In addition to focusing on building a marketing strategy for your business, you also need to consider your competitors. So, how to do that? Keep reading to find out.
Amazon is the biggest e-commerce platform right now, so it’s no surprise that more than five million sellers are currently active on the platform.
Of course, as an Amazon seller, you are not competing with all of them. Instead, you’re just competing with some of them. Therefore, you need to perform competitor analysis to increase your business advantage.
Ready to learn how to do in-depth research on your competitors? Let’s read on!
Table of Contents
Advantages of Doing An Amazon Competitor Analysis
Performing Amazon competitor analysis does not seem like a simple task. But is it really worth it? The short answer is yes. Absolutely! Here are the benefits you get from doing a competitor analysis:
- Get the information you need to make your product stand out from your competitors.
- Profit and performance tracking
- Make sure your pricing strategy is competitive
- Accurate sourcing for your portfolio
7 Steps to Effective Competitor Analysis
1. Research Your Competitors’ Product Listings
Let’s start by compiling a list of competitors’ products. We recommend using Google Sheets because it allows you to share with your team. Here, it is possible to evaluate every product listing feature, such as title, image, and description. So, let’s get into the details:
- Product title
Match their product titles with the format recommended by Amazon: Brand + Model + Product Type. Then evaluate this product title from the perspective of a customer. Does this title contain all the information you need to know?
- Product description
What additional information does their product description provide? Are they missing information? Do they provide information in easy-to-read content?
- Product features
They are located to the right of the product photo. What unique selling point (USP) sets them apart? How do you counter those points?
- Product Q&A
Don’t skip the question and answer (Q&A) section. Are your competitors dedicated to answering shopper questions? What kinds of questions do your customers usually ask? How can you apply those questions to your product list?
- Product pictures
What product images does their listing include? How is their quality? Are they helpful in showcasing their product’s uses?
2. Research the Competitors’ Branding
This step can give you insight into why shoppers choose your competitor and not your business. But, unfortunately, many Amazon sellers often skip this step. Here are some ways to assess your competitor’s brand:
- Audit the language and tone used in their product description, product features, and Q&A.
- Research the angle & approach used in their product images.
- Analyze the product design, packaging, and labeling
- Research the A+ enhanced marketing content design and enhanced brand content.
It is possible to develop a good idea of your competitors’ branding by spending about 30 minutes researching the above aspects.
3. Check Competitors’ Reviews
This step allows you to gain a deeper understanding of your competitors’ pros and cons. This can benefit your future Amazon sales strategy.
When researching their reviews, it is best to focus on the following features:
- Quality
Amazon itself wants to provide customers with products with honest and detailed reviews. So look at the reviews to see if they detail why buyers like or dislike their product. If so, what are they?
- Quantity
Amazon always tries to strike a balance between the number of reviews and their quality. Therefore, their algorithms prefer products with a high number of reviews and high quality. So, consider how many reviews your competitor’s products have. Then compare them with yours.
- Perks
In order to improve the competitiveness of a product, it is essential to know the strengths of a competitor’s product. What features do they have that customers love? Do your products offer similar features? How can you highlight those perks on your listing?
Do the same when researching their weaknesses.
- Feedback
Do your competitors respond to reviews? How do they interact with buyers, especially dissatisfied ones? Is there anything you can learn from your competitor’s response?
Based on their reviews, your business can create effective strategic improvement by overcoming the weaknesses of your competitors.
4. Visit The Competitor’s Amazon Store
If your competitor owns an Amazon store, research the following factors:
- Design
Amazon offers tons of store templates available. The design your competitors choose can give you some idea of their strategy.
- Product display
Amazon sellers can also customize the products they display in their Amazon store. In fact, you can select products manually or take advantage of pre-programmed widgets.
- Social media
Monitor your competitors’ social networks to see which platforms they are promoting the most. Then, how do they interact with users through those platforms?
Overall, your competitor’s Amazon store may not contain a lot of detailed information. However, it is still worth your research.
5. Focus On Competitors’ Targeted Keywords
Analyzing your competitors’ product listings can give you some idea of what keywords they use. In most cases, Amazon sellers include their main keyword in their product title.
Alternatively, you can research your competitors’ keyword strategies through free tools. They allow you to learn your competitors’ keyword strategies quickly.
6. Assess the Competitors’ Prices
There is no denying that price has a significant influence on the purchasing decision of customers. It may even entice them to buy products from other sellers. The reason is that we all tend to prefer cheaper products. So, the assessment of competitors’ prices is critical. However, your main aim is to make a profit. So. it does not make any sense if you’re releasing inventory but not making a profit.
7. Investigate the Competitors’ Ad Campaigns
Last but not least, researching your competitors’ ad campaigns can be very helpful for your future campaigns. This includes researching your competitors’ keyword choices, their average cost-per-click (CPC), how those factors affect their ACoS.
Conclusion
You have now completed your competitor analysis. Hopefully, our detailed guide helps improve your ranking in search results and boost your conversion rates.
Too busy or overwhelmed to analyze your competitors? Visit www.olifantdigital.com now to speak with an experienced strategist.