Best Things to Sell on Amazon and Make Money in 2021

As an Amazon seller, it’s incredibly important to keep up with the latest trends and forecasts in order to stay ahead.

This has been particularly true over the last 12 months when the COVID-19 pandemic saw more people shopping online than ever before.

Now that 2021 is firmly underway, we take a look at some of the trends that Amazon sellers should be aware of this year.

An Overview of This Article

Essential Product Trends for Early 2021
Profitable Product Trends in 2021
What Sellers Should Know About Product Research
Conclusion

Essential Product Trends for Early 2021

While the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is undoubtedly great news, the crisis is by no means over and, we can expect continued restrictions for quite some time to come as we battle to control the spread of the virus.

During this troubled time, sales of some items on Amazon have experienced a downturn; in particular, items such as clothing and luggage.

Similarly, some selling categories on Amazon have enjoyed significantly increased sales and are set to continue to sell well for the foreseeable future.

Such as one of these successful categories is that of home office products.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, around 40% of employed adults in the USA have switched to remote working; which means that a large number of these people needed to purchase items that would allow them to maintain productivity and remain healthy while working from home.

According to the product research data, here are some necessary and popular categories in early 2021:

Healthcare and Medical Supplies
kitchen Supplies
Groceries
Home & Office Products
Indoor & Sports

Some of the trending amazon products being bought are:

Face masks – Of course, we all need to venture outside sometimes and, in most places, the wearing of face masks is now obligatory.

Amazon has risen to the challenge with over 50,000 items available for sale, including the best-selling EcoGuard 3 ply disposable mask.

Except for it, there are some popular necessaries such as liquid hand soap，disposable gloves，forehead thermometer.

Canned food – At the beginning of the pandemic, we all heard the stories about people panic buying and leaving supermarket shelves empty.

Many people got around this problem by stocking up on canned food such as Starkist tuna chunks which can be used in recipes or as a simple sandwich filler, accompanying mixes snack and energy drinks.

Desks – When moving to remote working, many employees attempted to work from the couch or kitchen table, however, this is certainly not ideal as a professional working environment.

As a result, Amazon saw a surge in the sale of desks. These ranged from full-sized desks suitable for a home office to wall-mounted, foldaway versions to be installed in a living room.

During this time, Amazon’s best-selling desk was the CubiCubi Study Computer Desk in rustic brown which is available in a number of different sizes for convenience.

Office Chairs – When making the switch to working from home, a lot of employees quickly realized that using a stool or armchair instead of a proper office desk led to back pain and posture issues.

Because of this, many of these employees headed over to Amazon in order to buy themselves a more comfortable chair and chair cushion.

During the pandemic, Amazon enjoyed record sales of office chairs and the most popular item was the Furmax Office Mid Back Swivel Lumbar Ergonomic Mesh Chair designed to help improve posture and avoid back pain.

Air Purifiers – Spending huge amounts of time in a stuffy office can make us feel sluggish and fatigued, particularly at the moment when the weather prohibits the opening of windows.

A lot of workers have found the solution to this problem in the purchase of a portable air purifier to help them breathe more easily while hard at work.

These can be really useful in providing a more comfortable working atmosphere and, as such, have been flying off Amazon’s shelves with the best-selling item being the LEVOIR AIr Purifier for Home which is small and compact enough to sit on a desk or shelf.

Rubber dumbbells – Fitness is still incredibly important if not more so when we’re spending more time indoors and, during this time, rubber dumbbells have been flying off Amazon’s shelves as these are really affordable and compact enough to store away neatly when not in use.

Other fitness-related items such as yoga mat and fitness trackers are also the best choices in customers’ shopping cart.

Profitable Product Trends in 2021

While it’s almost been a year since COVID-19 began sweeping across the globe, some things remain the same – and that includes the product categories on Amazon which continue to go great guns in terms of sales.

These categories are:

Electronics

Putting aside remote working, we’ve all been spending more time at home and, this has resulted in a surge in sales of electronics.

As well as home entertainment systems, popular items include Bluetooth Headphones, Phone Tripods, and Amazon Alexa, and gaming systems.

Amazon has always been a go-to store for the purchase of affordable tech and, forecasts show that these increased sales are set to continue well into 2021.

Childcare

With lockdowns in place all across the world, many parents have found themselves unable to get to their usual stores in order to buy vital baby and childcare products.

As always, Amazon has stepped up to the plate and has shown increased sales of items such as diapers, bottles, baby carriers, baby monitors, and child and baby clothing.

In December 2020, the first ‘quarantine babies’ began to arrive and, Amazon is predicting that sales of childcare products will continue to rise as we head into 2021.

Pet Care

Our furry friends have also contributed to Amazon’s inflated sales during the pandemic.

As pet stores began to experience huge queues, many customers chose the convenience of heading online instead and, products that continue to sell in huge quantities on Amazon include pet beds, pet bowls, anxiety jackets, monitors, and automatic feeders.

Home Improvement

Unsurprisingly, with more time being spent indoors, we’ve all been paying more attention to our homes as well as our home offices.

With an increased desire to make homes as comfortable and as fun as possible, sales remain strong in 2021 for home items such as portable vacuum cleaners, home bars, garden furniture, wall art, and decor products such as lamps, rugs, and cushions.

