Number of products

The number of search results, that is, the number of related products, is used by many sellers to reflect the level of market result, also we can call it competitors 

Generally speaking, the greater the number of products, the more intense the competition.

Let me start with my observations:

1. Search for a keyword under the ALL category, such as bamboo pillow. The number of results on page 1 may be very different from the number of results on page 2 or page 3. For example, the number changes from 1,000 to 5,000, or more

2. The related products may not be directly related to keywords. For example, if you search foam pillow, a large number of bamboo pillow will appear in the results;

3. When filtering search results by category, the number of search results is of great value, especially if the number of results is within 1,000.

4. The reason why the products under the search results may belong to many different categories is determined by different facts, advantages and usage scenarios of the product. For example, we should not think that bamboo pillow should be in the Home and Kitchen category. It can be on another category as well.

5. Depending on the user's ZIP code (location), the number of search results and the products on the result will be different. 

Since 2018, Amazon has gradually hidden the specific number of products, only providing approximate numbers such as 10,000+;

From the second half of 2019, in order to optimize logistics efficiency, Amazon prioritized the display of products closest to users based on local FBA warehouses (different ZIP codes correspond to different regions), resulting in different product numbers in different regions; It also provides more personalized product display based on users need  

Because of these factors, the number of products has become more and more like a decoration.

The number of products does not fully reflect market competition. For example, around 2010, there were thousands of counterfeit phone brands in China, and you could say total market size was a few million USD. However, now there are only about 10 mainstream mobile phone brands, but the entry threshold is more than $1 billion, and the competition is even more severe.

What can be used to reflect market competition are monopoly indicators (competition on the supply side), such as the sales ratio of the top 10 products to the top 100 products in the market segment (refer to the Seller Sprite  Market Anaysis- Product Concentration Ratio).

Below is an example with a screenshot.

This is the Seller Sprite - keyword dynamic mining. Search for bamboo pillow, and a keyword belonging to the same market segment with similar search volume appears: bamboo pillow

However, the results are quite different. There are 80,000 tablets and only 10,000 ipad stands. This may be because tablets are wider than ipads (ipads are just a type of tablet computer).

But you will find that there are 48 products on the first page and there are more than 1000 products appear for this particular keyword search.

Let’s look at bamboo pillow, the category on the left "Bedding subcategory". There are 24 products on 1st page and overall more than 10.000 products.

If we go dipper, in the last sub category "Bed Pillows & Positioners", there are overall 927 products.