Launching and Ranking a product on Amazon [Execution Thread]

[Saad Khan]

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:

• 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.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Strm]

Thanks for the detailed thread! Will be following.

Wishing you the best!

 

[DavidePaco00]

Hello! Since I'm very interested in launching products too ( on shopify tho), I will be glad to do do anything for Your business for free, to learn how to manage an e-commerce.

Write me on whatsapp if You're interested! +39 3296152039

Best regards!

Davide

 

[Ela]

Well explained. I ran an E-commerce store couple of years back, as you said, I took 3-4 months for product research, and it did really save my cost and gave a confidence in my product. So my suggestion is to put some time and effort into this initial part of your business.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[david1024]

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:

• 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

View attachment 44627

First week

View attachment 44626


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.

Very well done. I have two profitable products on Amazon and like you said, it is not a full CENTS business. However, it can be a profitable one if done right which it seems you are doing. Looking forward to your progress.

 

[Saad Khan]

Thank you everyone for the input. I'll be posting weekly updates on this thread. Stay tuned and enjoy a live launch in front of your eyes!

 

[GiacoQ]

Ciao! Poiché anche io sono molto interessato a lanciare prodotti ( su shopify tho), sarò felice di fare qualsiasi cosa per la tua attività gratuitamente, per imparare a gestire un e-commerce.

Scrivimi su whatsapp se sei interessato! +39 3296152039

Distinti saluti!

Davide

Ciao Davide, sto pubblicando su Amazon dei libri da colorare. Ho un progetto editoriale di almeno 12 libri (mandala, patterns e tassellazioni). Sei interessato a collaborare per creare uno script impeccabile? Vivo in Umbria.

Puoi contattarmi al +39 3516981604

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Saad Khan]

Last 7 Days


Lifetime (13 Days of data)


Notice how the ACOS is getting a bit better? This is natural. We launched Video Ads on Amazon with Down Only bidding with double the amount of suggested bids last week.

Also I forgot to mention, the product is priced at $6.59 (21% margin) and our original price is 7.29 (can't remember the margins lol). We have 1000 units in FBA (around 250 sold out) and 2000 units in 3PL. This means we have good buffers so we won't need to panic when we sell out.

And since Q4 is coming, the Search Volume of the keywords will double (according to historical data) which means double the sales.

Based on the seller board reports, we're losing a net of $1000/month. This is a hard pill to swallow but this daily loss is actually going to benefit us in the long run (you'll see later). I look over these campaigns daily and optimize them. Will be downloading bulk operations files in the next week to optimize campaigns.

 

[door123]

Last 7 Days

View attachment 44721
Lifetime (13 Days of data)

View attachment 44722
Notice how the ACOS is getting a bit better? This is natural. We launched Video Ads on Amazon with Down Only bidding with double the amount of suggested bids last week.

Also I forgot to mention, the product is priced at $6.59 (21% margin) and our original price is 7.29 (can't remember the margins lol). We have 1000 units in FBA (around 250 sold out) and 2000 units in 3PL. This means we have good buffers so we won't need to panic when we sell out.

And since Q4 is coming, the Search Volume of the keywords will double (according to historical data) which means double the sales.

Based on the seller board reports, we're losing a net of $1000/month. This is a hard pill to swallow but this daily loss is actually going to benefit us in the long run (you'll see later). I look over these campaigns daily and optimize them. Will be downloading bulk operations files in the next week to optimize campaigns.

Have you found that you get more organic sales when running search ads on AMZ?

In my case, even though my organic position tanked last few months, I noticed my organic sales double or triple the days I was running search ads. 739 organic orders vs 282 sponsored ad orders

 

[Saad Khan]

Have you found that you get more organic sales when running search ads on AMZ?

In my case, even though my organic position tanked last few months, I noticed my organic sales double or triple the days I was running search ads. 739 organic orders vs 282 sponsored ad orders

I'm glad you brought this up @door123

This is what I was planning to communicate in a long thread I've been wanting to make.

Amazon PPC is like getting your organic orders on steroids. How?

When you run (sponsored product) search ads on Amazon, you are getting impressions on keywords. When you get an order from your sponsored listings, not only are you getting sales but you're also boosting your organic rank.

Sponsored rank is basically the ceiling of your organic rank.

If your sponsored rank is 20, your organic rank has a low chance of being lower than 20 (especially if it's a newly launched product). That being said, the reason we are running PPC campaigns on 90% ACOS right now is to get ranked organically. Our sponsored rank for most of the keywords is 1-3. What this does is pulls the organic rank of our listing from 2nd or 3rd page to 1st page. This is why I keep saying that Amazon is pay to win. You pay money to get organically ranked indirectly by maintaining a good sponsored rank.



