The 2025 product selection season has begun, and sellers are gearing up to try to break out from their competitors.

But don’t forget that before you achieve great things, it is crucial to get the category right.

Categories known as the “red ocean” or even the “blood ocean” are always minefields for novice sellers.

Today, let’s talk about two categories that have been extremely popular during Black Friday and in the past year: clothing and beauty.

Why are they? Let’s look at this shocking set of data:

Beauty category: Sellers account for as high as 26%, making it one of the most popular categories on Amazon.

Clothing category: The proportion of sellers is close behind, reaching 20%, and the number of products on the shelves exceeds 10 million!

Seller saturation + fierce competition, it’s bound to be a bloodbath!

Data shows that during this year's Black Friday, the average discount in the beauty category was 22.4% , and the clothing category was even more exaggerated, with an average discount of up to 32.9% .

Coupled with the crazy share of advertising, beauty (19.3%) and clothing (13.6%) ranked first and second among all categories, further confirming their status as the "king of volume".

How did it happen that the score was so high? Let's take a look at the detailed analysis:

Beauty and cosmetics category: The profits seem good, but they are actually hard to come by!

Severe monopoly by big sellers: The head effect in the beauty market is particularly obvious, with the top 20 products almost all controlled by big sellers, making it difficult for new sellers to stand out.

High compliance costs: The beauty category has extremely high requirements for quality and safety certification. If you are not careful, your product may be removed from the shelves, and the difficulty of operation will increase sharply.

High market barriers: To gain a share of the beauty market, you not only need profound industry experience, but also an accurate insight into European and American aesthetics, as well as strong supply chain support.

The profits seem attractive, but in fact, it is difficult for novice sellers to gain a foothold under the triple "encirclement" of burning money, brainpower and time.

Clothing category: high return rate + low profit, it’s so tiring!

The return rate remains high: due to issues such as size, color, style, etc., the return rate of clothing is generally as high as 50%-60%, and inventory pressure is directly maxed out.

Profit margins are squeezed: Amazon has repeatedly lowered the commission for clothing, which seems to be a concession, but is actually squeezing out sellers’ profits. For example, a product originally priced at $25 is encouraged to be reduced to $19.99, directly cutting profits by more than **30%**.

SKU management is difficult: The large number of variants leads to soaring SKU management and logistics costs, and novice sellers are easily discouraged by the "complexity".

Without a mature supply chain and a strong financial foundation, you may not be able to navigate the deep waters of the clothing industry.

Stay away from the bloody ocean and choose blue ocean categories: If you are a novice seller, give priority to blue ocean categories with less competition and unsaturated markets, such as home furnishings, pet supplies, etc.

Refine operations and control the rhythm: If you are already in the "bloody sea", try to reduce operating costs and improve product competitiveness by optimizing inventory management, improving advertising conversion rates, etc.

Pay attention to trends and seize opportunities: New and popular categories may emerge in 2025, such as smart home and green environmental protection products. Plan ahead and seize the opportunity.

Finally, a reminder: the blood sea category may seem glamorous, but it is full of pitfalls. New sellers must avoid minefields when selecting products, make rational judgments, and take steady steps to win the cross-border business!