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The Comprehensive Guide to Product Validation on Amazon

Instead of waiting until your product is struggling to turn to market research for enhancing listings, incorporating polls and testing early in the new product development stage can ensure that your products meet customers’ wants and needs before they ever make it to the digital shelf.

8 August 2024 · 8 min read

When it comes to optimizing listings and finding the best growth hacking tools, Amazon sellers have a wealth of resources and services at their fingertips. You’re constantly trying to outdo your competition, fend off knock-offs, and lower your PPC costs – and you have data points to rely on from Amazon and third-party apps. But one place that often gets forgotten is the first phase of a product’s lifecycle: new product development. During this stage, there’s typically little to no data available, making it challenging to make informed decisions about product ideas. If that sounds all too familiar, it may be time to take a more strategic approach to your business by using market research to support product validation so you’re confident that you’re creating products that people want.

Instead of waiting until your product is struggling to turn to market research for enhancing listings, incorporating polls and testing early in the new product development stage can ensure that your products meet customers’ wants and needs before they ever make it to the digital shelf. Too often, sellers invest in launching new products based on manufacturers’ suggestions, mimicking their competition, or even relying on a hunch. But your business is too important to leave to chance — it’s time to make data-driven decisions for product validation with market research.

Early Market Research for Product Validation

Product development comes down to four pieces: “new-to-the-company, improvement on existing product, extension of product line, and new-to-the-market,” according to Exploring Business. Wherever you’re at in your product’s lifecycle, here are a few ways market research can support your success, saving you valuable time and resources:

1. Align Product with Customer Needs: Before you bring a product to life, or work on enhancing it, get a solid foundational understanding of your customers’ preferences so you can create products (or improve ones you have) that cater to their needs. This not only boosts customer satisfaction in the long run but also reduces the likelihood of returns and negative reviews once launched. You’ll easily be able to understand the unique selling points that matter to the consumer and utilize those in marketing and optimizations post-launch.
2. Avoid Costly Mistakes: Investing in a new product is costly. New product development in 2024 can range from $20,000 at the lower end to upwards of six figures. So why would you put your resources at risk by relying on manufacturers’ suggestions, or replicating what someone else has done? Your business deserves a strategic approach that’s rooted in data, and market research provides just that. 
3. Stay Ahead of Competitors: In Amazon’s competitive marketplace, success depends on constant innovation and meeting customer expectations. A 2024 report found that about 3,700 new sellers join Amazon daily so having a competitive edge is more essential than ever. Regular market research throughout your product’s lifecycle keeps you updated on trends, and preferences and can give you a unique edge to outperform others. 
   

Battling Knock-Offs in the Marketplace

It’s no secret that knock-off sellers and products can pose a threat, and be downright frustrating. They undercut your pricing and encroach on your market share. In 2012, Amazon blocked a staggering 10 billion attempted counterfeit listings. Last year, they disposed of 6 million fake knock-off products. 

Thorough market research helps identify unique selling points that differentiate your products from knock-offs. By gaining a deeper understanding of customer needs and preferences, you can identify unique selling points that set your products apart from knock-offs. This not only helps build brand loyalty but also makes it more difficult for competitors to replicate your success.

Product Validation: Products People Want

Incorporating market research polls and product validation throughout the NPD process allows you to create products that cater to customer preferences, driving sales, and ensuring long-term success on Amazon. When looking into new categories and analyzing competition on Amazon, use tools that guide you in your decision-making. Data Dive, one of our awesome partners, can provide valuable insights into trends, customer preferences, and more to help you figure out what’s best for your audience. And instead of relying on intuition, Intellivy’s pool of 55M consumers can be your guide. Here are some of the poll and testing options that are designed specifically with new product development in mind. 

Leveraging Intellivy for Product Ideation

Market research used to easily cost six figures (and still can!) but we’ve worked to create a tool that allows you to cost-effectively pinpoint opportunities, validate market fit, and fine-tune product details. Hint: an average poll costs about $100. Our data-driven polls unlock valuable insights that are informed by real consumers so you’re already a step ahead of the competition. Here’s a peek into our New Product Launch section to get a game plan for product validation.

See below our deep dive into New Product Development (NPD) objectives that you can aim to achieve with Intellivy’s market research polls.

NPD Objective: Product Ideation

Discover unmet needs. Identify gaps between what customers want and what’s already out there. Run one of our ‘Product Ideation’ polls to gather insights on unmet needs in your target market and tackle common problems, creating products that stand out against the competition. Use those selling points in your product design and marketing to overcome barriers to purchase. 

Paired Poll in Action: Marketplace Poll

Say you’re selling a vegetable chopper – your target audience may be looking for compact, easy-to-store designs over the additional features that your competitors are highlighting. A quick Marketplace Poll allows you to identify these preferences so you’re able to create a product that genuinely fulfills customers’ needs and sets it apart from the competition.

NPD Objective: Product Feature Testing

Outshine your competitors by offering something they can’t find elsewhere. Use one of our ‘Product Feature Testing’ polls to test various features and find out which ones resonate most with your audience. Determine the most important unique selling points (USPs) that resonate with your audience.

Paired Poll in Action: Ranking Comparison Poll

A Ranking Comparison poll helps you identify key features of a product that are most important to consumers. For example, you’re selling a travel coffee mug. You’ll upload a series of images that highlight features individually, such as insulation, spill-proof lids, or a range of colors and designs. The winner can be used to guide your product design and imagery as you develop the product. 

NPD Objective: Test Product Prototyping

Have confidence that your product’s ready for prime time. Intellivy’s ‘Test Product Prototyping’ poll collects valuable feedback that will help you refine any areas that need improvement before you launch. You’ll know that your prototype is competitive in the marketplace and has the necessary appeal to capture clicks and conversions.

Paired Poll in Action: Image Stack Poll

Imagine you’re about to launch a travel pill organizer. Leverage an Image Stack Poll to find what type of imagery is most enticing to click on. Maybe the competition highlights text that tells how much can fit in each compartment, but the winning image features an in-action shot with someone’s hand. You’ll be able to compare your prototype images against competitors, gather feedback, and refine them so that when you launch you’ll have images that stand out. 

NPD Objective: Market Research

Know your product’s potential and key customer base. Run a ‘Market Research’ poll to get a better feel for the market share and identify your key customer segments. Group consumers based on pre-purchase decision drivers to customize your product features and marketing messages for various segments.

Paired Poll in Action: Marketplace Poll

Learning is truly unlimited with our Marketplace Polls. Say you’re a seller focused on pet bowls and looking for feedback on what matters most to pet parents. You write in the scenario: You’re adopting a new pet and preparing your home for their arrival when you realize you need to get pet bowls for their food and water. Poll feedback is now through that lens, in this case a sub-niche consumer group – new pet owners. You find out that raised bowls, BPA-free material, and stainless steel designs are all important preferences to focus your new product selection on. 

The power of market research and product validation is a key tool to use throughout your entire product journey, not just post-launch. Valuable insights from Intellivy’s pool of 55M consumers will give you an unbeatable edge on Amazon. By uncovering customer insights and optimizing your product and marketing strategies, you can create winning products that stand out from the competition and capture the attention of eager shoppers. Don’t leave your success to chance – take action today and run an Intellivy poll to kickstart your journey toward creating irresistible, customer-approved products!

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