6 Best Selling Product Categories and Top Selling Products on Amazon 2021
No doubt, Amazon is one of the top attractive eCommerce destinations for online sellers, where even small handmade businesses can build their Empire and sell products successfully. However, the challenge is to choose a niche and products that fit the market and reach out to big audiences. As an eCommerce marketplace like eBay or Etsy, Amazon can be easy to set up, but not that easy to find profitable products that sell. So, the main questions for the one seeking to sell here are:
- Where to start for a new seller?
- How to choose the Amazon product?
💡 ALSO READ — Complete Product Research Guide for Amazon — Top Tips 2021
Why This Guide
If you take a look at the list of the best-selling products on Amazon on this page, you’ll notice that in their block “Amazon Best Sellers” they write:
“Our most popular products based on sales. Updated hourly (!)”
Thus — if you want to come up with a long-term strategy on what to sell in a month or even a year, these lists of top sellers is not the most solid and practical method to rely on… Indeed — in one hour only goods from one category can be sold in huge amounts, and — at the same time in a week — from a completely different category! Or even the entire list of top-selling items can be completely different!
Meaning — if you want to plan your long-term sales, you need to follow the trends and collect data on statistics yourself…
What we did in this Guide:
- we’ve been watching the top products and categories on Amazon throughout the year;
- we’ve been communicating with the inveterate sellers who are logged in Amazon 24/7
and — we’ve come up with the list of product categories to be Top-selling on Amazon in 2021.
Why sell on Amazon?
According to the latest statistics, 85% of Amazon sellers are profitable, and 64% of Amazon sellers are profitable within their first year of selling.
While selling on Amazon, you can cooperate with the marketplace completely remotely; the advantages of trading here are: no need in paying for the rent of a warehouse and/or a store, obtaining a trade license, paying salaries to the store staff, spending on marketing and business promotion, entering a market many times more solvent.
Amazon is an excellent platform for entering the international market and generating revenue in currency without large investments. In return, you will have to pay a small commission or a modest monthly fee.
Another significant advantage of selling on Amazon is that you don’t need to have your own website. With Amazon, you can start your business straight away. Many stores function perfectly without their website — marketplaces share their resources and improve their functionality. Transparent rules and prompt technical support allow you to conduct business from anywhere in the world.
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Top Selling Categories with their Best Selling Items
To become and remain one of the best selling products on Amazon an item must boast 500+ reviews and bear a 4-star overall review rating minimum! With reviews from verified users or shoppers, so the following list of categories and products includes all of these features. Enjoy!
1. Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry
In 2019, global retail sales of apparel and footwear reached 1.9 trillion U.S. dollars, and were expected to rise to above three trillion U.S. dollars by 2030 | Statista
Most of the sellers choose to sell clothing, shoes, and jewellery on Amazon. This product category also has different subcategories. Clothing can be vintage, handmade, resale, and so on.
This type of product is always in demand, but at the same time very competitive. Sellers should also monitor seasonal specific sales, as well as trends, etc. For instance — if you are selling sunglasses or t-shirts, you should be aware of the season, as sunglasses sell better close to summer.
Some of the most popular items sold in the Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry category are:
- Underwear
- Dresses
- Accessories
- Athletic wear
- Casual tops
- Casual bottoms
- Shoes
The world pandemic also boosted the trend on casual and homewear clothing.
2. Toys & Games
Not only my toys are bought for the kids! Women adore toys, animals love toys, my ex loves toys! ))) Seriously — he is into collecting trains! | Linda M. (4.5 years selling on Amazon)
No surprise that kids are one of the most excessive categories of market consumers. And, this product category constantly reaches top sales on Amazon, The trend on movies and Disney obsession and movie-themed educational and generic games tend to place these products very demanding for parents. Amazon publishes a list of holiday toys every year to determine the buying behavior of shoppers.
Products under this category are:
- Memory games
- Multicolored toys
- Card games
- Wooden play sets
- Outdoor kits
- Lego blocks
- Table games
- Puzzles
Sellers can use this list to analyze the types of toys and games popular with children and their families. Currently, STEAM toys are the most popular, including science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics, etc. This year, there was a high demand for water toys.
3. Books
Over 850 million books are purchased in the United States each year. According to Nielson, a global information, data, and measurement company, 47% of the American population purchases books. If you do the math, 151 million people bought these books. | IngramSpark
Amazon is a very famous place to sell books. This is one of the biggest markets for selling this type of product. Amazon offers three ways to sell your book:
- Listing the book on Amazon and then sending copies to Amazon.
- Having your seller account.
