How to read your report once it lands
The same set of reports gets used for two entirely different jobs, and reading it in the wrong order wastes most of it. This guide covers the two readings, the five things worth checking before you commit to a category, and the one thing worth doing first.
1. Two kinds of sellers, two readings
Before you open anything, decide which kind of seller you are. The two paths share the same files but not the same order, and the endings are different on purpose.
If you have not entered the category yet
You are looking for one answer: go or no-go. Start with how crowded the category is and how far apart the existing listings really are, because that is the part with a yes or a no in it. Only if the answer is yes does it pay to look at who the buyers are, what they keep complaining about, and where a new listing could sit. Read it the other way round and you will end up assembling reasons for a decision you have already made.
If you are already selling in the category
Do not skip the category and competitor sections. Not to answer "should I enter" again, but to see the category and your competitors more fully, so you know exactly where you stand. From there, go straight to who the buyers are, when and where they use the product, what they worried about before ordering, and what they expected afterwards — those four are what a listing is most often missing, in the order you would fix them. Then read the keyword sections not as a market-size estimate but as a shortlist: which terms deserve their own campaign, and which ones you have been paying for without them ever converting.
The two readings end differently: one ends in a decision, the other in a set of optimizations. Neither is a shortened version of the other.
2. Five things to look at before you commit
If you are on the first path, these are the five things worth seeing clearly. For each one, the question is not only what the number is, but what it does not tell you.
1. Price band
Where clicks and orders actually concentrate, and whether the price you have in mind sits inside that range. The common misread is looking at the average price. Averages hide the fact that most categories have one or two dense bands and a long, thin spread either side. What you want to know is whether your price sits in a band that carries real volume, or in a gap where listings exist but do not sell.
2. Margin and cash flow
What is left after costs at that price, and how long the money takes to come back. These two do different jobs: the first decides whether you can afford to be wrong once, the second decides whether you can keep moving at all. A category can look profitable on margin and still be unworkable if the cash cycle is longer than you can fund.
3. Traffic cost
Roughly what this category charges to bring one visitor in, and how much of the price that eats. Read this against your margin rather than on its own. The question is not whether traffic is expensive, but whether it is expensive relative to what you keep per sale.
4. The real size of the demand
Among the highly relevant terms, how many carry actual purchases rather than searches alone. A category where search volume and purchase volume sit far apart looks busier than it is. This is the number most likely to be misread, because search volume is the figure that is easiest to find and the least informative on its own.
5. Concentration
How much share and how much of the traffic the leading listings already hold, and whether what is left is enough for a new listing to stand on. High concentration is not automatically disqualifying — it tells you where the openings are, not whether they exist.
None of these five comes with a threshold, here or in the report. Where the line sits depends on your own cost structure, your payment terms and how many mistakes you can absorb. The reports put the data in front of you; deciding what it means for you is the part only you can do.
3. The first thing worth doing
Do not treat the reports as a to-do list to copy. They are a data reference, and your own judgement is the other thread. The first thing worth doing is putting the two side by side.
One assumption, checked properly, is worth more than ten skimmed conclusions. The reports do not decide for you; they let you guess less before you commit.
4. What the reports do not do
- They do not draw the line for you. There is no built-in "good enough" score, and no threshold to cross.
- They do not make the decision. A category that suits one seller's cash position can be wrong for another with the same numbers.
- They do not hand you campaign settings. The keyword sections are a summarized reference and a set of suggestions, not an ad structure you can copy across.
The data is there to narrow your uncertainty before you commit money. That is the whole of the promise, and it is a useful one.
Reading done — there is one step left
Paste 40 well-reviewed comparable competitor ASINs — top sellers, your core rivals, long-tail listings and newer ones with growing reviews. The wider the spread, the more solid every conclusion.
Generate a report with my competitor ASINs →Not sure your set of competitors is comparable enough yet? How to pick 40 well-reviewed comparable competitor ASINs →