Amazon’s marketplace is extremely competitive, with millions of third-party sellers vying for customer attention. There are over 9.7 million sellers on Amazon globally (around 1.9 million active sellers). To succeed, you can’t afford to operate in a bubble – you need to know what your rivals are doing. One of the smartest ways to gain an edge is by reverse-engineering your competitors’ bestselling products. This means dissecting their top performers to understand why they sell so well, and using data-driven insights to inform your own strategy.
Data-driven, brand-level research is key here. Rather than guessing or blindly imitating, you’ll leverage concrete metrics and objective analysis. Focusing on competitors at the brand level (not just individual ASINs) gives you a strategic bird’s-eye view. For example, market share data lets you identify the top brands in a category and see how far ahead they are. You might learn one brand accounts for 30% of your niche’s sales – a signal that they’re the benchmark to beat.
Data-driven research also removes a lot of guesswork. Amazon doesn’t publicize sales or traffic data, but modern seller tools can estimate things like revenue, sales volume, and even advertising spend. Basing your research on hard numbers helps you spot real opportunities and avoid costly missteps.
Importantly, brand-level data helps connect the dots across a competitor’s product line. You can quickly see which specific products drive a brand’s success. Often a few “hero” products make up the bulk of a brand’s revenue. Identifying those winners gives you a clear target for what to analyze and emulate (or improve upon). In short, a brand-level, data-first approach shows the forest before you zoom in on the trees of individual products – ensuring you focus on the factors that truly move the needle.
Now, let’s get into the actionable steps to reverse engineer your competitors’ bestselling products using an analytical, data-focused approach. (We’ll concentrate on physical products – excluding digital goods or print-on-demand – since the strategy is different for tangible products.)
Steps to Reverse Engineer Competitors’ Bestselling Products
Below is a step-by-step process, from pinpointing the right competitors to translating insights into your own growth plan. Each step includes tactical how-tos and strategic reasoning, so you can borrow the best from your rivals while still differentiating your brand.
- Identify Your Top Competitors and Their Best Sellers: Begin by pinpointing the competitors that matter most in your niche. Look at who dominates the first page for your product’s primary search terms and who appears in the category’s Best Sellers list. These are the brands or sellers capturing the bulk of customers. Don’t overlook private label brands – they might not be household names, but some command significant sales in specific niches. You can do this research manually (searching on Amazon and noting the recurring names), or use a tool to quickly surface the top brands and their leading products for a given category. The outcome of this step is a short list of key competitor brands and specifically their bestselling products – typically the products with the highest sales or best seller rank in that brand’s catalog. Those are the products you’ll be reverse-engineering in the next steps.
- Gather Sales and Market Share Data: Next, quantify how well those top competitor products are actually performing. How many units do they sell per month? What revenue might that translate to? And how big is their slice of the market? While Amazon doesn’t share exact sales figures, you can make educated estimates. For example, if you know a product’s Best Sellers Rank, you can input it into a sales estimator tool to gauge its monthly sales. Likewise, some software (like SmartScout) can display a brand’s total revenue in a category, revealing what percentage of category sales each competitor holds. Even without specialized tools, you can glean hints from the number of reviews (e.g. thousands of reviews usually equates to tens of thousands of sales over time). The key is to replace guesswork with data: instead of just knowing “Competitor X’s widget is popular,” you might discover it sells an estimated 5,000 units/month and holds 15% of category revenue. That concrete data helps you understand the scale of what you’re up against and sets a benchmark for your own product.
- Examine Their Product Listing Content: Now dig into how your competitor’s bestseller is presented on Amazon. A product listing is like a digital storefront – the best ones are optimized to convert visitors into buyers. Take note of the title: does it include important keywords and clearly communicate the product’s main benefits or features? Competitors often reveal their targeted keywords in their titles (e.g. a title containing “Stainless Steel Garlic Press – Easy Clean, Rustproof” shows they’re positioning on material and ease of use). Next, look at the images. Top-selling products usually have a set of high-quality images, including lifestyle shots and infographics. See what the images highlight – size, usage, what’s included, before/after comparisons, etc. Good images tell a story about the product’s advantages. Read through the bullet points and description too. Are they highlighting unique selling points, using persuasive language, or addressing common customer questions? For instance, a bullet that says “Leak-Proof Design – No spills in your bag” indicates they’re solving a pain point. Also check if they have enhanced content (A+ Content) with additional information or comparison charts. By analyzing all these elements, you’re essentially decoding your competitor’s listing optimization strategy. You may spot things they do exceptionally well (which you should consider emulating) and aspects they neglect (which could be your opportunity to do better).
- Uncover Their Keyword Strategy: A big part of a product’s success is how easily shoppers find it via search. To reverse engineer your competitor’s bestseller, investigate which keywords are driving traffic to it. One way is to perform a reverse ASIN lookup using a tool that reveals the search terms for which that product ranks highly. For example, SmartScout’s Rank Tracker can show the historical ranking positions of a given ASIN on various keywords. Identify the high-volume search terms where your competitor’s product appears on page one – especially those terms that you haven’t been targeting yet. If, say, your competitor ranks #1 for “organic dog treats grain free” and you barely mention “grain free” in your listing, that’s a keyword gap to fill. Also note any niche long-tail phrases that keep showing up, as they hint at specific customer intents or sub-niches your competitor is capitalizing on. The goal is to compile a list of valuable keywords your competitor prioritizes. You can then decide how to incorporate these into your own listing and ad campaigns, ensuring you’re fishing in the same ponds (and hopefully out-catching them with a better offer or presentation).
