Product ideas in 2023: How to tap the Amazon Best Sellers list

Selling online continues to be profitable: In 2021, Amazon selling partners in the U.S. sold more than 3.9 billion products (that’s 7,500 every minute) and averaged about $200,000 in sales, up year-over-year from about $170,000 (2022 Small Business Impact Report).1

But how to choose what to sell? With the sheer amount of products out there, it can be a tough call. Here we’ll show you how to dig into the Amazon Best Sellers list to find product ideas. We’ll also walk through some basics on how to get started with your idea and fuel online sales in 2023.

Three steps to discover product ideas

Step 1: Dig into the Best Sellers list

Test the waters with the Amazon Best Sellers list to see if your idea has potential. The Best Sellers list shows the 100 most popular products on Amazon based on sales and is updated hourly. The list shows what people are buying and can aid your product research.

Look for each product’s Best Seller Rank (BSR) to gauge demand for a given product. To research manually in all departments, type product keywords in the Amazon search bar to get page one results.

A good starting point can be to look in the product listing’s Product Information section, find the product’s BSR, and take detailed notes.

Explore product categories and sub-categories

Do a deep dive into the best-selling categories to identify up-and-coming products, spot opportunities, and analyze patterns in a niche that interests you.

For example, you may start with the Kitchen and Dining category, refine to storage and organization items, then narrow it down even further to travel and to-go containers.

Unlock selling opportunities with a variety of Amazon programs

Play to your strengths and develop your selling strategy with a variety of programs made to support your business model:

• Protect your brand and unlock a suite of brand-building tools with Brand Registry.
• Sell handcrafted goods with Amazon Handmade.
• Offer customizable products with Amazon Custom.
• Earn artwork royalties with Merch by Amazon.
• Sell pre-owned products with Amazon Renewed.

Explore these and more add-on options as you find your niche. You can also mix and match programs to grow sales and reach even more customers.

Step 2: Zero in on the products you want to specialize in

There are a lot of products out there. Which ones can be most profitable for your ecommerce business? Give yourself time to explore and try a variety of methods.

Keep an eye on the “Movers & Shakers”

Updated hourly, the Amazon Movers & Shakers list shows the biggest gainers in sales rank over the last 24 hours.

Click on any category in the list and you can discover:

• The top 100 trending product performers
• How much the sales rank has increased
• Previous rankings for products
• Number of reviews and stars
• Pricing range

Watch Hot New Releases

Do you have an idea for a new product? Check out hourly updates on the Amazon Hot New Releases to research how similar products are performing and get a sense for what type of market may be out there for your idea.

Pro Tip

Keep an eye on “Most Wished For” products

Want a window into what customers are looking for right now? Head to the Amazon Most Wished For list.

Visit the list of products that Amazon customers wish for the most

Step 3: Find ways to put your own spin on trending products

When you have your eye on a specific product category or type of product, ask yourself whether you can improve on what’s already selling well—or offer something better. Try these tactics:

• Look for higher demand, lower competition products – You may see products in high demand, but what’s the competition like? The number of reviews can give you an idea. Generally, high-demand products with a lower number of reviews indicate lower competition and an opportunity for you to jump in.
• Use product reviews to guide product improvements – Browse product reviews to get a sense of customer feedback. Write down the pros and cons and look for areas where you can exceed customer expectations by offering something different to meet buyer needs.
• Get creative – Is there something you can do to make a trending product unique? Can the product be sold all year? Could you launch a product of better quality?

10 quick tips to help you succeed selling with Amazon

How to get started with your idea

Even the best product ideas won’t sell successfully online if you run into issues procuring the products, listing them online, or getting them to customers.

If you’re just starting out in ecommerce, be sure to:

• Research affordability and customer demand
• Choose products that are easier to package and ship
• Consider products with a long shelf life
• Think about branding potential
• Avoid products on the restricted products list

Before you decide on products to sell, there are several factors you’ll want to take into consideration. Focus on three key areas in particular: procurement, fulfillment, and listing products.

Procurement: Source your products

After you’ve narrowed down what you want to sell, the next step is to figure out how you’ll source products.

As an ecommerce seller, you have several options. Will you resell existing products? Or maybe you plan to create or build products on your own? Another option is to work with a manufacturer to make products according to your specifications, or produce branded items.

Different procurement methods come along with considerations of their own—learn about some of the ins and outs with our ecommerce business guide.