Kitchen

As our favorite restaurants were forced to close their doors due to the pandemic, Amazon could barely keep up with the increased orders for cooking appliances, kitchen furniture, cookbooks, pots and pans, and specialist cooking equipment such as sushi-making sets.

Toys and Games

Another one that will come as no surprise is the category of toys and games which enjoyed the usual pre-Christmas peak and shows no sign of slowing during 2021.

For adults, board games, jigsaw puzzles and electronic games have been big news, while kids’ toys, puzzles, and learning games continue to see record sales.

Clothing and Shoes

While you might have expected sales of clothes and shoes to drop off a cliff during the lockdown, quite the opposite has been the case.

Although sales of business attire and going-out clothes have seen a small decline, this has been more than balanced by hugely inflated sales of loungewear, pajamas, dressing-up clothes, yoga pants, and sportswear.

Health and Personal Care

Just because our gyms and leisure centers were closed, that hasn’t meant that taking care of ourselves has come to a halt.

Heading into the New Year, Amazon is recording a strong rise in sales of items such as yoga mats, exercise equipment, and posture correctors.

Sales also remain strong for cosmetic and beauty products such as hair trimmers, face scrubs and masks, foot care, vitamin supplements, and toiletries.

What Sellers Should Know About Product Research

Now that we’ve examined the kinds of products that are likely to continue to do well throughout the first half of 2021, it’s time to take a look at the ways in which sellers can tap into these markets to find great products and increase their own sales.

Market Demand

Before you even think about sourcing a product, you need to know if people actually want to buy it. A good place to start with this is on Amazon’s own pages.

You will no doubt have noticed that Amazon features lists including Amazon Bestseller lists, Movers&Shakers, and Hot New Releases.

These lists are a great place to start when researching products that are – and have consistently been – in demand.

Once you’ve accessed these lists, ignore the number one sellers and drill down to the sub-categories as there will tend to be less competition here. Other lists to check out are the Most Wished For and Gift Ideas.

Competitor Analysis

Before you get too excited about choosing a product, you need to find out who else is selling it.

Completely comprehensive competitor analysis will give you a good idea of how successful you will be in selling a certain product so, always check to see who’s selling the product and the price that they’re selling it for.

You can then make a reasonable estimate as to your chances of making sales compared to your competition.

Cost and Profits

Once you’ve identified products that may work for you as a seller, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty – namely, will you make money from selling these products?

To do this, use Amazon online calculator is a great way to save you lots of time.

Calculator tools will help you to work out how much you will need to spend on buying the product and delivering it, compared to how much money you will make.

If you’re doing this manually, remember to include everything involved in your selling when making your calculations, including product cost and delivery to yourself, packaging, and transportation to your customer.

Suppliers / Sourcing

It’s great that you’ve decided what product(s) to sell but, that’s not the end of the journey.

In most cases, you’ll find that there are several suppliers around the world who are supplying a particular product – and they’ll all have different prices and fees.

When checking out suppliers, you’ll need to thoroughly research, for each supplier, the product cost (including bulk buying) and the fees that the supplier charges to supply the products to you.

You’ll also want to take a look at reviews for each supplier to make sure that you choose one which is reliable and cost-effective.

It’s then a good idea to get in touch and have a conversation to get a feel for what the relationship between yourself and the supplier will be like and, to iron out any concerns that you may have.

Most suppliers will expect you to sign a contract and you’ll need to read this carefully to make sure that you know what you’re letting yourself in for.

Logistics and Transportation

Once you’ve chosen your supplier, you’ll need to decide whether you’re going to have products delivered to yourself or to a distributor such as Amazon’s FBA program.

Each of these options comes with a set of pros and cons and so you’ll want to do your sums to find out which method will be most cost-effective and most convenient for you.

For example, using FBA tends to save time and is more convenient, however, there are charges involved with this that will need to be factored into your expenditure/profit calculations.

Similarly, having products delivered to yourself means that you’ll save money on distribution and picking fees but, you’ll spend a lot more time on packing and posting the items yourself.

Double-check Amazon’s Guidelines

Amazon has some pretty strict guidelines regarding products sold on the site and there are restrictions on a number of items, for example, medical products.

Amazon also has strict protocols on the selling of branded products – which means that, if you decide to sell these kinds of products, you’ll be required to provide evidence that you’re permitted to do so.

Always make sure that you’re aware of these guidelines before going ahead and committing to buying products.

Future Proof

While the product that you’ve selected may be a great choice for making big sales right now, you need to look a little further ahead.

For example, indoor games may be going great guns while we’re all indoors and the weather is cold, these will almost certainly become less popular in the next few months as the weather improves.

For this reason, you need to pay close attention to factors such as the weather and make sure that you don’t buy huge amounts of stock which may not sell.

Conclusion

Learning to read trends and forecasts is a vital skill for anybody looking to maximize their profits on Amazon and to enjoy longevity as a seller.

While there are certainly never any guarantees, getting into the habit of conducting proper product research and of taking all necessary factors into consideration, you can develop a format that will serve you well as an Amazon seller for many years to come.