Chances are, you’ve already discovered the best products to sell on Amazon FBA – but how about when you’re expanding globally? A profitable product in one marketplace doesn’t immediately spell success in another region, due to cultural differences and differing preferences. If you’re planning to expand your Amazon business globally, market and product research are absolutely crucial to source products that would resonate with new markets.
The Importance of Localization in the Best-Selling Products to Sell Globally
What exactly is localization? The Cambridge Dictionary defines localization as the process of making a product or service more suitable for a particular country, area, etc. In e-Commerce, and Amazon selling, this means adapting your product, service, and marketing to suit new demographics in areas you wish to expand to.
This is particularly important if you want to succeed in international markets, because you’ll need to stay sensitive to cultural differences, language barriers, and local consumer preferences and behaviors.
Many global brands have followed this best practice. Take Red Bull for instance. It has a coconut variant for Singapore, and in Australia, you can find orange, tropical fruit, and watermelon flavors. Also, the brand employs local teams to interpret the meanings of the products to make sure they stay relevant for local consumers. They also funnel their sales through local and international distributors and focus on B2B selling, with main clients being restaurants and small and large grocery stores – outfits that interact with Red Bull’s customer base on a daily basis.
Here’s another example – Pepsi is quite good at balancing standardization and localization. In other words, the soft drink company has managed to adapt its marketing and communications strategy to appeal to each market it sells in, but in a way that still maintains its global branding. They start with the product, customizing the parent product with new flavors like mango in India and Stevia in Latin America (a genius move considering the sweetener is grown in LATAM). Then, they invoke the assistance of local celebrities in their campaigns, like the “Yehi Hai Right Choice Baby” in India, which featured Bollywood artists Amir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Aishwariya Rai. They make sure to tailor their marketing campaigns to local trends, and go as far as sponsoring major sponsoring events to retain global brand awareness while resonating with local sports fans.
The moral of these stories? You need a global brand identity to represent who you are and what you’re trying to achieve – but as you expand, you want to sell a product that resonates with your target customer, and that may necessitate a few tweaks to become relevant for your new markets.
If you’ve seen our content before, you’ll know that YLT Translations is already adept at localizing product listings, but when you’re expanding globally, localization can’t come at the very end. It’s so important to consider the wants, needs, and preferences of your target market from the very beginning. Don’t expect that your product will do well in Japan just because it’s doing well in the US.
This gets much easier when you’re innovating your own private label products, because you can find that happy balance between standardization and localization. This will help you maintain your branding and stand out on the global Amazon marketplace – while still appealing to customers all over the world.
Find Top-Selling Products to Sell Through Market Research
Due diligence is absolutely crucial when finding the best selling products on Amazon. It’s vital to conduct careful research to find the best products per marketplace. (Read our guide on Due Diligence for expansion.)
Start by searching for similar products on Amazon and social media. Find items that are doing well in each marketplace, and contrast and compare.
- How do these products perform, and do they look different per marketplace?
- How do they compare with your product in terms of color, size, material, and so on?
- Are these products with low competition? Are they high-demand products?
- Is Amazon customizing its own similar products (remember, it’s extremely hard to compete with Amazon)?
- What’s the feedback on social media about similar products – are they backed by local influencers and celebrities (so, would you need considerable marketing budget to level the playing field)?
Then, use tools and resources for market research. Amazon’s best sellers page, Google trends, and market analysis tools, like YLT’s AMOR, to gauge potential success in each market.
You’ll need to find that happy medium between a product that’s got a healthy search volume and relevancy score without over-saturation from other competitors – yet still a product that’s got customer demand.
Now, let’s say that you’ve discovered that your product may not do well in your chosen market. Is there a way to customize and localize your product so local customers are moved to buy your product – or at least, a version of it? Get ideas for similar products from your research, and use the aforementioned tools to help you find the right variation, and try to customize your product accordingly.
Bottom line, you need to identify market gaps and opportunities for every region you sell in. There are many different types of products that perform excellently on a global scale – see what they’ve done right, and customize your approach accordingly.
Tools to Help You Find and Research Products to Sell
As with everything, your approach should be driven by hard data. Once you’ve uncovered the products with high potential in each region, then it’s time to identify popular products based on sales. So, you develop your hypothesis, then test out your suspicions.
1. Amazon Best Sellers and Movers & Shakers Lists
- Amazon Best Sellers: This list shows the top-selling products in each category, updated hourly. By reviewing these lists, you can identify trends and see what products are consistently performing well.
- Movers & Shakers: This list highlights products that have seen the biggest gains in sales rank over the past 24 hours. It’s a great way to spot emerging trends and potential niche products before they become mainstream.
2. Chrome Extensions for Product Research
- Jungle Scout: This tool provides comprehensive data on sales volume, competition, and trends for products across Amazon. Use it to filter by categories and sub-categories to find profitable niches.
- AMZScout: Similar to Jungle Scout, AMZScout offers insights into product performance, sales estimates, and profitability. It also helps identify niche products with high potential.
- Helium 10: Known for its suite of tools, Helium 10 includes features like Xray and Black Box to help you discover high-demand, low-competition products in specific niches.
3. Keyword Research Tools
- Google Trends: By entering specific keywords, you can see how search interest varies over time and across different regions. This helps identify rising trends and seasonal products that could be successful in niche markets.
- Amazon Search Bar: Start typing a product keyword into Amazon’s search bar, and it will auto-suggest popular searches. This can give you ideas for niche products that shoppers are actively looking for.
- Ahrefs: While primarily an SEO tool, Ahrefs can be used to conduct keyword research for Amazon. Look for keywords with high search volume but low competition to find untapped niches.