If anyone needs advice on how to stop getting ripped off by Amazon PPC, ask them in this public TFLF thread.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Walter Hay]

I always marvel at the huge sums people are willing to pay systems such as Keepa, Helium, and Jungle Scout to get started on Amazon when there is a program that has been running for many years, with thousands of success stories, and at a once only lifetime cost of $500, compared to the annual fees of $1,000 to $4668 charged by the schemes the OP is using.

I must say that it is obvious that you are novices at product sourcing, with little or no knowledge of dealing with Chinese suppliers.

May I suggest that you can get a huge amount of free education on the subject if you read my thread:

Sharing my lifetime experience in export/import. Product sourcing specialist.​

It's only 64 pages and I recommend that you start at the beginning where the more basic subjects are dealt with, but also bear in mind that the sourcing and importing scene is constantly changing, so some of the earlier posts may not be up to date. The subject is more extensively dealt with in my 118 page book PROVENGLOBALSOURCING. For the contents list see my MARKETPLACE OFFER: Walter Hay's Business Books where the 2023 edition is available together with my other books.

Walter​

 

[Cruiser]

I always marvel at the huge sums people are willing to pay systems such as Keepa, Helium, and Jungle Scout to get started on Amazon when there is a program that has been running for many years, with thousands of success stories, and at a once only lifetime cost of $500, compared to the annual fees of $1,000 to $4668 charged by the schemes the OP is using.

I must say that it is obvious that you are novices at product sourcing, with little or no knowledge of dealing with Chinese suppliers.

May I suggest that you can get a huge amount of free education on the subject if you read my thread:

Sharing my lifetime experience in export/import. Product sourcing specialist.​

It's only 64 pages and I recommend that you start at the beginning where the more basic subjects are dealt with, but also bear in mind that the sourcing and importing scene is constantly changing, so some of the earlier posts may not be up to date. The subject is more extensively dealt with in my 118 page book PROVENGLOBALSOURCING. For the contents list see my MARKETPLACE OFFER: Walter Hay's Business Books where the 2022 edition is available together with my other books.

Walter​

What program are you talking about Walt?

 

[Saad Khan]

Last 7 days (13th Aug to 20th Aug)


Lifetime


In the first screenshot, you can see the orange line (ACOS) shoot back up. It was due to insufficient balance in the card. We got that sorted out but it left a mark. Onwards with gathering relevant data.

Downloading search term reports and negative targeting keywords. Also opitimizing placements for campaigns with Individual Ranking keywords (They are responsible for the high ACOS).

Once we build up sales velocity and start ranking organically on mid tail keywords, then we can reinvest the profits back into these main keyword ranking campaigns to reduce bleeding.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[NorlansV]

Great start! Wish you all the best.

I like your action-oriented approach. If you keep grinding like this you'll be very successful real soon!

 

[Saad Khan]

Week 4 (22nd August to 29th August)

Optimization drills are going as usual. Can't wait to scoop into the 30 days data! Tons of optimization and insights incoming!

This month we did $6k in revenue and -$2300 in payout.

Hoping we double our revenue to $12k and get the account to breakeven in the second month.

4th month is when we will be looking to get a positive return on this account.

So far the launch is going mediocre, but it will get better soon.

Did I mention my PPC knowledge grew tenfold?

 

[Saad Khan]

Month 1

First month of launch stats. Month 2 will be better. Hoping for the best!

Keep in mind this was a product we selected after 6 months of analyzing markets, identifying gaps and a potential for a USP and then judging the PPC competitiveness.

I hate to say this, but Amazon is pay to win for real. Half of the first page is full of sponsored products. Amazon is adding more.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Saad Khan]

Remember when I said we were trying to build relevancy to get hyper-relevant search terms in auto campaigns? Here it is. It has been 2 days since this auto campaign has been running and it's giving us 29% (the best ACOS) so far. I'll update you with more results once I gather more data (the data is too low to make conclusions yet)

We are still in the launching and ranking phase. ACOS isn't a priority yet but feels good to know that the initial effort is well worth considering the results we are getting on new campaigns we launched. I'll write about this in detail tomorrow.

 

[David4431]

Something you might want to consider is drive outside traffic to your Amazon listing. I don't remember the details exactly but in a few presentations I heard that Amazon views this type of traffic very favorably. I think you might get better bang for your buck/time if you drove outside traffic to your listing rather than trying to optimize PPC everyday (since you need to give PPC some time to gather data anyway).

