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Choose a Product
Why This Matters
Your product is the engine of your business. But here's what most beginners get wrong: they fall in love with a product before checking if anyone actually wants it.
The best e-commerce products solve a specific problem for a specific person. They're not just cool — they're needed. And ideally, they're part of a broader ecosystem you can expand into later.
Think beyond a single SKU. If you're selling yoga mats, that's a gateway to towels, blocks, straps, bags, online classes, and wellness recipes. The first product is your foot in the door — plan for what comes after.
What You'll Do
Generate a shortlist of 3–5 product ideas that align with your customer persona, then validate demand using trend data and marketplace research.
How To Do It
The Product Validation Framework
Before you fall in love with a product, run it through this scoring system. It takes about 2 hours and will save you from costly mistakes.
1. Brainstorm 5-10 product ideas (20 min)
Using your customer persona, list products that solve their pain points. Browse Amazon bestseller lists, Etsy trending, and TikTok Made Me Buy It for inspiration. Don't filter yet — just get ideas on paper.
2. Score each product on four criteria (30 min)
- Demand: Is search volume stable or growing? Check Google Trends and Amazon search suggestions. A score of 5 means strong, rising demand.
- Margin: Can you sell it for 3-4x your landed cost (product + shipping to you)? A $10 product you sell for $35-40 is the sweet spot. Below 2x margin, you will struggle to afford ads.
- Shippability: Is it lightweight, non-fragile, and simple to package? Heavy, oversized, or breakable products eat into margins and create return headaches. Score 5 for items under 2 lbs that fit in a standard mailer.
- Competition: How crowded is the market? Search your product on Amazon — if the first page is all listings with 5,000+ reviews, it is hard to break in. Look for niches where top sellers have under 500 reviews.
Rate each idea 1-5 on these four dimensions:
3. Validate the top 3 with data (30 min)
For your highest-scoring products, use Jungle Scout or Exploding Topics to check estimated monthly sales volume and competition level. Look for products with at least 1,000 monthly searches and a competition score below medium.
4. Check the expansion path (15 min)
For each finalist, list 5-10 related products you could add later. A yoga mat leads to blocks, straps, bags, towels, and cleaners. A product with no expansion path is a dead end — you want a gateway to a catalog.
5. Pick your winner (15 min)
Choose the product that scores highest overall AND excites you. You will be living with this product for months, so genuine interest matters. If two products tie, go with the one that has the clearest expansion path.
By the end of this step, you should have:
- A scored product validation spreadsheet with demand, margin, shippability, and competition ratings
- Data-backed validation for your top 3 product ideas using trend and marketplace tools
- A product expansion roadmap showing 5-10 related future products
Recommended Tools
Google Trends
Compare search interest across product ideas to see what's trending up vs. fading.
Try Google TrendsJungle Scout
The gold standard for Amazon product research. See estimated sales, competition, and revenue for any product niche.
From $49/mo
Try Jungle ScoutExploding Topics
Find products and trends before they peak. Great for getting ahead of the curve.
Free with limited results
Try Exploding TopicsPro Tips
- 1Search your product ideas on Amazon and check the reviews — 3-star reviews are gold because they tell you what's almost good enough but not quite.
- 2Avoid products with razor-thin margins. Factor in shipping, returns, ads, and platform fees before you get excited about a product.
- 3Map out 5–10 related products you could add later. Stores with a clear expansion path grow faster.