Guidelines for sourcing products

Fulfillment: Consider your shipping options

How will customers get their orders? Amazon sellers have several options for fulfillment, including:

Merchant Fulfilled (MFN or FBM)
With this fulfillment method, the seller maintains inventory, packs, and ships orders to customers.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

Seller-Fulfilled Prime

• This Prime program allows Amazon sellers to deliver directly to domestic Prime customers.
• You can use your own warehouse while earning the Prime badge to increase product visibility.
• Seller-Fulfilled Prime comes along with guaranteed delivery date messaging and other perks. See how to qualify and get started in five steps.

Pro Tip

Grow your DTC business using “Buy with Prime”

Buy with Prime displays the Prime logo and delivery promise on your existing site to convert customers with the promise of fast delivery and free returns. Grow your ecommerce business by attracting and converting customers with Prime—offering fast, free delivery and a checkout experience customers know and trust.

Learn more about Buy with Prime

You can mix and match methods to meet your fulfillment needs. For example, you can combine merchant fulfillment with FBA or an Amazon-approved third-party fulfillment solution through the Amazon Service Provider Network.

Remember, you can always choose one fulfillment solution now and change it later as your needs change. Learn more about fulfillment options and get a strategy checklist with our ecommerce fulfillment guide.

Did you know?

FBA can boost sales

Sellers see an average 20-25% increase in sales after adopting FBA. (Source: 2021 SMB Report ). New customers have access to Amazon’s world-class customer service network, which comes with phone, chat, and email support in 15 languages.

Learn more: Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

Improve your ecommerce logistics with trusted third parties

Discover Amazon-approved third-party tools in the Selling Partner Appstore and Service Provider Network. Applications from third-party and Amazon software providers can help you automate pricing, manage inventory, conduct product research, improve customer response time, and more.

Listing: Add products online

The type of listings you create will depend on the products you offer, and small details can make a big difference between listings that perform well and those that don’t. Learn more in this step-by-step guide to optimizing product listings, and read on for the basics.

To start selling products, create a product listing in Seller Central—your go-to resource for selling on Amazon.com.

• Once you create an Amazon seller account, you will automatically gain access to Seller Central.
• If you already have an Amazon seller account, simply sign in with your registered email and password.

To begin listing products, you may choose to match an existing listing or create a new one if there’s no comparable product already in Amazon stores. Learn more in our beginner’s guide to selling on Amazon.

You can list many products online, but some hazardous materials have special requirements. If you want to sell a product, but foresee any issues with listing the products online, you may need to reevaluate your business plan or go back to the drawing board with ideas on what to sell.

Intro to listing products in the Amazon store

Pro tips for driving online sales

Have you identified products you might want to sell? Check out these tactics to keep a pulse on metrics and drive sales.

Monitor sales and other metrics

How do you know if you’ve chosen the right products? There’s always room for improvement, so keep an eye on store performance and continually look for opportunities to boost sales.

You can use Seller Central to monitor sales, brand health, customer feedback, and more:

Experiment with your ecommerce storefront

Think about the products you want to offer, then look for ways you can tweak an ecommerce storefront to help customers connect with the items they’re looking for.

With many free tools at your fingertips, an ecommerce store on Amazon can help protect your brand name, showcase wares, and make it easier to connect with customers. You can build an online store that looks entirely different from the typical Amazon layout with your own Amazon URL.

Once you create a seller account and enroll in Amazon Brand Registry, you can build a store that introduces customers to your brand story and entire product catalog through customized rich media including text, image, and video content.

Give customers a multi-page, immersive experience: Learn more about how to build an online store featuring your brand.

Tailor your marketing and adjust as needed

In the expanding ecommerce space, it takes intention to gain attention. The right ecommerce marketing strategy can help you boost product visibility, improve online conversions, and win repeat purchases and customers.

Effectively marketing products is not a one-and-done activity. Revisit your marketing strategy often and adjust as needed. Learn about eight steps to build a marketing plan plus 15 top ecommerce marketing strategies in this ecommerce marketing guide.

Check the Amazon Best Sellers list often

Are products flying off the shelves and are you looking to scale? Or are you in the initial phase of finding the next breakthrough item?

No matter what stage your ecommerce business is in, it can be a challenge to strike the right balance between sticking with popular products or switching it up with something that might sell even better.

As you weigh your options, don’t hesitate to check back and use the Amazon Best Sellers list. Whether you’re looking to compare profitable niches or diversify product offerings, this resource and the other tips we’ve covered in this article can give you more ideas for boosting online sales.

Looking for more inspiration?

Check out these 38 online business ideas to hear from successful entrepreneurs who turned their passion into thriving businesses.

1 Based on data for the 12-month period ending April 30, 2021