- Selling your book for the Kindle.
Top selling books are:
- Fictional books
- Suspense and thriller books
- Biographies and memoirs
- Comics
- Cookbooks, diet books, and recipe books
- Children’s books
TIP! You can sell both — used and new books. While selling new books, acquiring brand new books can be difficult. You will need to buy from wholesalers, distributors and publishers, which you will have to believe in large quantities. While selling used books, it is the easier way to get into the bookselling market. You can sell vintage books bought in local fairs and don’t spend much on investing in them.
You can also publish your own books, but it is a big challenge. Good writers can make big figures on selling published books, it takes a long time to promote your books, but it can lead to a big successful business in the long-term. Self-published books are more popular, and Amazon makes it easy to publish your books to Kindle.
4. Electronic Accessories & Gadgets
I always have to have the new gadgets and stuff when they come out. I’m not really interested enough in learning how they work. | Unknown
Some people just love to buy the latest gadget as soon as it is invented.
The top-selling items under this category are:
- Smart devices
- Headphones
- Bluetooth devices
- Memory cards
- USB devices
- TV & Video
- Audio & Home Theater
- Computers
- Camera & Photo
- Wearable Technology
- Office Electronics
- Musical Instruments
- Amazon Devices
NOTE! Most states have e-waste laws that protect the environment and local communities. Therefore, manufacturers or sellers on Amazon are responsible for the registration of their electronics in a state before it is legally sold to any customers in this particular area, that is, even if you are in California, if you sell a product to someone in New York City, you will have to register your item also for New York.
Branding restrictions. A number of electronics companies such as Apple and Sony control their brand. They set the limits for all who sell their products, unless authorized.
💡 ALSO READ — Reasons Amazon Can Ban Your Seller’s Account
Amazon also has specific restrictions on electronics. On the Internet there are a lot of electronic duplicates. But Amazon has taken every step to prevent these from being sold on their site, to ensure that all of their sellers and products are legitimate.
5. Beauty and Personal Care
Global Beauty and Personal Care Product Market is Expected to Reach USD 756.63 Billion by 2026 | Fior Markets
Cosmetics and beauty products are in high demand. Especially in the pandemic era, people have more time and will to take care of their health and beauty. And, the beauty industry is on the spotlight, and skincare is a huge trend. Amazon is a dominant retailer of beauty items.
Products that go well under this category are:
- Branded cosmetics or beauty products
- Cosmetics with natural ingredients
- Cosmetic tools and accessories
TIP! How to sell better in this category. Beauty items should be of good quality, in the original packaging of a manufacturer. Ensure the products are correctly described and labelled, as while talking about health, your items must influence trust.
6. Camera & Photo Accessories
“Science” Says Photography is Sexier Than Being a Comedian, Less Sexy Than Being in a Band | Popphoto
Consumers of this niche are mad about taking pictures and photography, so the last but not the least trend is related to the popular Amazon photography category.
The best-selling Amazon products in this category include everything from Wi-Fi-enabled cameras to instant videotape. Camera & Photo category is a subsection in the Electronics category. The products here include cameras, accessories for cameras and photographic equipment.
Top selling products under this category are:
- Instant films
- Instant click cameras
- Camera accessory kits
- Photo papers
- GoPro
- Home security cameras
TIP! How to sell better Camera & Photo items. Focus on products designed for a specific use or that require refills. Consider selling products that will make customers need to return to you for the supplies and accessories regularly.
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How to Do Product Research for Amazon Yourself — Best Practices and Advices
To choose the right products to sell on Amazon, you need to constantly monitor the market and Sellers Community.
Here are some key tips and practices to find and pick the right products:
- Watch the trends and monitor items, as you don’t want to spend time promoting things consumers don’t need.
- Choose products that are easy to ship. As those products that are easy to break and hard to ship will cause refunds, returns, and negative feedback.
- Look for goods that are inexpensive to manufacture / purchase.
The lesser your initial investment, the more your margin can be. Just be sure to check the quality before investing. Many vendors will send you samples of items, so be sure to ask for them during research.
Important — leverage existing reviews
Customer reviews are crucial in your research. For example, the number of reviews can indicate how long a product has been selling or how often it has been purchased. If there are few reviews and they are in around the 5-star range, this could mean that this item is becoming a top seller.
Explore the best sellers on various marketplaces
If you look at what’s popular on other sales channels too, you can even better understand what to sell.
Also — monitor the top sellers’ accounts on Amazon too. Check how they represent product listings, price their products, and what items have more views and feedback.
…and remember:
“Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.” | Bobby Unser
