Tools! Tools! So many tools, but how do I know which tool to use?!
The store of everything has certainly created a web of developers looking to scrub data in new and exciting ways. From managing customer reviews to understanding ranking and profitability, there is a tool out there that you can use. Amazon loves data and they love to share data, but over the years what was once open source has become closed off trade secrets and pay-for-play data mining. My goal with this post is not to try and sell you any memberships to any data mining platforms, in fact a lot offer basic and useful data free of charge. Below is a list of some of the tools we like to use.
HELPFUL HINT: These tools work great in Google Chrome. All you have to do is download their extension.
Keepa is a great data hungry tool which tracks pricing history. You can set basic price tracking for free, where you will receive an alert whenever that item’s price changes. You can search product variations, best seller lists and they even do a great job of pointing out products that work well online so that you can make the best decision on what products would work well in your store. Or what products you could buy not at 60-80% off for yourself! There is more data available for a monthly fee and tiered pricing if you would like to connect your platform with their API.
Helium10 is probably the most robust tool you can find online for Amazon resellers. From key work suggestions to ensuring your ASIN doesn’t get hijacked, Helium10 has put a lot of technology into their platform to be able to provide their customers (you) with free to enterprise level solutions. Our favorite part of Helium10 is their Ala Carte Plan feature. If you are only interested in a few tools, you can isolate your plan to just those and maximize your profitability. For beginners, the free plan is great to use while you are getting your feet wet and scale up when you are ready for more features.
AMZScout is a great tool to help you find the best selling products for your store. With AMZScout, you can see how many other stores have the same listing, their sales statistics, and how much inventory is on Amazon. All of this information is provided so that you can make the best decision on which products your store should enter the marketplace to sell. My favorite is the AMZScout Pro which adds a widget which you can click on while shopping Amazon.com. While many of the tools show the same information from rank to average reseller pricing, AMZScout provides the most amount of data in one nice snapshot which truly aides in making the right decision on what products to invest your money into.