Market Research Tool Stack

A systematic approach to researching market potential for ecommerce businesses, particularly when evaluating acquisition targets.

Initial Product Research

• Validate if product solves real problem or fills market need
• Understand if product is a trend or gimmick (both can be viable)
• Not all ideas need to be $100M businesses - $1M/year can be great

Research Channels

Search Volume Analysis

• Use Google Trends to track historical interest
• Employ search volume trackers for keyword research
• Analyze how many people searching in US market

Social Media Validation

• Check Instagram for dedicated fan bases
• Look for Facebook groups around product/niche
• Assess overall social media engagement

Amazon Research

• Use Helium 10 to analyze competitor revenue
• Track product trends on Amazon
• Study what products are "blowing out the waters" for sales

Business Assessment

Traffic Analysis

• Look for diversified traffic channels
• Red flag if 90%+ from single source (especially paid)
• Evaluate risk from platform changes (like Apple updates)

Asset Evaluation

• Check for valuable IP (trademarks/patents)
• Assess email subscriber list size
• Review SMS subscriber numbers
• Value of social media following
• Look at existing customer database

Financial Health

• Review revenue trends (flat/down can mean good deal)
• Calculate profit margins
• Analyze potential for scaling
• Evaluate if business is more suited for:
  • Quick scale (paid advertising)
  • Long-term play (SEO content)