Services — E-commerce research
Research before you build.
THE AKYN runs market, competitor and keyword research before a build starts: what the category actually looks like, who you are really competing with, and the language buyers use. The cheapest stage of any project to change your mind in.
What's included
- Market and demand research
- Competitor teardowns
- Keyword and search research
- Positioning and pricing input
- Channel recommendations
Who it's for
Founders about to spend money on a guess.
The most expensive mistake in e-commerce is not a bad storefront. It is a good storefront built for a product nobody was searching for, in a category already owned by three entrenched sellers, at a price that cannot absorb the fees.
Research is the stage where that costs you a few days instead of a few months. It is also the stage most people skip, because it produces a document rather than a website.
- Founders validating a product before committing
- Brands entering a new category or marketplace
- Sellers deciding between Shopify, Etsy and Amazon
- Businesses whose current positioning is not landing
- Anyone about to commission a build on instinct alone
What we look at
Four questions, answered with evidence.
Who is already there. The actual competitors ranking and selling in your category, what they charge, how they position, and where the gaps are that are not simply unprofitable.
What people search. The phrases buyers use rather than the ones the industry uses — including the long, specific, lower-volume terms that a new brand can realistically reach.
Where it should sell. Shopify, Etsy, Amazon or a combination, judged on category fit, fee structure and how much of the customer relationship you keep.
What it should cost. Pricing that survives platform fees, shipping and returns, checked against what the category currently bears.
Our process
A week, and a document you can act on.
01 — Scope
We agree the category, the question you actually need answered, and the cost. Research without a question produces a slide deck nobody reads.
02 — Research
Competitor set, search language, channel comparison and pricing analysis, with the sources shown so you can check the reasoning rather than trust it.
03 — Recommendation
A plain recommendation with what we would do and why — including telling you not to proceed, if that is where the evidence lands.
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Where research leads.
Research is usually the first stage of a larger project. Where it points at a build, it feeds directly into the storefront brief rather than being filed and forgotten.
Common questions
What does e-commerce research cover?
Who else is selling what you sell, how they price and position it, what customers say in their reviews, and which search terms people actually use to find products like yours.
What do I get at the end?
A written summary you can act on: competitor breakdown, pricing landscape, keyword and search-demand findings, and the specific gaps we think are worth going after.
How long does the research take?
Usually one to two weeks depending on how broad the category is.
Can you do this before I commit to building a store?
That is usually the sensible order. It costs less to find out a category is crowded than to build a store into it.
Can you tell me whether my product will sell?
No. Nobody can, and be wary of anyone who says otherwise. What research gives you is the shape of the category, the competition and the search demand — the evidence to make the decision, not the decision itself.
How long does research take?
Usually about a week, depending on category breadth. It runs before design so findings can change the brief while changing it is still cheap.
Do I have to build with you afterwards?
No. The research is yours either way, written so another studio could act on it. We would rather you make a good decision than a convenient one.
Do you work with founders outside Miami?
Yes. We are based in Miami, Florida and work with founders across the United States. Research runs entirely remotely.
Next step
Ask the question first.
Tell us the product and the category, and what you are trying to decide. We come back with a scope and a fixed cost.
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