-on-1 Zoom call to help you take your life and business to the next level.
