Product Differentiation Techniques That Work With Gembah Co-Founder Zack Leonard

Are you itching to launch an Amazon product, but not sure how to make it stand out from the competition? Then it’s probably time to take a deep-dive into product differentiation. This critical FBA selling concept can make or break any Amazon product launch. Never heard of it? No problem! Jon Tilley, our CEO, recently sat down with Zack Leonard, the co-founder of Gembah, in our latest episode of Amazon Seller Insights. Gembah helps mid-size businesses, entrepreneurs, and eCommerce business owners navigate the entire product research process all the way from ideation to manufacturing. 

On paper, the concept of product differentiation is simple: make your product stand out amongst similar items so customers purchase yours. In practice, truly creating a differentiated product that customers identify with (and purchase!) is much more complicated. Let’s get into it.

How to Find a Product Worth Differentiating

One of the biggest hurdles FBA sellers trip over is properly researching which product to sell. Think about it: the most innovative differentiation in the world means nothing if it’s done on a product no one wants to buy. What should you look for in a potential product, though? According to Leonard, there are two key metrics to focus on:

• Search Volume: The number of times customers performed a search for a specific product. This gives you an idea of how interested customers are in it.
• Sales Velocity: How quickly a buying customer goes through your sales pipeline. This shows you not just how in-demand a product currently is, but how in-demand it will be in the future. 
  

When searching for a private label product worth selling, data is the only thing that should guide your decisions. How many reviews does it have? What price point does it sell at? Does it have complex packaging regulations it needs to comply with? These are all things you need to know before you even think about how to differentiate it. 

A great way to find the data you need is with our Niche Finder tool. Give it a shot for yourself with our free 7-day free trial! Or, maybe you need a little inspiration to get your product research moving. Learn how you can get our Finding the Perfect Product Niche eBook yours here!

Once you’ve decided on a product you think is worth investigating, how do you go about differentiating it in a way that catches a customer’s eye and opens their wallet?

How Do You Meaningfully Differentiate an FBA Product?

A lot of people think that product differentiation is as simple as just adding a different paint color, offering a buy one get one free offer, or other similar quick and easy tactics. While this may sometimes work, it doesn’t accomplish what serious sellers should always strive for: establishing yourself as a brand customers trust. When customers see you as an authority in your field, they’re more likely to come back to you for return purchases. 

Effective product differentiation doesn’t mean completely reinventing the wheel, though. Instead, it means finding an existing product and adding something to it that creates meaningful value. Thoughtful iteration is what gains trust and grabs conversions! 

A great example of this, according to Leonard, is Yeti. You may have heard of them; they sell high-quality water bottles, coolers, and camping equipment. Yeti managed to establish itself as a billion-dollar brand by obsessively crafting products that keep things cool for very long periods of time. By investing tons of research into products that differentiate themself simply by being better than their competition, Yeti has: 

• Established itself as a trustworthy brand that customers want to make multiple purchases from.
• Created numerous patent-protected items that continue generating income. 
  

Iterating on a product in meaningful ways is a time-consuming process that may take the help of experienced engineers (like the team at Gembah!) to get right. Don’t skimp on it. It will pay dividends down the road!

What if you simply don’t have the budget to hire a team of engineers, though? How do you go about finding a thoughtful way of differentiating your item that customers flock to?

Where To Find Differentiation Ideas

A huge resource for product differentiation ideas, in Leonard’s opinion, also happens to be free: customer reviews. Customers are eager to not just tell you what they like about a product, but also what they don’t like about it. Successful Amazon FBA products have hundreds of customer reviews just waiting for you to analyze. 

An effective way to research potential differentiation ideas is to simply look at negative customer reviews and find a common thread among them. Do multiple customers wish that bathroom organizer they bought had drawers? Perfect! Start speccing out a premium bathroom organizer that has drawers (this is an actual product differentiation technique we talk about on our Instagram page! Give us a follow for more inspiration at @ZonGuru!). Customer reviews are an amazing product differentiation resource. Use them. 

A common problem sellers run into is that there’s simply too much customer review data to sift through. It’s a very time-consuming process. Our Love/Hate tool simplifies this process by generating word clouds based on commonly used terms in customer reviews. Try it out for free with our 7-day free trial!

Advice For New And Established Sellers

Leonard has simple advice for new sellers looking to break into the FBA game who may not yet have large budgets: find one product you’re confident about and invest all your time and energy into it. Successful Amazon sellers don’t sell a bunch of different products at once; they have a handful of products that they invest all of their resources into. The name of the game is quality, not quantity.

What if you already have a successful page 1 product, though? Well, it’s time to start iterating on it. In order to create a truly successful brand, you need to know what your customers want before they do. If you do not constantly iterate and differentiate, competitors will swoop in and steal sales. It’s tough work, but the end result is more than worth it!

Want to make that work a little easier? Our expert FBA sellers put together just the thing for you! Our Finding the Perfect Product Niche eBook is your number one resource for finding the inspiration you need to supercharge your product research. In it, you’ll learn how our field-tested Niche Rater Method helps you find products worth differentiating upon, along with 60 hot-selling Amazon FBA items and detailed breakdowns of why they sell so well! Find out how you can make this amazing resource yours here.