Anyway, just my 2 cents! Good luck with your Amazon listing!

 

[Saad Khan]

Something you might want to consider is drive outside traffic to your Amazon listing. I don't remember the details exactly but in a few presentations I heard that Amazon views this type of traffic very favorably. I think you might get better bang for your buck/time if you drove outside traffic to your listing rather than trying to optimize PPC everyday (since you need to give PPC some time to gather data anyway).

Anyway, just my 2 cents! Good luck with your Amazon listing!

External traffic works like a charm for brands. A niche private label brand can leverage organic external traffic. It's not affordable for small stores to drive external traffic in order to turn a profit. However, if you want to brand the store, then external traffic can help.

Also the buying intent of Amazon customers is much much higher than any other external traffic source user.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Saad Khan]

Month 2 Week 1



Month 2 Week 2



In the middle of week 1, our honeymoon period ended and our organic ranks dropped. So we had to pivot with our PPC strategy. The most likely symptom usually is the budget when ranks drop, so we doubled down on the budget, revamped our strategy and now we are focusing on ranking the broader spectrum of the keywords (low cost longtails). We are seeing the positive and consistent improvements in the organic ranking.

 

[Saad Khan]

Month 2 Week 3


Month 2 Week 4


Month 2 Overall


This case study is going to be a goldmine of learning opportunities for so many people in Amazon FBA including myself. There are some things we discovered in the past 2 weeks that were a hard pill to swallow.

When we went through the product opportunity explorer report for our niche, we realized that the best sellers in our category have an average conversion rate of 15%. Normally the low ticket products (under $15) have a conversion rate of above 30%-50%. We are already matching our niche's conversion rate (ours is around 13%-14%).

I wish amazon launched the product opportunity explorer when we were doing market validation.

To combat this challenge, we are going to launch a bigger pack size. priced somewhere between $15-$20. Our current price point is $7.5. This will double the profits and we'll be leveling the playing field.

 

[Vadim26]

Good stuff man.

I’ve been selling on Amazon for some time now, have seen success.

1) Where do you see a conversion rate under Opportunity Explorer? There’s Search Conversion Rate, but that’s different.

2) What’s your campaign structure like? 1-keyword campaigns, multiple-keyword campaigns?

3) How do you optimize PPC? I am using bulksheets and find it gets a little cumbersome, since my account is growing (more search terms to target in all match types etc).

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Saad Khan]

Good stuff man.

I’ve been selling on Amazon for some time now, have seen success.

1) Where do you see a conversion rate under Opportunity Explorer? There’s Search Conversion Rate, but that’s different.

2) What’s your campaign structure like? 1-keyword campaigns, multiple-keyword campaigns?

3) How do you optimize PPC? I am using bulksheets and find it gets a little cumbersome, since my account is growing (more search terms to target in all match types etc).

To check your category conversion rate, you will have to divide the total clicks in the product opportunity explorer tab by the monthly sales of best sellers which you can find from Helium 10. The search query performance report gives you the conversion rate of a specific search term, which is GOLD.

I keep my match types separate. I don't put auto, phrase, broad, or exact match in a single campaign. This ruins the placement data and hinders your ability to pinpoint the placement performance of a specific keyword.

I rarely use single keyword campaigns, but if I do, I do it for the main keyword (ranking intention). Otherwise, I keep 4-5 keywords in a campaign. I like to divide SKUs into portfolios.

How do optimize PPC? That's a question I get every day and it doesn't have a definite answer.

Here are some general pointers.

Optimize your bids with this basic formula. (Revenue Per Click * Target ACOS) No need to complicate it. We use this formula in agencies so you know it works.

Do the changes slowly. Whether its bids, placements or budgets, I recommend not making a change bigger than 10% in a day.

Target the profitable search terms in exact match and do the optimization drill.

I rarely use phrase match. Broad does wonders for me. Auto is used as a discovery campaign.

Download Search Term Reports and do the necessary changes (migrating search terms to exact, negative targeting)

I don't negative search terms in my other campaigns when I move them to exact (except if they're not profitable).

Learn bulksheets. Learn pivot tables. This is PPC manager stuff but as a seller, you should find some good resources on Youtube.

If you want to win on Amazon, you need to learn to win at PPC and keywords. Period.

 

[Arithen]

Well written! I'm excited to see where you take this and how your team progresses. It looks like you have a terrific start.

 

[Vadim26]

To check your category conversion rate, you will have to divide the total clicks in the product opportunity explorer tab by the monthly sales of best sellers which you can find from Helium 10. The search query performance report gives you the conversion rate of a specific search term, which is GOLD.