4. Customer Reviews and Feedback
- Analyze Reviews: Look at the reviews for products in your target niche. Pay attention to what customers like and dislike. Negative reviews can reveal gaps in the market where you can offer a better product.
- Competitor Analysis: Study your competitors’ products and reviews to identify weaknesses and opportunities. This can help you create a unique product that meets unmet needs.
5. Social Media and Online Communities
- Reddit and Niche Forums: Engage in discussions on platforms like Reddit and specialized forums to discover what products people are excited about or wish they had.
- Social Media Trends: Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest can be goldmines for discovering emerging trends and niche products that are gaining popularity.
Where to Source Top Selling Items on Amazon: Local vs. International
Now that you have an idea of the products you want to sell and customize per market, you are faced with the conundrum of where to find them.
You could go straight to Alibaba, a B2B marketplace that’s excellent for finding unique products and suppliers. Look for niche products that aren’t yet widely available on Amazon. Just know that if you’ve found it, chances are someone else is selling the same product too, and your chances at adapting the product for the local market may be limited. Nevertheless, Alibaba contains a wide range of products to choose from.
You could also go to trade shows and industry events, like the Canton Fair, India Sourcing Trip, Vietnam Sourcing, Mexico Trip, and so on. It’s easier to meet vendors in person and craft a relationship with them – making customization much easier. You can find products you can sell on a global scale, but you can also localize these products to suit each marketplace you sell in. Change up colors, sizes, marketing, etc. to suit customer preferences in every market. Honestly speaking, although Alibaba is a unique option, private label is one of the best ways to find and customize products to sell that will keep you differentiated, and appeal to the distinct wants and needs of customers all over the world.
Chances are, these trade shows and industry events – especially the smaller-scale ones – will host artisans and local manufacturers, giving you a unique taste of that region’s special flavor. If you’re selling in Mexico, it’s a good idea to buy from Mexico, so you list products that have that Mexican feel.
Sell Products Through Optimizing Product Listings
Once you’ve found and customized your product, it’s time to sell online. A survey of 8,709 consumers across 29 countries reveals that 76% prefer buying products with information provided in their native language. CSA Research reported that online language preferences have a direct impact on purchasing decisions. Dr. Donald A. DePalma, CSA Research’s Chief Research Officer, notes that many people believe that shoppers prefer to shop in English, especially when buying high-ticket items like tech, jewelry, or luxury products. This assumption is wrong. The study, conducted in 2020, shows that you lose up to 40% of the addressable market – who prefer to think, act, and buy in their own language.
Furthermore, additional findings show:
- 65% prefer content in their language, even if it’s poor quality
- 67% tolerate mixed languages on a website
- 73% want product reviews in their language, if nothing else
- 76% prefer products with information in their own language
- 66% use online machine translation (MT)
- 40% will not buy from websites in other languages
The first bullet is quite telling. Many Amazon sellers underestimate the importance of localization. Although 65% of customers will buy anyway even if translations are shoddy, there’s still 35% of customers that will jump off to your competitor if they understand their product listing better. That’s why we never recommend automated translations. Word for word translations conducted by machine translators are all well and good if you’re translating things like product manuals and inserts, but when localization is needed to bring humanity and soul into your copywriting, it’s important to use a human to communicate with humans.
When you sell on Amazon in 2024, you must customize your keyword research for every market you sell in. We strongly advise against running your keyword research through a machine translator, which will translate word for word, without concern for how people actually speak in that specific dialect. This is where a whole lot of error lies, because the human condition around purchasing habits isn’t taken into consideration. In other words, just because Google Translate says that that’s the word for your product doesn’t mean that that’s what customers actually call it.
Believe it or not, this localization comes into play even when translating for English-speaking markets. Let’s say you’ve done some amazing research for your US marketplace, and you’re doing great. It would be logical to take those same keywords and apply them to a UK or Canada listing, wouldn’t it? Not necessarily; the Brits and Canadians have their own terms for products, and assuming they all speak “American” is lacking in cultural sensitivity.
Dr. DePalma said in the study, “Localization improves customer experience and increases engagement in the brand dialogue. It should be a rigorously planned and executed business strategy for any company looking to grow internationally.”
Reach out to us for a free listing audit; we’ll let you know if your keywords are appropriately localized, or if there’s room for improvement.
Conclusion: Customize and Localize Before You Start Selling
As we’ve learned today, expanding globally requires more than just identifying top selling products on Amazon. You need a deep understanding of cultural nuances and consumer preferences in each target market. Top-selling items on Amazon USA may not succeed in Japan, UAE, Belgium, or Germany due to these differences. Therefore, thorough market research and strategic localization are essential.
Through careful research and a focus on localization, you can discover key markets for your product and customize it to appeal to Amazon shoppers worldwide. This involves not just adapting the product itself, but also ensuring that every aspect of your product listing – from descriptions to customer service – is tailored to the local audience.
Remember, localization should be an integral part of your expansion strategy, not an afterthought. By incorporating cultural insights and language preferences from the outset, you can create a more engaging and relevant shopping experience for your customers. This approach will help you stand out in the competitive global marketplace, and boost your chances of success.
It’s not enough to know what to sell; you must find the right products to sell, and approach your market with sensitivity, understanding, and empathy. That’s the way to conquer global eCommerce.
At YLT Translations, we specialize in localizing product listings to help you achieve this goal. Reach out for a free listing analysis, and use our AMOR tool, to make sure you’re heading down the right road to global success.
For more interesting information on scaling and growing your Amazon business, check out our guide.
And while you’re at it, discover more about the different types of localization for Amazon sellers.