- Study Pricing and Offer Structure: Analyze how your competitor positions their product in terms of price and value. Pricing is often a strategic choice: are they selling at a budget price to undercut the market, or at a premium because of a superior feature/brand reputation? Note their list price and whether they frequently offer coupons or deals (you might notice a green coupon badge or “Save 10%” on their listing). Also, consider the offer structure: do they bundle the product with accessories or offer multi-packs? A competitor might turn a basic $20 item into a $35 bundle that looks like better value (e.g. “2-pack + carrying case”). If they have multiple variations, that can attract a wider range of customers (for example, a supplement sold in 60-count, 120-count, and 240-count bottles to cater to different budgets). Understanding these tactics is important. If most top sellers are bundling extras or offering multipacks, and you’re not, you might be at a disadvantage. Similarly, if they’re all priced within a tight range and you’re significantly higher without a clear extra benefit, you’ll need to rethink your pricing strategy or value proposition. Keep an eye on pricing trends too – some tools let you monitor price changes over time, which can reveal if a competitor does seasonal discounts or responds to others’ price moves. In short, dissect how your competitor uses price, bundles, and variations to entice buyers, and consider what adjustments you can make to stay competitive.
- Mine Customer Reviews and Q&A: Customer feedback is a treasure trove of insight into any product’s strengths and weaknesses. Go through the reviews on your competitor’s product, paying special attention to common themes. What do buyers praise most? What complaints pop up repeatedly? If many customers say “I love that it comes with a travel case” – that’s a feature delivering value. If many complain “the lid leaks” – that’s a pain point you could address in your product or highlight how yours doesn’t have that issue. Look at the 1-star through 3-star reviews to quickly find recurring problems. Also scan the Q&A section on the listing; questions often highlight information people care about which might not be obvious from the listing. Importantly, if you find that competitors’ customers consistently mention a feature or benefit that your product lacks, consider adding it or emphasizing an alternative solution. On the flip side, any weakness of the competitor is an opportunity – you can market your product as the one that doesn’t have that flaw (“Designed for no spills, unlike other brands”). Incorporate the language of customer pain points and desires into your own listing content for maximum relevance. By truly listening to the market’s feedback on existing products, you can refine your offering and messaging to better satisfy those customers.
- Observe Their Advertising and Visibility: Beyond organic search, see how your competitor is pushing their product through advertising or other visibility boosts. Do a few searches for relevant keywords – is your competitor running Sponsored Product ads at the top of results? Do they appear in Sponsored Brand banners or video ads? If a competitor’s item is a bestseller, chances are they’re investing to keep it highly visible. You can also use tools or services that track Amazon ads. For instance, SmartScout’s Ad Spy can show where a competitor’s ads are winning impressions and even their share of voice on certain keywords. This data might tell you, for example, that Competitor X wins top-of-search ads for “garlic press” 60% of the time – meaning they’re heavily bidding on that term. Knowing this, you could decide to compete head-on (budget permitting) or to double down on alternative keywords. Additionally, observe if your competitor has any Amazon badges (like “Amazon’s Choice”) or if they’re leveraging outside traffic (social media, etc.) – though the latter is harder to quantify, a quick web search of the product or brand might show if they’re actively driving external traffic to Amazon. The main point is to gauge how aggressive and savvy they are with marketing. If you find a competitor is barely advertising and still a top seller, that’s useful to know (maybe the organic demand is very high or their SEO is excellent). If they’re everywhere in ads, you’ll need to match some of that presence to siphon away market share. Use all this intel to inform your own advertising strategy – perhaps targeting the same high-converting keywords, exploring any ad avenues they’ve missed, or even running product-targeted ads on their listing if appropriate.
- Apply the Insights and Differentiate: Finally, take everything you’ve learned and feed it back into your business strategy. The goal isn’t to copy your competitor feature-for-feature – it’s to outperform them by capitalizing on the intel you gathered. Start with quick wins: update your listing content to include any high-value keywords you uncovered, and adjust your title or bullets to emphasize the benefits customers care about most (especially if your competitor’s reviews highlighted something you haven’t been spotlighting). If you discovered your pricing was out of line, or your offer could be more compelling (maybe adding a small accessory or creating a bundle), make a plan to test those changes. When it comes to product development, consider prioritizing fixes or improvements that address the complaints you saw in competitor reviews. In parallel, craft a clear differentiation message. After this deep dive, you should be able to answer: Why should a customer choose my product over the competitor’s? Maybe it’s a quality improvement, a better guarantee, a unique feature, or even something like superior customer service. Whatever it is, weave that into your branding and Amazon listing so it’s crystal clear. Also, remember that this is an ongoing process. Markets on Amazon shift rapidly – new challengers emerge, and existing players tweak their tactics. Make it a habit to periodically check on your key competitors’ rankings, offerings, and reviews. Set up alerts or a schedule to stay informed. If all this research and optimization feels like a lot to manage alone, you might enlist expert help. Partnering with an Amazon-focused agency like Skale Strategy can bring in seasoned eyes to handle deep competitor analysis, listing optimization, and advertising campaigns for you.
By reverse-engineering your competitors’ bestselling products, you’re effectively using their success as a blueprint – then innovating beyond it. You’re learning what the market wants and where the bar is set, so you can strategize to leap over that bar. Use the data and insights you’ve gathered to make informed, confident decisions for your own Amazon business. The combination of data-driven intelligence and your own unique value can help you not just match what top competitors are doing, but potentially surpass them. In the cut-throat Amazon arena, that’s how you carve out a bigger slice of the pie for your brand
