Are Free Amazon Analytics Tools Good Enough for Sellers?
Amazon’s claim to fame as the go-to online shopping site is by far its largest power. The site alone pulls up to 2.45 billion visits a month in the United States, and has attracted nearly ten million Sellers across the globe.¹ ² Unfortunately, this expansive reach is also a major reason why countless Sellers struggle to find their footing on the platform.
Amazon’s highly competitive environment can prove especially problematic for sales when paired with a focus on one-time purchases and generally limited data visibility across the board. Sellers must find a way around these roadblocks before they can truly compete — Amazon analytics tools make that possible with the help of increased data retention and a generally more specific approach to success (e.g. taking into account Seller categories, general marketplace, etc.)
Free analytics software like Amazon’s own Amazon Brand Analytics prove especially appealing for Sellers looking to secure a market edge without having to spend more to make it happen. But, as third-party paid analytics tools lead to new competitors outstripping even established Sellers who utilize the free alternatives, it’s unclear whether these options are enough for staying ahead. In this article, we consider free and paid analytics software, and what each truly offers to the Sellers who choose to use them.
Full disclosure: We provide Amazon analytics with our paid tool Nozzle, which uses a combination of AI and Amazon data to deliver insights that optimize Seller experience and business. We obviously highly recommend our product and will go into further detail on what it provides. However, this article is about giving you a full understanding of what analytics tools (free and paid) are out there so that you have the biggest spectrum of choice possible.
What tools can you get for free?
Amazon Brand Analytics
Unique on this list for the fact that it’s the only offering from Amazon itself, Amazon Brand Analytics (ABA) offers eligible Sellers an opportunity to better understand their sales metrics and activity within a tool that evolves directly alongside Amazon.
Only available to third party brand-registered Sellers with a proven sales record, Brand Analytics is located in Seller Central dashboards, and contains valuable insights including keyword identification, competitor insights, and the ability to narrow down on your most clicked ASINs according to specific search terms used within certain timeframes.
What it can do for you
- Access data directly from Amazon.
- Evolve alongside Amazon’s updates and developments.
- New and relevant improvements like the upcoming search analytics dashboard.³
What it can’t do for you
- Provide insights into competitor and ASIN success.
- Deliver comprehensive and actionable data reports.
Suggested reading: Our eBook — Mastering Amazon Brand Analytics — goes over the ins-and-outs of ABA so that you know how to maximize it to its fullest potential for your business.
AMZ Base
Self-identified as an ‘all-in-one instant search tool’, AMZ Base is an independent free Amazon Seller analytics tool and Chrome add-on that focuses on the simplification and streamlining of Amazon sales. AMZ Base specifically achieves this goal through a focus on helping Sellers to obtain ASIN numbers and title descriptions by simply hovering over product images once it’s been installed.
AMZ Base also simplifies sales using one-click access to historical product prices, immediate calculations of product FBA profits, and even the ability to easily source and track related products across other B2C platforms including AliExpress and eBay.
What it can do for you
- Fast identification of ASIN numbers and title descriptions.
- Ability to cross-check products across other B2C platforms (AliExpress, eBay, etc.)
- Historical price searches through platforms like CamelCamelCamel.
What it can’t do for you
- Perform in-depth keyword research.
- Deliver data and insights on customer journeys.
Unicorn Smasher
Unicorn Smasher is an Amazon Seller analytics software developed by the makers of AMZTracker to take the guesswork out of product selection through data-driven sales estimates, niche to niche simplified insights, and easy-to-manage analysis.
The opportunity to quickly and confidently understand product-specific performances and potential means that Unicorn Smasher provides an accessible edge to market understanding. All of this is achieved in-browser as Sellers search Amazon, thus ensuring the opportunity for higher sales figures and potential without requiring extra work or software understanding to make it possible.
What it can do for you
- In-browser sales estimates and product research.
- Revenue estimates to highlight new lines of product inquiry.
- Simplified optimization of canonical URLs.
What it can’t do for you
- Deliver guaranteed accurate data.
- Track and/or analyze your competitors.
- Derive insights on any of the data it finds.
Pro tip: Need a refresher on the sorts of analytics you should be looking for? Check out our article 4 Types of Amazon Analytics Tools and Are They Worth It? for insight into the major types of analytics tools out there and which you should consider.
