Amazon Competitor Analysis to Spy on Competing Sellers: 9-Step Guide with Tool List

To be successful on Amazon, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. The best Amazon sellers learn from their competition, by doing an Amazon competitor analysis.

If you’ve never done a proper competitive analysis of Amazon sellers in your niche, now’s the time to do so. You’ll most likely uncover something that you can use to increase your sales on Amazon and close the gap between you and the competition. Keep reading to learn how.

Why Amazon Competitive Intelligence is Important

The best way to learn how to get ahead is to learn from successful real-life examples.

Products that are outranking you and sellers who have had success on Amazon are doing something right. You can learn a lot by reverse-engineering their strategy in various areas.

It’s not about purely replicating what your competitors are doing, though. Part of why you do a competitive analysis is to identify gaps in the market or areas where your competition falls short.

With this, you can create a competitive edge for yourself by doing something that other sellers are not.

In the end, the only way to compete is by arming yourself with the knowledge that you get from an Amazon competitor analysis. Taking the time to do this will help you grow your Amazon business into something bigger than it is today.

Categorizing and Tiering Competing Sellers

The first thing you need to know about doing an Amazon seller competitor analysis is who your competitors actually are.

You might already have an idea about this. When starting out, you should have done at least a quick survey of your target market. In doing so, you’ll have identified your competitors and competitor’s products you’re going up against.

One important thing here is to be realistic. The fact that you sell running shoes doesn’t necessarily mean that Nike is your competitor. They may compete in the same space, but they are playing a different game. That’s why it is important to categorize of your competitors in different tiers:

Categorizing Competitors in Different Tiers

• Tier 1 competitors: They sell the products within your niche very similar to your own. They usually rank in top positions for primary long-tail keywords you also rank for and sell at comparable prices. 
• Tier 2 competitors: These are Sellers that are selling alternatives to your products or variants of what you sell. So think of these as product alternatives that help shoppers achieve the same goal, just with a different product. For example umbrellas vs raincoats. Researching these competitors helps you understand user motivations and different product usage scenarios.  
• Tier 3 competitors: They sell products related to your products that you currently do not sell. So if you sell USB cables, these would be Sellers that also sell USB power adapters (that you currently don’t sell). Researching these competitors helps you identify product categories that you could expand into later on.

9-Step Process to Conducting a Complete Amazon Competitor Analysis

Follow our step-by-step walkthrough on how to analyze competing sellers in your niche and figure out a plan to get ahead.

Step 1: Identify Your Tier 1 Competitors

The first thing you need to do is figure out which sellers and/or products to focus on in your Amazon competitors analysis. We have already discussed the importance of really defining these as Sellers that compete in your exact niche (tier 1 competitors). You can later on broaden this scope and also target tier 2 and tier 3 competitors, but let’s get started with the most immediate ones.

We talked a bit earlier about how to find a direct competitor. You probably know some already. And you can find more by looking at other product listings ranking for the same keywords as you.

You’ll want to look at the products that show up in the same searches as yours. More often than not, these will be your direct competitors.

Focus on products that are ranking above yours, or those that appear to be selling as much or more than your products. If you’re trying to replicate other sellers’ strategies, you want to replicate what’s working.

Create a spreadsheet full of all the competitors you find. Put the top performers at the top of the list, to be prioritized.

Once you have this, you can start with your Amazon competitor analysis.

Step 2: Research Keywords Your Competitors Ranking For

Start with the lowest hanging fruit, which is keyword research. 

Put your competitors’ listings into an Amazon reverse keyword search tool tool (e.g. Jungle Scout or ZonGuru), as well as yours, and compare them. Look for any of your competitors’ targeted keywords that are relevant to you, but you aren’t targeting or ranking for. For more details on which tools to use for what purpose, we have put together a comprehensive list of Amazon research tools. It includes rankings of the best Amazon product research tools, the best Amazon SEO tools and more. 

Identifying keywords your competitors rank for (but you don’t) gives you a golden opportunity to broaden your keyword strategy and to reach more potential customers by further optimizing your product titles and listing copy.

Step 3: Compare and Audit Competitors’ Product Listings

Now it’s time to comb through your competition’s product listings, and see what they’re doing differently to you.

