How To Use SmartScout For Amazon Product Research - Tutorial & Review - 25% OFF Discount Coupon Code
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What Is SmartScout, and Why Should You Care?
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Meet Scott Needham – Amazon Seller and SmartScout Founder
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How SmartScout Finds Winning Amazon Opportunities
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How to Use SmartScout’s Subcategories Tool for Amazon Product Research
- See Amazon’s Top Categories and Monthly Revenue at a Glance
- Explore Profitable Niches Across Multiple Amazon Marketplaces
- Easily Drill Down to Discover Hidden Micro-Markets on Amazon
- Quickly Analyze Key Metrics Within Each Amazon Subcategory
- Instantly Identify Top-Performing Brands Within Any Niche
- Find Winning Products Faster Using SmartScout’s Product View
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Discover Amazon Niches with Huge Growth Potential Using Niche Finder
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How to Use SmartScout’s Brands Tool to Analyze Competitors
- Generate a Tailored Report to Uncover Brand Insights and Opportunities
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How to Use SmartScout's Search Terms (AdSpy) Tool to Uncover Competitor Ad Strategies
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How to Use SmartScout's Rank Maker Tool to Find Organic Keywords and Rankings
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How SmartScout Simplifies Keyword Tracking for Product Variations
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Use SmartScout’s Tailored Reports to Communicate Clearly with Brands
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Discover Profitable Products with the SmartScout's Seller Map Tool
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Identify Trending Keywords on Amazon Using SmartScout's Popping Topics
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SmartScout Pricing Plans Explained – Which One Is Right for You?
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Scott Needham’s Journey and Best Advice for Amazon Sellers
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SmartScout Affiliate Program
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Conclusion
Disclosure: Hi! It's Vova :) Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links. I get a commission if you purchase after clicking on the link, this does not cost you more money, and many times I can even get a nice discount for you. This helps me keep the content free forever. For you. Thank you! :)
Ever felt lost in Amazon data? You're definitely not alone.
With the massive competition out there, finding your next great product can feel overwhelming.
That's why in my latest YouTube video, I invited the creator of SmartScout, Amazon seller Scott Needham to showcase his powerful Amazon product research tool.
Woah, it was awesome! We even have a video of that encounter below, which helped us create this blog post, for YOU!
Of course we've also prepared the best SmartScout discount for you!
Use SmartScout coupon code VOVA25 to save 25% OFF ALL the plans of SmartScout for 3 months. It also works with the yearly plans! Save big!
Together, we explored exactly how SmartScout can help simplify your product research, reveal hidden opportunities, and guide you toward smarter, data-backed decisions.
Whether you're into wholesale, private label, or running an agency, this tool could be exactly what you've been searching for.
Keep reading as I break down our insightful conversation and share Scott's best tips to streamline your Amazon research journey.
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What Is SmartScout, and Why Should You Care?
Vova: Hi there! Welcome to SmartScout tutorial and review.
It's a tool designed to help you understand the ins and outs of Amazon, including the smallest details that often get overlooked.
I’m Vova Even, and with me is Scott Needham, the founder of
SmartScout.
But Scott isn't just the creator — he’s also a successful Amazon seller with over $400 million in sales under his belt.
So when I say SmartScout is built on real experience, I really mean it.
Today, Scott will walk us through SmartScout’s main tools and share practical tips to help you get the most value from it.
Meet Scott Needham – Amazon Seller and SmartScout Founder
Vova: Scott, can you introduce yourself, tell us about your background, and give us a quick overview of what you do?
Let's quickly walk through all the main features before we jump into the tool itself.
Scott: Sure! Thanks, Vova!
I’m excited to be here.
I’ve been selling on Amazon for about 11–12 years now.
It all started when I joined my brother’s Amazon store — he’d already laid the groundwork.
Working from home on a laptop completely changed my view of work.
No long commutes, flexible hours, and the freedom to build something of my own.
That mix of independence and growth felt amazing from day one.
Over time, our business grew step by step and I really loved it.
In traditional retail, my family would work long hours — early mornings, late nights, weekends — you name it.
And even with all that effort, we could only see 5 to 10 percent annual growth.
On Amazon, though, I learned that if you really put in the effort, you can double or triple your sales in a single season.
Seeing that kind of growth is amazing — it fuels you to push further.
Today, I think of myself not just as an Amazon seller but also as a software developer.
I’ve spent countless hours writing code for inventory management, shipping logistics, pricing updates, and every other part of the operations puzzle.
My goal has always been to make running an Amazon business smoother and more efficient.
That blend of practical selling experience and programming expertise is what led me to create SmartScout.
Related Read: The Success Story of Scott Needham
How SmartScout Finds Winning Amazon Opportunities
Scott: SmartScout began with one simple question: How can I find the very best opportunities on Amazon?
Over the years, I’ve worked as a wholesale reseller and built private-label brands — and I still do both today.
Each model has its own benefits, but the real challenge is figuring out which products or brands are truly worth your time and money.
To solve that, I built a huge database packed with every brand, product, and category you can imagine.
That’s what eventually became the essence of SmartScout.