I keep my match types separate. I don't put auto, phrase, broad, or exact match in a single campaign. This ruins the placement data and hinders your ability to pinpoint the placement performance of a specific keyword.

I rarely use single keyword campaigns, but if I do, I do it for the main keyword (ranking intention). Otherwise, I keep 4-5 keywords in a campaign. I like to divide SKUs into portfolios.

How do optimize PPC? That's a question I get every day and it doesn't have a definite answer.

Here are some general pointers.

Optimize your bids with this basic formula. (Revenue Per Click * Target ACOS) No need to complicate it. We use this formula in agencies so you know it works.

Do the changes slowly. Whether its bids, placements or budgets, I recommend not making a change bigger than 10% in a day.

Target the profitable search terms in exact match and do the optimization drill.

I rarely use phrase match. Broad does wonders for me. Auto is used as a discovery campaign.

Download Search Term Reports and do the necessary changes (migrating search terms to exact, negative targeting)

I don't negative search terms in my other campaigns when I move them to exact (except if they're not profitable).

Learn bulksheets. Learn pivot tables. This is PPC manager stuff but as a seller, you should find some good resources on Youtube.

If you want to win on Amazon, you need to learn to win at PPC and keywords. Period.

What do you use to adjust bids for keywords targets? A software / bulksheets or other 3rd party tool?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Saad Khan]

What do you use to adjust bids for keywords targets? A software / bulksheets or other 3rd party tool?

I use macros to update bids in bulk. I created them for myself. I add my criteria to the bid table and it adjusts the bids accordingly.

Let me know if you're interested in using macros, I'll show you how to set them up on a call.

 

[Saad Khan]

Well written! I'm excited to see where you take this and how your team progresses. It looks like you have a terrific start.

This isn't the only launch I'm working on. There are tons of launches and amazon accounts I'm managing and working on growing. I only have permission for this account to document it on a public forum.

 

[Walter Hay]

What program are you talking about Walt?

The program is PROVEN AMAZON COURSE (PAC)
This is an afilliate link because I receive a small payment to compensate me for allowing Jim Cockrum to give away a free copy of my book to everyone who joins PAC.

Mods, I hope this is OK.

I would like to add that it is a good idea to have your own eCommerce site and you can bypass Amazon's TOS by putting your URL on labels, or on your product. That can be done by the manufacturer if you request it when ordering.

For ideas on how to incorporate your URL on your product, message me to tell me what the product is and I will reply with my suggestion as to how you can either have it done by the manufacturer, or how to do it yourself in your own country. (That is often a cheaper option.)

Walter

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Saad Khan]

Update: The product is at breakeven and is doing $100-$200 in profits every month.

Investment: $20k and 2 years of time.
Vehicle: Amazon FBA

Choose your vehicle carefully guys

Edit: It was only one swing at the market. I'm pretty sure if you make more than 3 swings you'll get better results. Amazon FBA is viable, but you need a strong differentiating product first, everything else second.

 

[David4431]

Update: The product is at breakeven and is doing $100-$200 in profits every month.

Investment: $20k and 2 years of time.
Vehicle: Amazon FBA

Choose your vehicle carefully guys

Edit: It was only one swing at the market. I'm pretty sure if you make more than 3 swings you'll get better results. Amazon FBA is viable, but you need a strong differentiating product first, everything else second.

I think you learned a lot from this experience. The most important lesson you learned is that you need to provide a product which is differentiated in a way which is better than what is currently being offered - it can't just be different for the sake of being different. I think this is the most fundamental foundation of doing business. All the other things like marketing, branding, etc. only accelerate your business if your foundation is strong.

You should keep going. For your next product focus on designing the best product possible (assuming the product has a decent sized market). Do the hard work and think deeply about the product's design and create a functionally better product than what is currently available for sale. Then layer in great aesthetics into the product - improve the form, color, size, etc. Now patent that bad boy once you are confident that you've made the best product possible. Your business is now on a strong foundation. It's a pretty simple approach, but one that is difficult to do well. And depending on your design ideas, it also might not be cheap to execute. But if it is difficult for you to execute then it will be even more difficult for your competition to compete against you as well because they will need to also invest heavily to bring to market a product which can compete against you.

I've mentioned this before but I've messed up so many times on my ecommerce / Amazon journey so far. What has carried me through all the difficulties and allowed me to endure in a changing and ever more competitive market has simply been that I have a better product than what is currently available for sale from my competition. The one mistake that I made was not patenting. This puts a timer on my product as well.

So keep going and good luck!