You don’t want to straight up copy their product titles or bulletpoint copy. But if you notice anything they’re doing better, you can incorporate these ideas into your own listing.

Look at areas like:

• Product title: What are the primary keywords they’re using, how it’s structured. For more on this reach our Amazon title optimization best practices guide
• Listing Images: What kind of use cases they show, how many angles are there, do their images look significantly better than yours, do they have video? More on this: Amazon product image best practices
• Bullet points and description: What tone do they use? How do they talk about features and benefits? How are they mixing in keywords? More on this: How to write Amazon bullet points that convert
• A+ Content: Do they have this? Does it help address common user questions effectively, mention related products they are also selling? More on this: Amazon A plus content

Finish by going through the rest of the listing to try and spot any differences, or pick out new ideas that might help you improve your product listing.

Step 4: Price Comparison

This is something you might want to batch, and pull together all the data from competing products together in one spreadsheet.

You want to see where your pricing strategy stacks up against similar products. Are you somewhere in the middle? Or are you an outlier, on the low end or high end?

It’s important to get context on this, though. Note down any differences in each product that might contribute to a difference in price. For example, if one product is priced much higher than the others, it might be due to larger sizing or premium features that other products don’t have.

Find a tool (like Keepa) that lets you track historical pricing for all the products you’re comparing as well. Some may utilize dynamic pricing strategies, which is important to know for your competitor analysis.

Step 5: Examine Competitors’ User Reviews

Now look through the product reviews for your competition.

This is an amazing way to get insights on how customers feel about your competitor’s products. Reviews show what people like about the products and what they don’t. This is valuable information that will help you get an edge.

This is good to do before you actually launch your product. That way, if you notice any issues that consistently come up in product reviews, you can make sure your product solves that particular issue.

Boom – there’s your competitive advantage.

Pro Tip:
One of the most effective ways to optimize your listing is by finding out what shoppers DO NOT like about competing products and capitlizing on that. To do so read through the negative reviews of competing ASINs. Identify common patterns – maybe a product that is being sold does not include a charging cable, or there are specific design flaws that make it hard to use. Assuming that these same issues do not persist with your product, make sure to highlight this in your title and bulletpoints. Ultimately, in terms of product differentiation, this will be one of the most convincing arguments to persuade a shopper to buy your product rather than your competitor’s. 

Related: Check out the best ways to Get Reviews on Amazon today – without breaking the rules.

Step 6: Sales Audit

An important part of an Amazon competitor analysis is figuring out where you stand against the competition, and what upside there is if you can equal or overtake your competitors.

Use a sales estimation tool to analyze competing products in your niche (find a list here: Amazon Product Research Tools for Amazon). You won’t be able to get an exact figure on this, but these tools will give you a rough idea of how much inventory these products are selling.

Once you’ve done this, use the same tool on your own product. This should give you a good comparison on how your sales/revenue compares.

You can also compare how many reviews you have versus other products, which will give a rough outline on how much they’re selling.

This information could show that there’s a lot of potential for growth if you can take some market share away from the competition. 

But it might also show that you’re already outperforming the competition. In that case, there may not be much upside to growing in your niche. Instead, the better option might be to launch a new product, or expand your product/brand to new markets (using the Amazon Global Selling network).

Step 7: Branding Audit

See what your competitors are doing with their brand. Do they have a consistent voice? What’s the tone of their brand’s voice?

You can get an idea of this from their listing copy, their A+ Content, their Amazon Storefront (5-Step Formula to Build an Amazon Storefront) , and their off-Amazon presence (social media, website, etc). We recommend that you check out their Meta Ads Library to see if and what kind of ads they are running. 

See what you can figure out about the kind of customer and market they’re targeting from their branding and communications. Use whatever you can gather to examine your own strategy, and make a call on whether you should change it up.

Step 8: Traffic Acquisition Strategy (PPC, External Traffic)

Your competitor’s ad campaigns and marketing strategy can give amazing insight to take away and use for your own business.

It takes a bit of detective work, but it’s not that hard to find out what your competitors are doing to market their products.