Think of it like a giant map of the marketplace that highlights the most profitable opportunities.
You see, with over a million brands on Amazon, spotting the top performers can feel impossible.
SmartScout sifts through all that data to spotlight the best-of-the-best brands and products.
Whether you’re a wholesale seller looking for popular brands, an agency searching for new clients, or a private-label seller checking out the competition — it fits what you need.
I often compare it to rereading a favorite book.
Each time, it feels fresh and shows you something new.
You might love it as a teenager, see it differently in your twenties, and discover even more in your thirties.
Data works the same way.
As your business grows, you start noticing new angles hidden in the same numbers.
SmartScout threads this data together in different levels, like an upside-down pyramid.
Let me explain!
You begin by selecting a broad root category, such as “Home & Kitchen.”
Then, you narrow down into a more specific subcategory or niche, like “Grilling Tools.”
Next, you analyze which brands lead in that niche.
After that, you explore the sellers active within that niche.
Then, you dive into individual products, reviewing their ratings, prices, and estimated monthly sales.
Finally, you uncover the most popular customer search terms and identify emerging trends.
You can also work your way bottom-up — starting with a keyword and tracing it back through products, brands, subcategories, all the way up to the root.
This seamless flow is the unique flavor of SmartScout.
It lets you answer questions like:
Which brand has the highest average rating in this subcategory?
What keywords drive the most traffic?
Which sellers control the top spots on page one?
All from one unified dashboard.
And that’s my story — the beginnings of SmartScout, before we even dive into the tool itself.
Vova: Welcome back, Scott! It feels like it’s been a while since we first saw your Seller Map tool.
That was really helpful as well, I must say.
How long has SmartScout been around now?
Scott: Great memory, Vova.
The Seller Map first launched almost three years ago, and SmartScout itself has been in the market for about three and a half years now.
When we began, we focused on that one feature — helping sellers visualize where products sit on Amazon’s search pages.
Over time, we realized there was a much bigger story to tell, so we slowly expanded into all the tools you see today.
Our growth has been steady and deliberate.
There's nothing overnight or “viral,” but month after month, we’ve added small improvements, fixed bugs, and listened closely to user feedback.
It’s kind of like small wins building up into something big over time.
There were months when I’d wake up, check our usage numbers, and see just a tiny uptick.
Those days felt like a win, because they added up over a few years into real progress.
Building software is like sculpting — it takes repeated hammer strikes to reveal the shape underneath.
Year after year, we chipped away at pain points in product research drilling deeper into categories, threading data seamlessly, and making sure you can move from a broad overview right down to individual keywords.
Looking back, I’m proud of how far we’ve come, and I’m excited about where we’re headed next.
Vova: That’s awesome.
I’m glad to hear you’ve kept improving and listening to sellers.
Scott: Thank you! So, are you ready to jump in and see it live?
Vova: Let’s do it!
But before that, here's a quick reminder to everyone reading: click the button below to grab 25% off SmartScout for your first three months with code VOVA25 — happy researching!
Scott: Perfect!
How to Use SmartScout’s Subcategories Tool for Amazon Product Research
Scott: So, here’s our Subcategories tool.
Let me walk you through the first few columns here:
See Amazon’s Top Categories and Monthly Revenue at a Glance
Scott: Right at the start, you see Amazon’s main categories — Home & Kitchen, Health & Household, Clothing, Books, Electronics, Beauty & Personal Care, and so on.
Next to each, SmartScout shows an estimated monthly revenue.
On the US market, these numbers add up to billions of dollars every month.
That scale gives you a real sense of where shoppers spend the most.
Explore Profitable Niches Across Multiple Amazon Marketplaces
Scott: We don’t just stop in the US though.
SmartScout’s Subcategories tool works in about ten different marketplaces.
Each country structures categories slightly differently, but the core idea stays the same: you drill down from a broad group into ever more refined niches.
Easily Drill Down to Discover Hidden Micro-Markets on Amazon
Scott: Click the little arrow next to a category, say Home & Kitchen, and you’ll see subcategories like Kitchen & Dining.
A second click shows Storage & Organization, and a third brings up Food Storage.
Keep going, you land in Food Jars & Canisters, which shows about $6 million in revenue per month.
Suddenly, you realize Amazon is not one giant market but tens of thousands of micro-markets, each with its own trends and opportunities.
-: Quick Reminder! :-
Quickly Analyze Key Metrics Within Each Amazon Subcategory
Scott: Once you’re in a specific subcategory, SmartScout shows you:
Seller vs. 1P dominance: Are most products sold by third-party Sellers, or is Amazon (1P) controlling the Buy Box?
12 month growth: Is this niche growing, flatlining, or declining? In Food Jars & Canisters, we actually see a slight dip versus last year — something worth noting if you’re planning a launch.
Average product size: Here it’s about 0.34 cubic feet, which makes sense for jars. If you’re launching a product that ships in bulk, that number helps you estimate shipping costs.
Instantly Identify Top-Performing Brands Within Any Niche
Scott: Click the little hourglass icon, and SmartScout flips to the Brands view within that subcategory.