What advanced tools can you pay for?
Nozzle
Nozzle takes a holistic view of Amazon analytics with a primary focus on enabling customer understanding. The tool’s packages provide accessible and relevant analytic oversight for Sellers at every stage of the Amazon journey through one-source, Amazon-native data aggregation that fundamentally simplifies the targeting of sales techniques towards ultimate customer lifetime value (CLV.)
The ability to seamlessly organize ASINs, view repeat purchase rates, and identify breakeven ACoS especially helps to overcome the one-time sales focus of Amazon as a platform. This focus works alongside algorithm-led bid updates and PPC management to target consumers who are far more likely to stick around for Amazon spending that’s worthwhile in the long term.
What can it do for you
- Unique and relevant customer insights that focus on CLV.
- One-source self-service analytics dashboards.
- Automated behavioral data.
- Ad optimization alongside PPC and DSP experts.
- Focus on consumer personas across sales categories.
- Advertising algorithms and automation.
Suggested reading: Check out our updated guide on calculating break-even RoAS so that you can get further insights into your Amazon performance — Break-Even RoAS Calculator Guide [Updated for 2022].
Helium 10
Helium 10 is an all-in-one Amazon software that aims to provide a comprehensive suite of tools to simplify sales in general, including the overall handling of Amazon Seller analytics. This is a goal that’s ultimately achieved through the use of product and keyword research, listing optimization analytics, and customized market trackers among others.
On-the-go app downloads provide access to this oversight for Sellers at every stage regardless of location/lifestyle. This accessibility is especially effective when paired with in-the-moment focuses including fast product validations using access to a 450 million ASIN database and the ability to find thousands of keywords in seconds using multiple keyword search options.
What can it do for you
- All-in-one analytics tools.
- Profitability calculators.
- Instant review downloads.
- Access to misspelled term lists.
- One-click understanding of competitor’s keyword strategies.
Jungle Scout
Jungle Scout provides comprehensive oversight for Sellers looking to both start and grow Amazon businesses with a particular focus on database management and sales analytics overall. As well as tutorials and step-by-step guides designed by Sellers for Sellers, Jungle Scout for beginners makes it possible to easily evaluate product potential, learn what keywords are selling, and track starter sales. Meanwhile, solutions for existing Sellers facilitate growth with reverse searches on up to 10 ASINs, easily transferred listing data, and automated inventory planning.
Taken together, these focuses simplify understanding of sales analytics at every stage, making it possible to both earn more from early on and identify opportunities for growth. All of which is delivered through the capability to access as many as 1 billion data points daily for a complete understanding of Amazon markets.
What can it do for you
- Profit overviews.
- Detailed product inventories.
- Profit and loss statements.
- PPC evaluations.
- Analysis based on 1 billion Amazon data points.
Efficient insights are always worth paying for
The value of accessing Amazon analytics tools for free isn’t to be overlooked, especially for new Sellers who have yet to determine whether Amazon’s profitability is worth major expenditure in the first place. However, while they may cut some costs for new Sellers, free tools that often struggle to advance at the speed Amazon demands or provide the level of detail necessary for true analysis should be seen as more of a stepping stone to profits than an end-goal for Amazon success. In fact, sticking to exclusively free tools could actually lead to a loss of profit in the long term as Sellers are unable to make the decisions necessary to drive growth.
By comparison, the best paid Amazon analytics tools provide the insights necessary to truly understand where sales power rests, boosting profits for both beginners and established Sellers to the point where the ROI possible makes this outlay more than worthwhile. The comprehensive insights and focus on CLV offered by tools like Nozzle are key to ensuring a far longer profitability for customers who are easier to identify in the first place.
To see the benefits of paying for the right Amazon analytics tool — before actually paying — check out our free 14-day trial. Nozzle’s insights have helped a countless number of Sellers progress and grow — so much so that we recently won the Innovation Award at the inaugural Amazon Ad Partner Awards!
So whether you’ve been a Seller for a while or are just starting out, you can test our platform's potential and begin to see substantial growth that makes additional costs not only worthwhile, but profitable.
1US retail websites by visitors | Statista
2Amazon Tops Six Million Third-Party Sellers | Marketplace Pulse
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