Amazon product development
How to Develop a Product to Sell on Amazon
The best Amazon products are not simply found in a factory catalog. They are designed around a customer problem, prototyped in the real world, and sourced from a factory capable of making the intended product consistently.
Start with the gap, not the supplier.
Look for recurring customer complaints, awkward product experiences, durability failures, poor use of space, or a category where the existing options all make the same compromise. That gap becomes the product brief.
Use a five-part development sequence.
1. Define the customer
Identify who uses the product, where they use it, and what frustrates them today.
2. Define what must be better
Choose the few features that create a meaningful reason to buy—robustness, space, durability, ease, or performance.
3. Design the product
Translate the opportunity into dimensions, materials, components, interfaces, and packaging requirements.
4. Build prototypes
Test handling, fit, function, and perceived quality before committing to production tooling.
5. Select the factory
Match the product to a factory’s actual capabilities, quality systems, capacity, and willingness to follow the specification.
Plug’n: a real example.
Glick Group Global began working with Plug’n in 2021. We handled product design, prototype development, and factory selection. The first launch reached market in under a year, and the brand has grown into a multi-million-dollar Amazon business around robust, space-conscious, durable products.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a completely new invention?
No. A better customer experience, more durable construction, smarter footprint, or more useful configuration can create meaningful differentiation.
Should I choose a factory before designing the product?
Factory input can be useful, but the product requirements should lead. Otherwise, the catalog tends to define the product instead of the customer problem.
Can this process work outside Amazon?
Yes. The same product-development foundation can support Walmart, Shopify, direct-to-consumer, retail, and other marketplace channels.