Here, you’ll see brands like ComSaf, Netany, and Planetary Design ranked by:
Estimated monthly revenue
Market share percentage
30-day growth or decline
For example, Netany has only four ASINs yet sits second in market share — and it’s growing month-over-month.
That kind of insight helps you spot lean, focused brands punching above their weight.
Find Winning Products Faster Using SmartScout’s Product View
Scott: If you prefer diving straight into products, jump into the products of this category.
You’ll find different columns that break down key data about the product, including its launch date, Buy Box price, and estimated monthly revenue.
This information helps you draw smart, data-driven conclusions.
For example, in Food Jars & Canisters, products range from around $11 for a standard jar set up to $30 for a one-gallon glass canister.
You can click on any column and sort the information to find opportunities.
For example:
Maybe products that cost a medium amount (not cheap, not expensive) don't have many good options yet — that's a "gap" you could fill.
Or maybe a brand-new product is already becoming popular — and you can spot that early.
At its core, the Subcategories tool gives you directional clarity.
Some niches barely hit $50 K–$100 K per month — probably too small unless you have a very specific angle.
Others top $100 million per month — huge but highly competitive.
And everything in between offers a sweet spot for different business models.
It kind of lets you just browse.
In comparison, most product finders out there feel random — you pick a few filters and then you’re not sure where you’ll land.
With SmartScout, you start in a broad category like Health & Household and see exactly how each niche performs.
For instance, “Disposable Cups” pulls in about $35.7 million a month.
On the other hand, “Disposable Drinking Straws” makes roughly $4 million.
This organization reflects how Amazon is organized and makes product research feel like choosing your own path — click by click, you decide exactly which direction to go.
Vova: Yeah, that’s pretty cool.
So whether a seller is a reseller or a private-label entrepreneur, they can jump in here, drill down from root categories into subcategories, and instantly see key metrics.
Things like monthly revenue, Amazon’s share of the buy box versus third-party sellers, and even 12-month growth percentages are all right there.
You can click into niches you never thought of — like Travel & Luggage — and uncover hidden opportunities.
Having all these numbers front and center makes your research so much sharper.
For example, if you’re a private-label seller and you see a high Amazon share, you’ll know that Amazon controls the Buy Box, and it will make it harder to launch your own brand in that niche.
Scott: Absolutely.
Take baby bottles, warmers, and sterilizers, for example.
Over the past 12 months, sales in these items have increased vastly.
This confirms that “sterilizing and warming bottles” is more than a trend.
Busy caregivers are actively looking for safer and more convenient feeding tools — and that demand is only growing.
Joining a market that’s already rising is always the smarter move.
Discover Amazon Niches with Huge Growth Potential Using Niche Finder
Scott: If you want to focus only on growing niches, check out our Niche Finder tab.
This feature provides an alternative perspective on your data, helping you uncover growth opportunities you might otherwise overlook.
It works like this: You can change the filters and values by clicking on the right side.
For example:
Set Amazon’s revenue share at 10% or less to avoid categories dominated by Amazon itself.
Choose products with a small package size to keep shipping and storage fees low.
Finally, target products with monthly revenue of at least $2 million.
This filter combination returns 460 categories that match.
Now you have a clear shortlist instead of guessing where to start.
But remember, those filters are just examples.
Feel free to tweak them until you land on the sweet spot that fits your strategy.
And with that, we wrap up our look at the Subcategories tool.
Think of it as a quick way to check if a niche will sell and make your Amazon product research easier.
Subcategories is actually one of the first tools I recommend to beginners.
-: Quick Reminder! :-
How to Use SmartScout’s Brands Tool to Analyze Competitors
Scott: The next feature we have in our toolkit is the Brands tool.
It tracks around 1.3 million brands — from giants like Apple, Amazon Basics, and Samsung to niche names like Halo Baby Products, Pilot, Bounty, and Blooming Jelly.
Each brand’s profile shows a bunch of helpful metrics, including:
Monthly revenue
Market share percentage
Number of tracked ASINs
Average price
Package size
In-stock rate
Month-over-month growth and year-over-year growth
If you want to research a competitor, simply type the brand name.
For instance, I’m a fan of Cellucor, known for their C4 Energy Drink.
Here’s what SmartScout reveals when I search for it:
$8 million average monthly revenue
$40 average price point
They are 1P brand (Sold by Amazon itself)
92% in-stock rate across all SKUs
58.6% growth over the past 12 months
Those insights tell you Cellucor is heavily invested in Amazon and innovating fast.
Vova: Right — I remember their pre-workout powders are their top seller.
Scott: Exactly. Their Pre-Workout line is number one, but they also sell energy drinks like Watermelon Ice.
Although if I have more than one a day, my head starts to spin.
Generate a Tailored Report to Uncover Brand Insights and Opportunities
Scott: Anyways, to dive deeper, I’ll generate what we call a Tailored Report for Cellucor.
This report will pull together data on all 166 ASINs they offer — pricing history, sales trends, review counts, top keywords, and even their ad spend breakdown.
It takes a minute to compile, but it’s worth it for a fresh, comprehensive snapshot.
