Introduction
This article shows you how to get an edge in the market. The edge, in this case, is understanding your competition. That includes number of sellers, stock price and quantity for each seller, and who holds the Amazon Buy Box.
By the end of this article, you'll know how to:
- locate and activate Tactical Edge
- read the analysis charts to understand the competition
- select data to develop your own strategy
- run a Reverse Search
1. Locating the search tool
There are two ways to locate the Tactical Edge tool.
Main menu
Go to the main menu on the left side of the screen.
1. Click the Analysis Tool tab. A drop-down menu displays.
2. Click Tactical Edge. The Tactical Edge panel displays in a new window.
View Results page
1. Go to the View Results page and locate the # Selling New column.
2. Click the microscope. The Tactical Edge analysis page for that product is displayed in a new window.
2. Entering search data
1. Select a product you want to research.
2. Go to the Amazon product page and locate the ASIN.
3. Copy the ASIN and paste it into the Tactical Edge tool.
4. Enter a figure in the Price to Compare field. This is your buy price. Note that this is not mandatory, but if you don't enter any buy price, profit and ROI won't be calculated.
5. Click Fetch Information. The Tactical Edge analysis page is displayed in a new tab.
- Note: Accessing Tactical Edge from the View Data page is different. The ASIN and price information are already on the View Data page. There is nothing new to add. Just click the microscope to open the analysis page.
3. Reviewing the analysis page
The Tactical Edge analysis page has two panels:
- top panel with product information
- bottom panel with seller information
3.1 Product information
A lot of this information is on the View data page. There's too much information to review in this article, so we'll highlight 7 key parts.
3.1.1 Title
This is the name of the product. It's also a link to the Amazon product page. The OFFERS button to the far right of this Title, will open a link to the products Offers page.
3.1.2 ASIN & Reviews
Here you'll find four bits of information:
- Product ASIN
- Camel Camel Camel link
- Link to your Amazon seller page, which is where you can confirm if you're able to sell this product.
- Product Rating and number of Reviews
3.1.3 UPC/EAN
Use this information to confirm the product UPC matches the source UPC.
3.1.4 Buy Price
This is your buy price. This figure is the number you entered into the Tactical Edge toolbar, or the price pulled from the View Data page.
Click the edit button to change this price. Any change here affects the estimated gross profit and ROI on the second panel.
3.1.5 Amazon Buy Box price
Shows the current buy box price for this product.
3.1.6 Breakdown & Competition
This shows the number of FBA and MF sellers. And also the number of FBA and MF sellers within a certain % range of the Buy Box (this % range is customizable from the top of the View Data page).
3.1.7 Estimated Sales
This shows the estimated number of sales of product over the course of a 30 day period.
3.2 Seller information
The bottom panel has information about sellers who carry this product.
- Note: The BB icon indicates which seller holds the Amazon Buy Box.
3.2.1 Seller Name
The name of the seller is listed. Click the name to see the seller's Amazon profile and product list. You can also select the icon to the left of the sellers name to begin a Reverse Search of products in their storefront. More on this in section 5.
3.2.2 Rated
Shows the seller's Amazon rating.
3.2.3 Total ratings
Shows the number of customers who contributed to this sellers rating.
3.2.4 AMZ/FBA/MF
Tells you the type of sales channel the vendor is using for this product: Amazon, Fulfillment by Amazon, or Merchant Fulfill. FBA seller rows are marked in blue.
3.2.5 Price
Shows each seller's current price.
3.2.6 In Stock
Shows the number of in stock items.
3.2.7 After Fees
Hover the mouse pointer on a question mark to open the fee breakdown panel.
3.2.8 Gross profit and ROI
The two green columns show your estimated gross profit and ROI based on your fee structure and the different competitor price points.
4. Developing a Strategy
We can't tell how to make buying decisions. We can only suggest strategies that you might want to consider. To that end, ponder the answers to these questions:
1. What price point do you need to make a profit? Is this price comparable to the current marketplace?
2. Is it wise to come in with a lower sell price when the current Buy Box holder may soon be out of stock?
3. How does the monthly sales figure compare to in stock quantities held by the top 2 or 3 top sellers? What kind of turnover rate might you be looking at? Could you realistically price higher based on the diminishing stock levels of those priced lower?
5. Running a reverse search
Have you read the Art of War? It's a classic book that has helped many to learn to think strategically.
Here's an example: turn your enemy's strength into a weakness. That's what the Tactical Edge reverse search tool.
The tool goes to your competitors Amazon storefront, grabs all the ASINs, and then does a reserve search to see if there are any profitable deals for you.
Here's how it works.
5.1 Selecting a competitor
1. Go to the bottom panel on the Tactical Edge analysis page.
2. Select the seller you want to research.
3. Click the blue box icon next to the seller name. A reverse search page displays in a new tab.
5.2 Reading the reverse search panel
With the research search panel, observe two items:
- A green box displays at the top of the page. This tells you how many ASIN's are in the search. The maximum search size is 25,000 ASINs. In the image below, 372 ASINs have been loaded into a bulk product code list.
- The Import Bulk product Code toggle is automatically set to the ON position. The name of the csv file is included.
When you're ready to start:
1. Enter a search name (optional).
2. Click SEARCH. The search begins.
5.3 Analyzing the results
Once the search is over, click View Data to review the results. The View Reverse page displays.
For more information about reading data in a reverse search, see: