This thread is going to be a journey of trying to grow a brand on Amazon successfully + a case study. I'll be walking you through the major points of how we did it and why we did it. I hope this post adds value to this forum.
Let's summarize the very beginning to understand the context:
Requirements:
From the Fastlane lens, this Amazon FBA brand violates the C of CENTS. I believe we can get away with lacking one commandment but keeping in mind that we’re just a bunch of 22-18-year-olds with lots of summers., the lessons + skills learned alone from this venture will be worth it.
Product Research & Validation
Timeline
Product Research & Validation = 5-6 months
We spent the first 6 months on product research, trying to find out a product to sell on Amazon which is simple, has a market gap, and low competition with reasonable monthly sales of competitors. In essence we wanted a product in a market with these attributes:
There are a ton more metrics + criteria to look into in product research phase. I’ll explain what I learned personally in those 6 months of product research + validation in another thread.
Why 6 months on this stage? Simple. Choose a wrong product and its game over.
Product Sourcing & Logistics
Timeline
Product Sourcing & Logistics = 2-3 months
Logistics = 40-45 days via sea route
The three of us contacted around 45-50 suppliers, negotiated for the best price. Eventually, we found 2 suppliers who agreed with our price. One of them is on standby in case the other supplier decides to throw in the towel. We used EXW, so we had to contact a Freight Forwarder. Before manufacturing the whole batch, we ordered our competitor’s product + our samples, did some brainstorming and R&D to make the product better based on the feedback we received from public sources (Forums, Reviews, Review sites etc.).
I must say this stage was the hardest. Imagine spending hours trying to find suppliers on 1688 whilst going into the deceptive jungle with an online translator extension as your lens. Not to mention, getting your inventory stuck at the customs because of another person’s shipment in the same container (this deserves a whole thread) I’ll also explain what I learned in the Product sourcing & Logistics in another thread.
Launching and Ranking the Product
Timeline
Launch & Rank = Ongoing
Alright so starting from day 1 of Launch (Day 7 technically)
We launched the product on Amazon a week ago. We started with Manual targeting campaigns with fixed bids.
Why Fixed Bids?
Our first intention is to get as many clicks as possible on relevant listings and keywords to build Relevancy.
Why Relevancy?
Later on, when we will be launching Auto campaigns, we will have built relevancy of our listing to the specific subcategory that we are in. This allows Amazon's A9 algorithm to take the guesswork out and generates new search terms for us in Auto campaigns for that specific subcategory which we can use to rank organically faster.
In case if you didn't know, Amazon's A9 algorithm assigns a "set of keywords" to every subcategory.
Here’s how the first day of launch with Amazon PPC campaigns turned out
First week
Our ACoS is currently above 100%. We will not be considering ACoS in our decision-making process in the first 2 months. We will be more focused on achieving the best Click through Rate, Conversion Rate, Sponsored Rank, and most importantly, organic rank. Our objective for the first 2 months is to build relevancy, get indexed and ranked on as many keywords as possible.
Who is “We” that I refer to?
“We” is basically me and two other irl friends who are launching their second product on Amazon.
Let's summarize the very beginning to understand the context:
Requirements:
- Budget for this launch in the US market = $20-$25K
- Being the best in the market in terms of price + VALUE.
- Data tools (Helium 10, Jungle Scout, Keepa etc.)
- Patience
- Risk-tolerance
- A burning desire to win
From the Fastlane lens, this Amazon FBA brand violates the C of CENTS. I believe we can get away with lacking one commandment but keeping in mind that we’re just a bunch of 22-18-year-olds with lots of summers., the lessons + skills learned alone from this venture will be worth it.
Anyway, let’s get to the real stuff.
Product Research & Validation
Timeline
Product Research & Validation = 5-6 months
We spent the first 6 months on product research, trying to find out a product to sell on Amazon which is simple, has a market gap, and low competition with reasonable monthly sales of competitors. In essence we wanted a product in a market with these attributes:
- 30% profit margin
- Market shouldn’t be Amazon dominant + Brand dominant
- Top 10 competitors at least are making good money ($12k/mo revenue is the bare minimum for Top 3)
There are a ton more metrics + criteria to look into in product research phase. I’ll explain what I learned personally in those 6 months of product research + validation in another thread.
Why 6 months on this stage? Simple. Choose a wrong product and its game over.
Product Sourcing & Logistics
Timeline
Product Sourcing & Logistics = 2-3 months
Logistics = 40-45 days via sea route
The three of us contacted around 45-50 suppliers, negotiated for the best price. Eventually, we found 2 suppliers who agreed with our price. One of them is on standby in case the other supplier decides to throw in the towel. We used EXW, so we had to contact a Freight Forwarder. Before manufacturing the whole batch, we ordered our competitor’s product + our samples, did some brainstorming and R&D to make the product better based on the feedback we received from public sources (Forums, Reviews, Review sites etc.).
I must say this stage was the hardest. Imagine spending hours trying to find suppliers on 1688 whilst going into the deceptive jungle with an online translator extension as your lens. Not to mention, getting your inventory stuck at the customs because of another person’s shipment in the same container (this deserves a whole thread) I’ll also explain what I learned in the Product sourcing & Logistics in another thread.
Launching and Ranking the Product
Timeline
Launch & Rank = Ongoing
Alright so starting from day 1 of Launch (Day 7 technically)
We launched the product on Amazon a week ago. We started with Manual targeting campaigns with fixed bids.
Why Fixed Bids?
Our first intention is to get as many clicks as possible on relevant listings and keywords to build Relevancy.
Why Relevancy?
Later on, when we will be launching Auto campaigns, we will have built relevancy of our listing to the specific subcategory that we are in. This allows Amazon's A9 algorithm to take the guesswork out and generates new search terms for us in Auto campaigns for that specific subcategory which we can use to rank organically faster.
In case if you didn't know, Amazon's A9 algorithm assigns a "set of keywords" to every subcategory.
Here’s how the first day of launch with Amazon PPC campaigns turned out
First week
Our ACoS is currently above 100%. We will not be considering ACoS in our decision-making process in the first 2 months. We will be more focused on achieving the best Click through Rate, Conversion Rate, Sponsored Rank, and most importantly, organic rank. Our objective for the first 2 months is to build relevancy, get indexed and ranked on as many keywords as possible.
Who is “We” that I refer to?
“We” is basically me and two other irl friends who are launching their second product on Amazon.
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