With this information, you can understand exactly which subcategories Cellucor competes in:
Energy Drinks, Sports Nutrition Pre-Workout Powders, Endurance & Energy Powders, and even Testosterone Boosters.
Seeing that they hold around 10% market share in pre-workout confirms they’re a major player — likely in the top three.
-: Quick Reminder! :-
How to Use SmartScout's Search Terms (AdSpy) Tool to Uncover Competitor Ad Strategies
Scott: Next, click the Search Terms tab — our built-in AdSpy tool.
Here you’ll find the exact keywords Cellucor is bidding on in sponsored ads.
For example:
“C4 energy drink” has a 46% top-ad win rate
The generic term “energy drink” nets them only 3%
It also shows Sponsored Brand win rates and Sponsored Video win rates, plus estimated ad spend on each keyword.
This is where we look at a brand and its advertising keywords…
Vova: Scott, the Search Terms — those aren’t organic rankings, right?
They’re only showing sponsored placements?
Scott: These are only sponsored.
Vova: Okay — so is there a way to see organic rankings?
Scott: Yes, absolutely.
We just happen to be in the AdSpy view right now, which focuses solely on sponsored ads.
Vova: Okay.
Scott: It takes a moment to get used to whether you're seeing data for a whole brand or just one product.
The AdSpy tool only shows brand-level sponsored keywords.
-: Quick Reminder! :-
How to Use SmartScout's Rank Maker Tool to Find Organic Keywords and Rankings
Scott: To see organic ranking you switch over to our Rank Maker tool.
If you’re familiar with “reverse ASIN” lookup tools, Rank Maker works the same way: you input an ASIN, and it reveals all the keywords where that ASIN ranks organically.
Vova: By reverse ASIN, you mean taking one ASIN and seeing every keyword it ranks for?
So here we’re going to see the reverse-ASIN data for the brand’s ASINs — and all the keywords those ASINs rank for organically?
Or is it only showing one ASIN at a time?
Scott: I actually selected a single product here — one of Cellucor's pre-workout SKUs.
I clicked the hourglass icon next to that ASIN in the Brand View, which routed me straight to Rank Maker for this one item.
Now, I see a table listing all the keywords where it appears on page one of search results.
We currently track only the first page — positions 1 through 40 — but we may expand that soon.
Right now, this ASIN shows up on about 2,800 keywords on page one.
You’ll see columns for:
Keyword (e.g., “C4 pre-workout”)
Monthly search volume (73,000 for that term)
Current rank (it was #3 last month, but most recently hit #1)
Historical rank changes (so you can spot upward or downward trends)
Because large brands often have multiple variants — like different flavors — they sometimes end up competing against themselves.
You’ll see several instances where one flavor holds #1 and another flavor sits at #2 for the same keyword.
To drill into only the most impactful terms, I’ll set a minimum search-volume filter of 100.
That trims out low-volume keywords and leaves us with their top-ranked, high-traffic keywords.
It’s a quick way to focus on what truly drives organic sales.
Vova: Got it. On the left, I see three ASINs listed — are those variations of the same product?
Scott: Yes. In Rank Maker, we treat a family of variants as one unit.
So here, we have:
Watermelon Ice flavor
Blue Raspberry flavor
Fruit Punch flavor
The main image that's shown can switch between variants depending on which one Amazon’s algorithm chooses to spotlight on page one.
Since sellers don’t control which flavor pops up, SmartScout simply lists every variant ASIN that has appeared organically.
That way, you can track rank shifts across flavors — handy if you want to target a specific flavor name in your listings or ads.
Vova: So sometimes, even if the main ASIN is the original flavor, another variant like Blue Raspberry might surface in the search results for the same keyword?
Scott: Exactly. For "C4 pre-workout," we’ve seen three different ASINs appear on page one at various times.
We group them so you get the full picture of how the flavor family performs.
This approach helps you understand:
Flavor-specific performance: Maybe one flavor ranks consistently higher, signaling stronger consumer demand.
Listing optimization: If you see “Watermelon Ice” surfacing most for high-volume keywords, you can highlight that flavor in your bullet points or PPC campaigns.
Inventory decisions: If a particular variant outperforms others, you might stock more of that SKU to avoid out-of-stock issues.
Because Amazon’s algorithm chooses the variant dynamically, it’s crucial to monitor all ASINs in a product family rather than assume the primary SKU tells the whole story.
-: Quick Reminder! :-
How SmartScout Simplifies Keyword Tracking for Product Variations
Vova: As far as I know, sellers really can’t force which variant Amazon surfaces.
Scott: I’ve heard plenty of tips and tricks out there — some promise guaranteed results on Amazon, but the truth is, nothing works every single time.
That’s why when we dig into a product in SmartScout, we pair both the Search Terms view and our Keywords data to get a fuller picture.
It doesn’t take long to see how easy it is to get lost in raw numbers.
One brand might have 100 different ASINs, each with its own sales trajectory, ad spend, and keyword rankings.
Our job is to organize all that data so you can focus on the signal, not the noise.
When evaluating a brand, one of the first things I check is its international performance.
Take Cellucor as an example: in the US, they pull in around $8 million per month — no small feat.
But flip to Canada, and it’s about 200,000 Canadian dollars monthly, which, while solid, is a fraction of their US business.
Down in Mexico, revenue is almost negligible.
SmartScout displays each market’s numbers side by side in local currencies, which makes it easy to spot where a brand’s international strategy is strong or needs work.
-: Quick Reminder! :-
Use SmartScout’s Tailored Reports to Communicate Clearly with Brands
Scott: Next, I’ll generate the Tailored Report.
This fresh, on-demand snapshot aggregates every ASIN under that brand.
We often use these reports to talk directly with brand owners.
For example, we’ll show them their highest-grossing SKU alongside their closest opponent.
We'll highlight their top keywords, and will also show the competitor search terms.
It’s like handing them a marketing and product roadmap in one clean PDF.
Here’s a quick story about why we built this report the way we did:
When I was dating my now-wife, her dad was a seasoned business executive — but he knew nothing about internet businesses or Amazon.
Every time I tried to explain ASINs or Buy Box percentages, we hit a wall.
Then one day, I showed him revenue figures, market share percentages, and gross margin estimates — all the classic business metrics he understood.
Suddenly, we were speaking the same language.
He could see at a glance that this brand was up 30% year over year, that it dominated 10% of its category, and that its margins were healthy.
That lightbulb moment is exactly why our Tailored Report leads with those core business numbers.
It lets anyone grasp a brand’s performance without needing Amazon-specific knowledge.
By the way, I realize now that we’ve covered the two core tools — Subcategories and Brands.
Let me ask you a quick question, Vova!
What type of Amazon seller do you work with most?
You’re a private-label seller yourself, right?
Vova: Yes!
Scott: Well, there’s one more feature I want to show: our brand-filter grid, where you can sift through 1.3 million tracked brands using every criterion you can imagine.
Imagine you want to target baby products but avoid the giants.
First, filter Category = Baby.
Next, set Monthly revenue between $1 million and $5 million — so you skip the mega-brands and focus on mid-sized players.
Then, if you want to avoid brands dominated by Amazon’s first-party arm, filter 1P share ≤ 50%.
Maybe you’re looking for up-and-coming Chinese brands — just add a filter for brand origin.
In seconds, you’ll see 36 baby brands that match those criteria.
Or perhaps you want to focus only on brands that started in the US — SmartScout can filter by launch marketplace, giving you 133 baby brands founded here.
You might even want to see brands with two to four active sellers to avoid hyper-competitive spaces.
This will narrow your list down to 29 prime candidates.
From there, you can click each brand to view its Subcategory presence, ad keywords, stock rates, and more.
I'm actually familiar with several of these names — my two-year-old loves some of their products — so you know you’re getting real-market brands, not obscure test cases.
That filtering capability is a unique use case of our Brands tool.
Instead of browsing aimlessly, you define the exact competitive landscape you want to explore.
Combine that with Subcategories, and you have both "the where" and "the who" for your product research strategy.
Next up, I'd like to highlight two more tools.
The first tool is Seller Map, which shows you where products show up on Amazon and how they stack up against competitors.
And the second one is Popping Topics, which acts like Google Trends for Amazon search terms — revealing rising keywords and seasonal spikes.
Those could be the perfect next steps as you dive deeper into SmartScout.
Vova: I’ve personally used Seller Map and I think it can be a game-changer for product research.
Scott, it would be great if we could also take a few minutes to walk through Pricing.
We can talk about the different SmartScout plans — Basic, Essentials, Business, and Enterprise — and help them figure out which tier makes the most sense for their needs.
And, of course, I’ll remind everyone about our exclusive 25% off coupon code.
Click the button below to grab this deal now!
Let’s start with Seller Map.
Discover Profitable Products with the SmartScout's Seller Map Tool
Scott: This tool is actually how I discovered SmartScout back in the day, and it’s worth a closer look to see why.
To be honest, the Seller Map really put us on the map — it’s the one feature, in our first three-and-a-half years, that consistently wowed people and helped them grasp what SmartScout offers.
We even offer 15 minutes free on our website so anyone can test it out without commitment.
When you open it, we start in a city — let’s say New York — and watch it light up like Christmas, with thousands of seller dots all over the map.
We added a color layer so you can instantly tell who’s selling many brands versus just a couple.
Sellers with purple dots handle dozens of brands — usually resellers — while yellow dots indicate private-label sellers with one or two of their own products.
There’s a healthy mix: some people overlook resellers, but they’re huge; on the flip side, private-label brands can dominate niches strongly.
Click on one of the purple dots, and it opens Value Meds, a private-label brand doing about $1 million a month in allergy supplements.
Then, close that, and click on another: Kellards — they sell Nikon gear alongside Sennheiser headphones, JBL speakers, and Kodak cameras.
You see, it’s not just random clicks — it’s a full-on journey through everything a seller has built.
And it’s impressive how far some of them have gone.
Vova: Yeah, it feels like moving from brand to brand — you start with cameras, end up with supplements, and somehow land back on electronics.
It really shows the breadth of Amazon’s marketplace.
Scott: Exactly.
And here’s something fun: I’m using those red speakers from Kellards right now.
The brand mentioned on the product is not Kellards and you know what that means?
That they’ve built branded bundles…
They take someone else’s product, like a Nikon lens, then bundle it with their own accessory, maybe a cleaning kit, and sell it as a package.
Bundled products often work really well because people love the convenience of buying everything at once.
Vova: And I guess those bundles pick up the keywords of both major brands and the bundle name itself, right?
Scott: You got it. That's one of the ways resellers win big on Amazon
Of course, they need permission under Amazon’s terms, or brands can request the bundle’s removal.
But when done properly, bundles help customers discover complementary items, boosting average order value.
Now, the Seller Map isn’t just New York — it spans global markets.
Flip over to China, and the map lights up with private-label sellers in South China.
Here, I found Mammotion U.S., which — despite the name — operates out of China but brands itself “US.”
Vova: Okay — that’s interesting branding.
Scott: Even more surprising: open up the Offers tab on Seller Map, and you'll see they’re selling robotic lawn mowers.
High-ticket items — about $4,000 per unit.
They’re the #1 bestseller in robotic lawn mowers, pulling around $4,000 in monthly revenue from that one SKU.
For such an expensive gadget, that’s impressive volume.
Vova: Wow — impressive.
And I see multiple model variations there, too, each with distinct specs and price points.
Scott: Right.
And their Premium One model costs up to $4,000, while a slightly scaled-down version comes in a bit cheaper.
It’s easy to compare at a glance and identify which variants drive the most revenue.
Vova: So, with the Seller Map, you can literally travel the globe.
Suppose you’re based in Italy and want to resell locally — you switch the map to Italy, spot the top private-label brands, or find resellers moving European products internationally.
Scott: Precisely.
I’ve met sellers who focus exclusively on bringing authentic Italian food brands to the US market.
They navigate distribution hoops, import regulations, and branding requirements, but once they secure a distribution channel, they fill a real niche for American customers craving Italian staples.
Because our Seller Map covers multiple countries, you can shift to the UK map, zoom into London, and watch seller dots cluster around West End addresses.
There, a top seller might only be making $100,000 a month — which seems small compared to the US—but for that market, it’s significant.
You can even filter to show only sellers with up to 5,000 SKUs if you want to target mid-size players rather than global behemoths.
Vova: I can already see someone huge there — one of those yellow dots down must be a major private-label brand with thousands of units moving every week.
Scott: It’s probably Amazon, yeah.
If you zoom out on the Seller Map and click on a major seller dot, you’ll see just how many different brands they move — you can literally lose count.
We’re tracking over 20,000 brands right now, and some sellers have thousands of them.
For example, you might spot Lego, Apple, Amazon Basics, Ring, Russell Hobbs, HP, and on and on.
If you ever want to see every single brand that one seller carries, go ahead and click — it takes a few seconds to load, but you’ll get a list of at least a thousand names.
Watching that list fill in really drives home how vast Amazon’s ecosystem is, and it’s why the Seller Map “put us on the map.”
That one feature alone helped people quickly grasp SmartScout’s power.
Identify Trending Keywords on Amazon Using SmartScout's Popping Topics
Scott: Now, let me show you another brand-new tool: Popping Topics.
This one’s currently only available in the US market, but we’re working on rolling it out globally soon.
When you open Popping Topics, it shows you trending keywords across any category you choose.
Think of it as a real-time trend spotter — it’s perfect when you want to discover fresh product ideas or see what’s going viral on social media.
Let’s pick a category — say Sports & Outdoors — and watch the trends light up.
Right away, you’ll see searches for beach tent, beach chair, cooling towels, and WNBA.
Seeing WNBA on that list tells you women’s basketball is hotter than ever on Amazon; it’s grown more this year than in any previous year.
That kind of insight helps you decide whether to launch a basketball-themed accessory or perhaps create custom team gear.
Next, check out OU — that stands for Oklahoma University.
Here you’ll find specific items like cornhole board set and clear bag for stadium events showing spikes in search volume.
Cornhole sets surge every spring and summer as people host barbecues and tailgates.
If you click here you can see Clear stadium bags become big sellers around football season when venues enforce “clear bag” policies.
Just by looking at these trends in Popping Topics, you can gauge the seasonality and plan your product launches or promotions accordingly.
Keep in mind, Popping Topics only went live in September, so we’ve got about nine months of data.
For some keywords, that window is enough to spot clear patterns; for others, you might want to see three-month or six-month trend views to avoid seasonal noise.
But even in this early stage, you can click through dozens of keywords — kayak paddle boards, weighted vests, fishing rods, and more — and uncover niches you didn’t even know existed.
It’s the fastest way I know to find what’s truly trending now on Amazon.
Here’s a quick keyword hack I stumbled on recently: “pickle ball paddles.”
Pickleball’s popularity has exploded in the last couple of years, and when I typed “best pickle ball paddles 2024,” I discovered that prior to 2024, people barely searched for that phrase.
Now, it sees steady, high-volume traffic every month.
