Product scouting is one of the most meticulous tasks every successful Amazon seller must complete. Product scouting is the process of exploring and discovering new products to sell on Amazon that are replenishable. profitable, and in high demand.
Most products nowadays are scouted through two methods: leaf sourcing and reverse sourcing. Leaf sourcing is the process of sourcing a single profitable product and sourcing related or similar products with identical profit margins. We covered this strategy and breakdown the steps in our How to Leaf Source article.
The other common method of scouting products is Reverse Sourcing. Like leaf sourcing, reverse sourcing starts with finding a single profitable product. Instead of finding similar products, you find the product’s supplier and then analyze the supplier’s catalog for any other profitable products. We also wrote about this strategy in more detail in our blog How to Reverse Source. If you haven’t read these articles, we highly suggest you go back and read them before you read this article. All three of these strategies are most effective when used together.
While leaf sourcing and reverse sourcing are effective scouting methods, they are driven by luck. Sellers can spend hours or even days trying to scout a single winning product. Without that single product, leaf sourcing and reverse sourcing are essentially useless. That is why we’ll be showing you the third type of product scouting called Super Targeting, which is more effective, efficient, and successful than both leaf sourcing and reverse sourcing.
What is Super Targeting?
While leaf sourcing and reverse sourcing start by finding a single product, super targeting starts by finding a single seller. Instead of struggling to find a profitable product, super targeting uses your competitor’s inventory for your benefit.
You might be wondering, why would I want to copy my competitor’s products?
Think about it. If another Amazon seller is selling a product, shouldn’t the product be profitable? No third-party seller would intentionally sell a product for negative profit. You can assume your competitor’s catalogs are filled with replenishable, profitable, and high-quality products you can start selling now.
We like to think of super targeting as a competitive resource. If your competitors have done all the research to find profitable products, why not sell the same products for your business? Your competitors have done all the hard work, now you can reap the benefits of their labor. By using super targeting to find your competitor’s products, you’ll find profitable products faster and more efficiently.
Picking a Competitor
Before you pick a competitor and start sourcing their products, you should perform due diligence and review the seller’s sales history and product lists. You don’t want to copy any seller’s catalog of products, you want to find reputable and proven sellers.
When looking for a seller to start super targeting, we recommend looking at the seller’s Seller Ratings (over the last 30 days minimum and Seller Reviews (over the last 30 days, 90 days, 12 months, and lifetime).
In particular, you want to note any negative reviews the seller has received. Sellers with tons of negative reviews may be selling fake or defective products or be practicing bad business tactics. Regardless, you want to make sure you don’t super target poor-performing sellers who may hurt your business and reputation. We recommend only super targeting sellers with a minimum of 100 reviews over the past 90 days with an 80% or more positive rating in the last 12 months. This due diligence will pay off when you begin sourcing the same products as a reputable and trusted seller.
Along with ratings and reviews, take a glance at the seller’s products. Ensure all the products have good reviews and ratings, and that the products are realistic for your inventory.
Even if a seller has great ratings and reviews, if their products have poor reviews or you do not have the resources to source and sell their products, they are not ideal super targeting candidates. The perfect super targeting candidates will have great reviews and ratings, reliable products, and realistic products you can source.
Looking at Current Competition
Where is the best place to start when super targeting? The best place to start super targeting is looking at similar sellers to you.
If you currently sell on Amazon, look at your product listings and see who else is selling your products. Your current competitors are most likely to sell other products and are similar in business size, product catalogs, and resources. Review their products and see if you can spot any profitable products that you can start selling now.
If you don’t have any competitors or just started selling, you’ll have to start super targeting from scratch. Start by identifying a seller with sufficient ratings and positive reviews. We target sellers with at least 100 reviews over the past 90 days and an 80% or higher seller rating. From there, you can scout a seller’s inventory quickly to see if there are any leads.
Choosing the Right Products
Once you find your first super targeting candidate, it’s time to analyze their products and find any leads. Product analysis begins with calculating the profit margins. You want to compare the selling price and subtract the cost of the product, fulfillment fees, and other associated costs. You can use Amazon’s Revenue Calculator to expedite the calculations and estimate the profitability.
Along with profit potential, you calculate the sales estimation of the product to see how many units you would source and sell within 30 days. If you have access to Sellgo’s Profit Finder, simply search the ASIN of the potential product and look under the “Average Daily Sales.” From there, you can estimate how many units you would need to source for 90 days.
The next step is to determine the number of competing sellers there are currently selling the product. For each product, count the number of sellers using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and who are within 2% of the lowest price point. Use these two filters to figure out the number of competitive sellers who are fighting for the Buy Box. Divide the sales estimation by the amount of competitors + 1 (accounting for yourself) to determine the number of sales you will collect off this single item in 30 days. We cover the Buy Box and how to develop a winning strategy in our blog on 6 Strategies to Win the Amazon Buy Box.
Repeat this process for every single item your candidate sells. We know this process might take a moment to complete. Take your time to analyze every product, and you’ll quickly find a collection of profitable, high-demand products.
Super Targeting with Sellgo
Although super targeting is already very effective, Sellgo developed the Seller Finder tool to bring super targeting to the next level.
Every seller on Amazon has a “Seller ID” or “Merchant ID,” found on the storefront page and URL. Similar to ASINs, seller IDs are used to identify every single third-party seller on Amazon. With the Seller Finder, you can find any seller’s inventory by simply having a seller’s ID number.
To optimize your super targeting, find your competitor’s seller ID and input the code into the Seller Finder. The Seller Finder will find your competitor and provide you with an entire breakdown of their account including ratings and reviews, all their brands, and all of the ASINs they currently sell.
You can then easily copy all of their products onto your clipboard and analyze each ASIN one by one to find any leads.
Not only can you review their ASINs in a few seconds, but you can also check their inventory levels to see how much stock they have left. Competitors with low stock are prime candidates you can source and take sales from!
The Seller Finder empowers your super targeting skills to a whole new level. Instead of struggling to find a single seller and their products, you can quickly find tons of sellers and take their most profitable products. The best part about Sellgo’s Seller Finder? You can try out the Seller Finder for only $1 right now at Sellgo.com.
Power Up Your Product Scouting
Super targeting gives your entire Amazon business a power-up. Along with leaf sourcing and reverse sourcing, super targeting is another method of product scouting that can you can implement today and accelerate your inventory and sales. If you want to even go further and maximize your productivity and efficiency, use Sellgo’s Seller Finder for only $1. The Seller Finder will give you even more tools to scout thousands of products and sellers faster than you can imagine.
What are you waiting for? Head over to Sellgo.com and start scouting and sourcing new products today!