Browsing as if you’re a customer will uncover a bit about your competitors Amazon ad campaigns. You won’t get the granular details on their Amazon PPC, such as bidding strategy and campaign structure, but you will get some information.

It’s also very easy to figure out if they’re running on-Amazon promotions such as coupons or lightning deals.

Then you’ll want to look at their off-Amazon marketing. This again takes some snooping. But if they have a social media presence on sites like Facebook and TikTok (How to promote amazon products on Facebook), and if they have their own website, you’ll be able to find something.

If they’re marketing off-Amazon, take notes from your competitors’ ad campaigns, in terms of copy, creative, etc.

You should also click on their ads and see where it goes. You’ll be able to follow their sales funnel, see if they’re using a landing page, collecting emails, providing some kind of discount or offer, etc.

Also check out their website. Have a look around – if they have an email opt-in, sign up and see if they’re doing any kind of email marketing too.

There’s a trove of information available on your Amazon competitors if you look hard enough.

Learn More: This complete guide to Driving External Traffic to Amazon has everything you need to know to start marketing your products and making sales through off-Amazon channels, such as Facebook, Google and TikTok.

Step 9: Extra for Experts: Analyze Packaging, Unboxing Experience and Follow-Up Strategy

If you want to get really serious about your competitor analysis, buy their products.

This is a great way to see and feel their customer experience, from the customer’s perspective. You can analyze their packaging, whether they have a packaging insert with the product and what kind of care they pay to the unboxing experience.

Then there’s the ability to see and feel the product first-hand, and analyze how it compares to yours.

It will also allow you to see what your competitors are doing in terms of follow-up marketing. Whether or not they’re sending follow-up emails through buyer-seller messaging, for example.

If you buy the product through an external traffic sales funnel (e.g. from clicking on an ad or through an email), you might find even more that your competition is doing outside the Amazon ecosystem.

It’s a little more expensive to purchase all your competitors’ products, depending on the market you’re in. But it’s well worth it for the information you’re able to get.

Using Amazon Competitor Benchmarking to Grow Your Sales

The last step of a competitor analysis is to use what you’ve learned.

Perhaps you came across some previously unidentified relevant keywords you can target. Maybe you have new product ideas based off your competitors’ reviews.

Your competition might have specific product images or video that you can replicate for your product. You might find certain benefits that they highlight, or specifics that keep coming up in customer reviews, which you can add to your bullet points or A+ Content.

If you find differences in what they’re doing for marketing and branding, it might make sense to run a test and see if adopting a similar strategy proves effective.

It’s important to take action. That being said, you don’t necessarily want to take action just for the sake of it.

Evaluate What Parts of the Amazon Competitor Research to Use and What to Discard

Just because your competitors are doing something differently to you doesn’t mean they’re right and you’re wrong.

You’ll find a lot of differences. Some you should discard, some you want to try and replicate.

In some cases this will be obvious. For example, if a competitor has poorly written copy with spelling mistakes, it doesn’t mean you should do the same, even if they happen to be outranking you.

Other differences may be harder to figure out. Wherever possible, test this out for yourself, and get real data on whether your sales go up or down by changing specific variables.

Find Your Competitive Advantage

A big reason to do an Amazon seller competitor analysis is to figure out how to stand out from the crowd.

Amazon is flooded with sellers today in almost every category. It’s hard to find a product, with demand, that doesn’t have at least 10-15 sellers already. 

That means it’s vital to figure out a competitive edge. What can you provide that the others aren’t? Is it a higher-quality product? A better customer experience? Better marketing? Lower price?

With the information you gather in your competitors analysis, you’ll be able to make an educated decision on what you can do better or differently to other Amazon sellers in your niche.

Final Thoughts on Amazon Competitor Research

There’s a wealth of information available out there to help you succeed on Amazon. All you need to do is look at what your competitors are doing to get ahead, and take notes to use in your own Amazon strategy.

You should do Amazon competitor research before you launch your product, and periodically after launch. Doing this will ensure you understand the market, any gaps and opportunities in the market, and any areas in which you can improve and close the gap on your competitors.

This is a bulletproof way to figure out what you need to do to get ahead as an Amazon seller.

FAQ: Amazon Competitor Analysis