📁 E-commerce
Product Research Prompt: Validate an Idea From Real Reviews
Validate a product idea from competitor listings and reviews you paste: complaint themes with counts, gaps, unit math, budget check, and cheap tests to run.
0Reviews
Prompt
Act as an e-commerce product researcher who validates a product idea using only the competitor listings, customer reviews, and cost numbers the seller pastes. You look for repeated complaints the idea can fix, check the unit math and the cash needed to start, and design cheap tests before anyone orders inventory. Inputs: - The product idea and what makes it different: [ProductIdea] - Who it is for and when they use it: [TargetBuyer] - Competitor listings: name or letter, price, pack size, rating, key claims: [CompetitorListings] - Review excerpts, ideally 3 stars and below, each tagged with its competitor: [ReviewExcerpts] - Landed cost per unit and supplier minimum order quantity: [SupplierQuote] - Sales channel, planned price, and the fees and shipping costs I gave: [ChannelCosts] - Budget and other limits: [Constraints] Generate: 1. Complaint themes table: theme, how many of the pasted reviews mention it, which competitors, one short quote. Count only the reviews given. 2. Gaps the idea fixes, and complaints it does not address yet. 3. Positioning line and 3 listing bullets that answer the top complaints, using only claims the product can prove. 4. Unit economics: price minus landed cost, fees, and shipping, with every step of the math shown. Flag costs I did not give (returns, ads, packaging). 5. Cash check: minimum order quantity times landed cost compared with the budget in Constraints. 6. Three cheap validation tests (for example a waitlist page, a small sample order for testing, or a short buyer survey), each with a pass or fail signal I set before running it. 7. Go, adjust, or stop: what has to be true to order inventory. Rules: - Use only the pasted listings, reviews, and numbers. Never invent market size, search volume, or sales estimates. - Product claims (leakproof, oven safe) must be backed by the supplier's tests before they go in a listing.
Instructions
Paste 3 to 5 competitor listings and 8 to 30 real review excerpts (3 stars and below show the problems), tagged by competitor. Add your supplier quote, channel fees, and budget. The prompt counts only what you paste, so more real reviews give clearer themes. Verify product claims with the supplier's test results before listing.
Generated Output
This image was generated using the prompt above.
Examples
Example Input
ProductIdea: glass lunch container set of 3 with a locking silicone divider and a removable lid gasket for cleaning TargetBuyer: office workers who meal prep on Sundays and carry lunch in a laptop bag CompetitorListings: A: plastic 5-pack, $24.99, 4.3 stars, "BPA free"; B: glass 3-pack, $32.99, 4.1 stars, snap lids; C: glass 4-pack with divider, $39.99, 3.9 stars ReviewExcerpts: (B) "Lid leaked soup all over my bag." (C) "Divider slides around and the rice ends up in the curry." (B) "Gasket gets moldy and I can't get it out to clean." (C) "Too heavy to carry with my laptop." (B) "Snap tab broke after two months." (A) "Leaked in my backpack the first week." (A) "Gasket smells after a few washes." (C) "Glass cracked going from freezer to microwave." SupplierQuote: $11.40 landed per set of 3; minimum order 500 sets ChannelCosts: own Shopify store; planned price $36; payment processing 2.9% + $0.30; free shipping that costs me $7.50 per order Constraints: $5,000 starting budget
Example Output
1. COMPLAINT THEMES (8 reviews) | Theme | Count | Competitors | Quote | | Leaks in bags | 2 | A, B | "Lid leaked soup all over my bag." | | Gasket mold or smell | 2 | A, B | "Gasket gets moldy and I can't get it out to clean." | | Divider slides | 1 | C | "Divider slides around..." | | Weight | 1 | C | "Too heavy to carry with my laptop." | | Snap tab breaks | 1 | B | "Snap tab broke after two months." | | Cracks from freezer to microwave | 1 | C | "Glass cracked going from freezer to microwave." | 2. GAPS Fixes: removable gasket (2 mold or smell complaints), locking divider (1), and leaks if the locking lid passes testing (2). Not addressed yet: weight (glass, 1 complaint), snap tab durability (1), freezer to microwave cracking (1). Ask the supplier about tab cycle tests and glass type. 3. POSITIONING "Glass meal prep containers with a gasket you can pull out and wash." - Removable gasket: pull it out, wash it, put it back - Locking divider keeps rice and curry apart - Set of 3 sized for weekday lunches (Add "leakproof" only after the supplier's leak test passes.) 4. UNIT ECONOMICS (per order of one set) Price $36.00 - Landed cost $11.40 - Processing: 2.9% x $36 = $1.04, + $0.30 = $1.34 - Shipping $7.50 = $15.76 before returns, ads, and packaging (not given) 5. CASH CHECK 500 sets x $11.40 = $5,700, which is $700 over the $5,000 budget. Ask for a lower first order, or plan to fund the gap. 6. VALIDATION TESTS - Waitlist page with the 3 bullets above, sent to meal prep groups you belong to. Pass: a signup target you set before launch. - Order 2 sample sets: soup in a laptop bag for a day, 20 gasket wash cycles. Pass: no leaks, gasket comes out and back in every time. - Five-question survey to 20 target buyers on price and weight. Pass: most accept $36 after seeing the set's weight. 7. GO, ADJUST, OR STOP Go only if samples pass the leak test, the supplier accepts an order within budget, and the waitlist meets your target. Adjust price or pack size if $15.76 does not cover your ad cost per order.