The Garlic Press, Issue 10 - period pain simulator, gel blaster, cow prints
and more...
1. Period pain simulator
Women go through a lot more pain in life than men.
To prove that, volunteers were asked to try what it feels like to have period cramps. Men and women were hooked up to a machine that contracts stomach muscles with electrical impulses and simulates period pain. Women were able to tolerate it easily. Men winced and screamed like babies.
The video of screaming men went viral on TikTok, and hashtag #periodsimulator was born, generating more videos of crying cowboys.
Behind all of this is a Canadian company Somedays, which manufactures a range of period pain relief products, such as creams and oils. And my favourite bit is that there is no such thing as a period pain simulator. They took some basic electronic pulse massager ($23 on Amazon), placed the electrodes in the right places and adjusted impulse power to where it feels like period cramps.
The result: 300k brand followers on Tiktok and 11m likes, virtually for free. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what great marketing should look like.
Another unexpected result of this stunt is that people are now searching for actual period pain simulator on Amazon. They want to buy one. I have no idea why. As a gift to someone’s husband? To satisfy an inner masochist? In any case, the demand is there:
And no one is selling it.
In search results, there are electronic pulse massagers, but how do I know which setting corresponds to period pain, and where exactly do I put electrodes? It needs to be marketed specifically as a period pain simulator, with relevant content.
This product is not going to make you a billionaire, the market is small, but you can be the only fish in this little pond of pain.
More data:
Top search term: period pain simulator
Last month Brand Analytics search frequency rank: 116,021 🆘
Number of competing brands: 0 ✅
2. Monitor light bar
A monitor light bar is essentially a lamp that is attached to the top of your monitor. It brightens up both the screen and the work surface.
The main benefit is that it reduces glare from other light sources and therefore reduces eye strain, making your eyes less tired:
For people who spend hours in front of the screen this can be very relevant. I realised I want one for myself after writing this!
There are lots of additional features that a light bar can come with:
laptop-compatible;
curved monitor compatible;
auto dimming;
hue adjustment;
180 degree rotation, to illuminate the wall behind the monitor with ambient colors that match a movie that you watch or a game you play;
The niche is new, search volume was non-existent just two years ago, and it keeps growing:
There are, however, some warning signs. Most sellers are Chinese, which usually means tight profit margins. Also, top-3 sellers get 62% of all clicks, it could be challenging to break into the top of this market.
More data:
Top search term: monitor light bar
Last month Brand Analytics search frequency rank: 28,245
Search volume growth past 360 days: 48% ✅
Average sale price: $71.10
Number of competing brands: 8
Top 3 Brand Analytics products click share: 62% 🆘
3. Hair heat protectant
Hair requires a lot of heat treatment if you want it to look good, such as blow drying with a fan, curling with a curler, straightening with an iron. With time, all that heat damages the hair, destroying its internal structure, making it dry and fragile.
Hair heat protectant helps prevent that by creating a barrier between a heat source and hair.
This is a relatively new thing, but it looks like it is here to stay. In a recent Vogue article, a celebrity hairstylist Alexander Armand (Serena Williams is a client), recommends a heat protectant to “anyone who uses a blow dryer or hot tools directly on their hair, to eliminate as much heat damage as possible”.
Interest is growing on Google Trends, and it is up 33% on Amazon within the past year:
This is not an easy market, there is a lot of competition, and some big brands are present, such as L’Oreal etc.
However, there are also many different heat protectants. Some target different hair styles (curvy, coily, straight), some have additional ingredients (keratin, natural oils). There is enough room to create a product that no one has in this growing niche.
More data:
Top search term: heat protectant for hair
Last month Brand Analytics search frequency rank: 3,661
Search volume growth past 360 days: 33% ✅
Average sale price: $14.49
Top 10 competitors’ monthly revenue range: $57,233 - $118,460
Number of competing brands: 20+ 🆘
Top 3 Brand Analytics products click share: 40%
4. Gel blaster
This product is not for the faint-hearted. “Gel blaster” is one of the top-100 most popular search terms on Amazon. Enter at your own risk, expecting tight margins, loooots of competition and blackhat tactics used against you.
Gel blaster is a newer and safer twist on airsoft guns. The shooting mechanism is the same, but instead of plastic pellets it shoots balls that are 98% water and 2% biodegradable shell. These balls do not damage surfaces and are considered safe, even for kids.
It is a new thing, exploding in popularity this year. Current average product age on Amazon is just 3 (!) months, and there are no established sellers on this market yet.
Another piece of good news: top-3 products get just 12% of clicks. One reason is that there are many gel blaster variations. There are semi-automatic rifles and there are guns. Some come with infra-red sights, or bigger load capacity, or better batteries, or safety googles, or offer longer shooting range.
And the more variables the product has the easier it is to launch a unique product.
More data:
Top search term: gel blaster
Last month Brand Analytics search frequency rank: 89 ☠️
Search volume growth past 360 days: off the chart ✅
Average sale price: $42.99
Top 10 competitors’ monthly revenue range: $31,229 - $75,120
Number of competing brands: 30+ 🆘
Top 3 Brand Analytics products click share: 12% ✅
5. Сow print car accessories
Let’s make one thing clear first - cow print is in fashion right now.
Also, this is the first time it happened, cow print is a never-before-seen fashion trend, unlike other animal prints, such as leopard or zebra. And some fashion industry experts think it is here to stay.
Google Trends shows 2021 as the peak year for “cow print“, but interest is still high in 2022:
People love cow print, and their love is not limited to clothing. One example is cow print car accessories:
The trend is not super-new, last year was the perfect time to start riding this wave, but it is still going strong both on Google Trends and Amazon, up 85% past 360 days:
There are many red flags in this niche which you should be aware of: there is lots of competition, the majority of sellers are from China, prices are relatively low.
But there is one thing that makes me recommend this niche. This is a fashion item. People looking for cow print car accessories want something trendy and cool. And this is where the opportunity might lie - most of what is currently on offer on Amazon looks cheap and tacky, as if made for kids:
What you can do is make it less about kids and more about fashion. Here is one example of that, a tissue box selling 100 units per day.
More data:
Top search term: сow print car accessories
Last month Brand Analytics search frequency rank: 38,480
Search volume growth past 360 days: 85% ✅
Average sale price: $16.99
Top 10 competitors’ monthly revenue range: $3,262 - $9,575
Number of competing brands: 40+ 🆘
Top 3 Brand Analytics products click share: 27% ✅
This is it for today, as usual let me know which product opportunity you liked more:
P.S.: The winner of the last issue poll is Gochugaru.