Even cooler, the top-ranking ASIN titles all include “2024” in them — so when you’re selling seasonal or trending products, adding the year to your title can give you a serious edge.
You’ll notice that if you click on the graph shown in “best pickle ball paddles 2024,” it opens up related search terms — things like “pickle ball paddle set,” “lightweight pickle ball paddles,” and “pickle ball paddles for beginner.”
That feature helps you expand your keyword list directly from trending data.
Popping Topics isn’t limited to sports.
Let me jump to Beauty & Personal Care and set the timeframe to three months.
Oh the first topic, “nail biting treatment for kids,” is something I searched up recently.
Next up, there are some official beauty brands that have just gone viral — names like Tirtir (a cushion foundation brand) and Jones Road Miracle Balm are trending big right now.
You might also spot Maui Babe browning lotion popping up —clearly, people are looking to glow this summer.
When you see a brand name in Popping Topics, it usually means it’s being talked about heavily on platforms like TikTok or Instagram, so it’s your cue to check out social media and maybe partner with an influencer.
SmartScout Pricing Plans Explained – Which One Is Right for You?
Scott: Alright, now that we’ve chased trends around the map and spotted rising keywords, let’s talk SmartScout Pricing (this link leads you to the update pricing page) - what you get at each SmartScout tier.
We offer four main plans: Basic, Essentials, Business, and Enterprise.
Everything I demoed so far — Subcategories, Brands, Seller Map, Popping Topics — lives in the Business tier.
I didn’t even scratch the surface of our Enterprise features, which we’ll cover soon, but for most sellers, Business is where the real magic happens.
Below Business at $187 a month, you’ll see Essentials at $97 per month. Basic is currently $29 per month, the price dropped since our previous vidoe!
Essentials gives you the core of SmartScout: our Subcategories Explorer, Brand filtering, and Seller Map.
That means you can still drill through categories, filter millions of brands, and visualize seller locations — all powerful tools on their own.
Essentials also includes access to the Product Database, Seller Research, and Brand Research, which are actually part of the Basic tier.
Even at Basic, you get a lot: you can look up any ASIN, see its sales estimates, review counts, price history, and more.
Moving up to Business, you unlock our advanced features, including:
Traffic Graph to view historical sales trends and traffic spikes on any product.
Keyword Detective which is a reverse-ASIN tool (Rank Maker) that reveals every keyword an ASIN ranks for on page one.
Popping Topics to spot trends for viral and seasonal keywords (US only).
Shared Keywords by Brands and Products to see overlaps in keyword strategies across competitors.
Customer Reporting with Excel Export option to download all your data to Excel for custom analysis or internal reporting.
That suite covers pretty much everything an Amazon seller or agency needs for deep research.
To be honest, for $97 a month, you get the best of SmartScout — I’m not just saying that as a salesman.
Essentials gets you nearly all the main tools, and Business adds those final layers of insight and reporting flexibility.
Finally, for enterprise-level clients — dozens of agencies, brands, and consultancies — we offer historical data going back two years, API access, bulk data pulls, and custom integrations.
If you need to track sellers and brands over long periods or feed SmartScout data into your own dashboards, Enterprise is the way to go.
And that’s the nuts and bolts of our pricing structure and plan features.
Everything I’ve shown lives in Business or below.
I’ll repeat: Essentials at $97 per month gets you Subcategories, Brands, and Seller Map — core tools that millions of sellers rely on daily.
Business unlocks additional keyword and trend research plus exporting capabilities.
Enterprise takes you deeper with full historical archives and advanced data feeds.
Vova: Awesome! So, today, we covered just some of the tools you mentioned — mostly ones included in the Essentials package.
Business is more broad, giving you extra depth, and Enterprise offers the full panorama of every data point anyone could ask for.
But for someone just getting started on Amazon, I’d say Essentials alone will keep you busy for months — you can literally spend hours exploring niches and competitor landscapes.
With Business, you get more data exports and historical insights for those strategic pivots, but Essentials really will still work wonders.
What do you think?
Scott: As a seller myself, I’ll be candid: if you’re truly brand-new, the Basic and Essentials tiers are just fine.
You’ll unlock everything we demoed today — Subcategories, Brands, Seller Map, Niche Finder — so you can identify niches, evaluate market share, and track competitors.
Back in the early days, when I was doing a few million a month on Amazon, similar enterprise tools cost thousands per year.
We wanted SmartScout to be affordable, so today’s $97/month for Business is a steal once you’re ready to scale.
That said, your sales team might always nudge you toward Enterprise — they love selling higher tiers!
But don’t feel pressured.
If you’re questioning whether SmartScout is worth it, start with Essentials or Business, trial the features, and see real cases where it accelerates your research.
In fact, I jumped on a webinar last week with a power user who runs a successful agency — he swears by SmartScout, but he only uses the Basic tier.
He extracts so much value from the core features that he never needed to upgrade.
If a seasoned agency owner can thrive on Basic, believe me, so can you.
Vova: Awesome! Thank you for sharing that.
Let me share our special 25% off coupon code (VOVA25) — that applies to any of these plans for your first three months.
