1 What's more important: Revenue or Sales Volume?

While these factors are ultimately interconnected and complex to choose one, sales volume takes precedence if we focus solely on Amazon. The Conversion Rate, one of the most crucial factors in determining search results page ranking, measures sales volume against traffic. Similarly, sales volume (specifically, order volume) has the most significant impact on determining category bestseller rankings (to be precise, it's the number of orders. Even a single order of 100 units won't significantly boost the ranking).

Since Amazon is a search-based platform, securing top placement in search results is crucial. From a long-term business perspective, a $10 product that sells three times out of ten clicks (generating $30 in revenue) is more desirable than a $50 product that sells once out of ten clicks. This is because the higher conversion rate increases the likelihood of appearing higher in search results, leading to more organic sales.

2 Can we check competitors' sales figures?

Amazon doesn't publicly disclose sales volume or revenue for individual products. They mainly offer registered brand sellers access to product traffic data. However, the good news is that, given Amazon's large seller base, various external tools are available to help with analysis. When I want to check sales volumes, I use a tool called HELIUM10. It's the most renowned Amazon analytics tool among sellers, providing data on sales volume, revenue, and category rankings for individual products.

However, it's worth noting that even this data isn't 100% accurate. Since these tools can't access information that Amazon doesn't provide, they estimate sales volume using category rankings and other available data, then multiply these by product prices to approximate revenue. Nevertheless, I use HELIUM10 because it offers better accuracy than other tools. Knowing the sales volumes of different products in the same category is advantageous in accurately predicting sales volume based on category rankings. HELIUM10, one of the tools with the most prominent seller databases, is likely to provide relatively more accurate estimates due to its extensive data collection.

3 When does revenue get recorded on Amazon?

Many wonder whether revenue is recorded when inventory is shipped to Amazon, at the moment of customer payment, or when we receive the funds. This is a natural concern for a platform where revenue is a key metric. To put it simply, it's neither of the first two scenarios. Even after sending inventory to Amazon's warehouses, revenue is recorded when those items are sold, and even after a customer makes a payment, that amount is counted as our revenue once the product is delivered and Amazon completes its review process. Even after revenue appears in your account, there's a predetermined settlement period. After this period, the final amount deposited into your account is the total revenue minus selling fees and other associated costs. Therefore, the revenue shown in your account isn't real-time revenue. We can only estimate approximate future revenue by monitoring incoming orders as they occur.

4 What products are trending recently on Amazon?

It takes work to gauge trends on a platform from a distant market. While we can gauge trends through Amazon's internal search trends since search volume often correlates with sales, the 'New Releases' category ranking is perhaps the most accessible reference point.

Amazon's category rankings include the Best Seller Rank, New Releases, and Movers & Shakers rankings. New Releases, as the name suggests, shows sales rankings for new products. In simple terms, it displays well-selling new products by category. This is valuable reference material, showing which products competitors are launching and which are winning customer favor.

Movers & Shakers showcases products by category that have seen dramatic sales increases within the past 24 hours. While this short-term data might not indicate broader trends, I use these category rankings to understand where customers are discovering and purchasing products in these categories.

As I write this, the No. 2 product in the Beauty & Personal Care category's Movers & Shakers is the 'Satin Heatless Curling Set' by 'Kitsch.' Why did this product suddenly see a spike in sales?

I searched Google for the product name. Since we need to find the reason for the sales surge within the past 24 hours, I set the search filter to 'Past 24 hours'. The search reveals a Black Friday Deal recommendation article by WCVB news outlet at the top. The sales spike likely resulted from this media exposure. This is how Movers & Shakers can help us understand where competitors are driving their traffic from. If these strategies prove effective, they might be worth trying ourselves.

5 What's considered a good ROAS for Amazon advertising?

There's no definitive answer, and it's particularly challenging to benchmark since we can't even get hints from competitors. However, while ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) is the most surface-level metric, I suggest examining the advertising costs and conversion rates contributing to that ROAS.

ROAS is calculated by dividing advertising-generated revenue by advertising costs. While a high ROAS indicates efficient ad operation, it's possible to have a high ROAS even with inefficient advertising, and conversely, efficient advertising might show a low ROAS. The revenue (numerator) increases with more ad-driven orders but can also be high with expensive products that have fewer orders. The ad spend (denominator) can be high due to many clicks or high CPC (Cost Per Click) despite fewer clicks.

For example, imagine running ads for $50 and $10 products, each with a $1 cost per click. If the $50 product sells once in 10 clicks, the ROAS is 5. If the $10 product sells thrice in 10 clicks, the ROAS is 3. While ROAS alone suggests the $50 product performs better, we should question continuing to advertise on keywords where only 1 in 10 clicks converts. Conversely, consider a $30 product advertised on keywords with $1 and $2 CPCs. With one sale per 10 clicks at $1 CPC, the ROAS is 3. With one sale per 6 clicks at $2 CPC, the ROAS is 2.5. While ROAS favors the former, considering conversion rates, it might be better to maintain the latter while working to reduce CPC. (Note: 10 clicks is an example, but it isn't enough to judge ad performance).

Thus, since ROAS is a result, it needs to be interpreted in context with CPC, clicks, order numbers, and revenue.