Launching a new product can be exhilarating—especially when you’re confident you can achieve the best possible results from day one. But the process of introducing a new product can also have unique challenges. Fortunately, there are many things you can do before, during, and after launch to improve performance.
To help your new products reach their full potential in the Amazon store and beyond, we’ve compiled recommendations in our complete guide to new product success. This post covers key takeaways from the guide, including an array of powerful tools for Amazon sellers. Let’s dive in:
- How do you develop a new product?
- How do you introduce a new product?
- How do you increase sales for a new product?
How do you develop a new product?
New product success starts with offering great products. High-quality products address specific customer needs and stand out from the competition. You can use data and tools to better understand customer demand, then apply your insights to select ideas and guide your products through the development process.
Zero in on profitable ideas with Product Opportunity Explorer
Professional Amazon sellers can use our Product Opportunity Explorer tool to get data and insights into customer search behavior, purchase patterns, and more.
With Product Opportunity Explorer, you can analyze search volumes and get a sense of the competition for different types of products. This can help you identify products and niches that have lots of customers looking for them but not many sellers providing them. These could be places where you might be able to help fill the gap with a new product or improved feature.
Keep tabs on your brand performance with Amazon Brand Analytics
Professional sellers with a brand enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry—a free program that can help you build and protect your brand—can use Amazon Brand Analytics for data and insights.
Use the dashboards in Brand Analytics to explore popular search terms, audience demographics, repeat purchases, and more. Info like this can help you better understand what products customers are interested in based on cart adds, conversion rates, and other metrics.
Learn more about Brand Analytics
Use data to guide product development
Product Opportunity Explorer, Brand Analytics, and additional tools within Seller Central can give you a more complete picture of product demand and your brand performance. Make the most of Seller Central tools and programs as you narrow down product ideas and proceed with your launch.
For example, you might redesign features with clearly defined customer needs before officially releasing a product. Having a solid foundation in place complete with data and metrics can help set you up for success from start to finish.
In the case of a “hard launch,” your research and development will likely be complete before the official release, whereas a soft launch can be a chance to continue fine-tuning and finalizing your offerings based on customer input.
How do you introduce a new product?
Once you have a finished product and are ready to start planning your launch, think in terms of your new product introduction (NPI) strategy. The goal is to be as efficient as possible while helping relevant audiences connect with what you have to offer.
Create high-quality product listings
To help customers understand what a new product is all about, craft a detailed listing complete with images, bullet points, and a comprehensive description. Look into search engine optimization as a way to uncover valuable keywords that you might want to weave into your listing content. This can help customers discover products that are for sale online.
Want to take listings to the next level? If you’re a Professional seller with a Brand Representative or Reseller role assigned to a brand enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry, you can use A+ Content to add comparison charts, videos, and other types of enhanced modules. A combination of stunning visuals and informative sales copy can help showcase your brand and products. It can also help customers explore the specifics of a new product and how it can improve their lives.
Set up fast shipping and fulfillment
Shipping speeds and costs can make or break a sale. One way to offer fast, free shipping to customers is to enroll products in Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). FBA is a program that lets you outsource order fulfillment to Amazon and offer free, two-day shipping through Prime. Send your inventory into our global fulfillment network, and we’ll pick, pack, and ship orders, in addition to handling customer service and returns.
FBA can help you save time, reduce operational costs, and grow your business. Shipping with FBA costs 70% less per unit than comparable premium options offered by other major US carriers.
When you enroll a product in FBA, it automatically becomes eligible for free shipping through Prime. The Prime badge signals that customers can benefit from a familiar checkout process as well as fast, reliable delivery. So getting the Prime badge on products can be an effective way to increase conversions.
Learn more in our Prime selling guide
Collect early customer reviews through Amazon Vine
As a form of social proof, product reviews can be an important factor in a customer’s decision-making process. If you’re a Professional seller with eligible FBA offers and you have a Brand Representative or Reseller role assigned to a brand enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry, you can participate in Amazon Vine to connect with a community of trusted online reviewers. You can get up to 30 high-quality reviews through the Vine program. In addition to helping boost product discoverability and build customer trust, Vine reviews can also be a great way to receive insightful product feedback early in the launch process.
If you’re a new seller, you’ll be enrolled in the program automatically if you create your first shipment within 90 days of listing your first buyable product.
How do you increase sales for a new product?
There are many cost-effective strategies you can use to increase sales for a new product. Here are our recommendations to gain momentum and keep it going long after launch.
Tap into early performance signals
The sooner you know what’s working, the faster you can make informed business decisions. For example, based on initial customer feedback, you might decide to press pause on a release and tweak a product’s features before bringing it to a wider audience. Keep track of sales and other key metrics from Seller Central, and return to Brand Analytics as often as needed to delve into your brand performance data.
Decide which products to invest in
Once you know which products are doing well, consider doubling down on them. Or if a product is underperforming, consider diverting resources and channeling your efforts in a different direction. For high-performing products, you can scale up quickly with a range of marketing strategies to increase sales.
Run digital advertising campaigns
Ads can drive more customers toward products and help turn browsers into buyers. For example, Sponsored Products are cost-per-click (CPC) ads that can raise the visibility of products in the Amazon store and across various sales channels. CPC ads give you the ability to adjust your budgets, which can make them a flexible and cost-effective way to get more eyes on your offerings.
Offer customer savings through coupons
In the Amazon store, customers can “clip” a digital coupon to benefit from a dollar or percentage off a product or set of products. Along with other promotional methods like special deals and discounts, coupons can be a great way to supercharge sales.
Learn more about seller promotions
Complete all pre-launch and day-one actions in the checklist to qualify for complimentary marketing placements across Amazon channels.
When we’re launching a new product on Amazon, we refer to that first 30 days as the honeymoon period. It’s the period of time that’s most important to start generating sales and reviews to really get that flywheel effect going and generate a lot of sales long term.
Scale with Multi-Channel Fulfillment
Interested in expanding your business across other sales channels and regions? With Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF), you can fulfill orders for your ecommerce site, social media, and more with the same fast, reliable delivery that customer expect from Amazon. We’ve found that brands using both MCF and FBA see a 19% improvement in out-of-stock rates and a 12% improvement in inventory turnover. 1
Expand product reach using Buy with Prime
Translate your success beyond Amazon by offering the Amazon shopping experience across other sales channels. If you use MCF, you can use Buy with Prime to offer Prime shopping benefits wherever customers shop. For example, add Buy with Prime to your own website to show customers that they can get the Prime checkout experience they’re familiar with, and also benefit from fast, free shipping. And because Buy with Prime orders are pulled from your inventory that’s already at Amazon fulfillment centers, you can streamline your operations with a single pool of inventory.
Go from concept to bestseller in record time
With each new product, we’re here to help you develop, launch, and scale more efficiently. For more details on strategies to launch your next product, check out our new product success page in Seller Central.
From fulfillment to advertising, we can take essential tasks off your to-do list so you can focus on what you enjoy most—like growing your business. Log in to Seller Central to explore all the tools and resources that are available, or create a selling account if you’re new to Amazon. If you’re a new seller, make sure to review our New Seller Guide to find out if you can benefit from over $50,000 in potential incentives.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you know what new products to invest in for your business?
What is new product introduction (NPI)?
How do you drive success for a new product?
*A Professional selling account is $39.99/month + selling fees. Learn more
1Amazon internal data; based on trailing twelve-month data from 590,000 sellers who shipped more than 100 units with FBA throughout 2023 versus those who only used FBA during the same time period