I’ll keep the offer updated, but right now, 25% off is pretty generous.
Plus, you have a money-back guarantee, which I think is fair.
Scott: Absolutely — if you ever feel it’s not useful, just let us know within 15 minutes of subscribing, and we’ll refund you, no questions asked.
Our team is ready to process that immediately.
Scott Needham’s Journey and Best Advice for Amazon Sellers
Vova: Before we wrap up, could you share a bit more about your own journey?
You’ve been selling on Amazon for over a decade, built a software company like SmartScout, and achieved fantastic success.
Some readers are just launching their first product; others have ten SKUs but still face uphill battles.
What kept you going through all these phases?
Scott: Great question.
Honestly, my first year felt like I was on fire — I optimized every listing, tested dozens of price points, and chased every data insight I could.
My sales skyrocketed, and I thought I’d cracked the code.
But by year two, I slipped a bit — I became complacent, assuming I had it all figured out.
That was 2014, so we’re talking over ten years ago now.
At the time, I didn’t realize how much more there was to learn — not just in Amazon tactics, but in business fundamentals: leadership, scaling teams, software development, and strategic partnerships.
Over the last three years, our growth has exploded again because I rediscovered my curiosity.
I dove into continuous education — reading books on product management, attending SaaS conferences, and building relationships with other founders.
That fresh perspective fueled me to innovate SmartScout beyond a simple product database into a full-fledged research platform with reverse-ASIN lookup, brand grids, map visualizations, and trend-spotting tools.
Looking back, I wish I had that broad vision sooner.
If I could advise my younger self, I’d say: Invest time in learning outside your comfort zone.
Study marketing funnels, UX design, and data science.
Join mastermind groups.
Experiment with tools beyond the marketplace you sell in.
Those efforts compound over time — just like compounding interest — leading to breakthroughs in both your Amazon business and your side ventures, like software development.
What’s kept me going all this time is a fire under my butt — the excitement of solving one more problem, helping one more seller.
That drive led me to build SmartScout while still running other Amazon businesses.
Even now, I split my time between product launches, client consultations, and platform improvements.
E-commerce is competitive, but it’s also one of the most dynamic industries you can be part of.
If you’re willing to keep learning and stay curious, there’s always a new edge to gain.
Vova: That’s inspiring — thank you for being so honest.
People really need that perspective: whether you’re on product #1 or product #100, it never gets easy, but that appetite for learning can carry you forward.
Thank you again for your time today, Scott. We truly appreciate it.
And for everyone reading, don’t forget to use coupon code VOVA25 for 25% off SmartScout’s plans for your first three months.
If you have any questions, drop them in the comments section of this guide's video.
Scott: Yeah, thank you, sir — this was a lot of fun.
Have a great rest of your day (or evening), everyone.
___________________
SmartScout Affiliate Program
SmartScout also has an affiliate program you can join for free! if you become an affiliate of SmartScout, and promote their tools, you can even make some money!
I have an overview of their affiliate program in the video below. I've earned over $2,000 with it, and I share my honest experience. Enjoy!
Conclusion
SmartScout isn't just another Amazon research tool — it’s a simple, clear way to make sense of the Amazon marketplace.
Try it out for yourself and see how much easier product research can feel when everything’s organized and easy to follow.
Use code VOVA25 for an exclusive 25% discount on your first three months — happy selling!
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What Is SmartScout, and Why Should You Care?
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Meet Scott Needham – Amazon Seller and SmartScout Founder
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How SmartScout Finds Winning Amazon Opportunities
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How to Use SmartScout’s Subcategories Tool for Amazon Product Research
- See Amazon’s Top Categories and Monthly Revenue at a Glance
- Explore Profitable Niches Across Multiple Amazon Marketplaces
- Easily Drill Down to Discover Hidden Micro-Markets on Amazon
- Quickly Analyze Key Metrics Within Each Amazon Subcategory
- Instantly Identify Top-Performing Brands Within Any Niche
- Find Winning Products Faster Using SmartScout’s Product View
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Discover Amazon Niches with Huge Growth Potential Using Niche Finder
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How to Use SmartScout’s Brands Tool to Analyze Competitors
- Generate a Tailored Report to Uncover Brand Insights and Opportunities
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How to Use SmartScout's Search Terms (AdSpy) Tool to Uncover Competitor Ad Strategies
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How to Use SmartScout's Rank Maker Tool to Find Organic Keywords and Rankings
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How SmartScout Simplifies Keyword Tracking for Product Variations
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Use SmartScout’s Tailored Reports to Communicate Clearly with Brands
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Discover Profitable Products with the SmartScout's Seller Map Tool
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Identify Trending Keywords on Amazon Using SmartScout's Popping Topics
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SmartScout Pricing Plans Explained – Which One Is Right for You?
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Scott Needham’s Journey and Best Advice for Amazon Sellers
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SmartScout Affiliate Program
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Conclusion
Disclosure: Hi! It's Vova :) Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links. I get a commission if you purchase after clicking on the link, this does not cost you more money, and many times I can even get a nice discount for you. This helps me keep the content free forever. For you. Thank you! :)