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Paper Towels

Maybe

Returns run at only 0.1% of orders. But demand is soft, at -21.7% this quarter, so Paper Towels is a Maybe.

Flapen Score
62
62 / 100
Top 7% of 740 Business, Industry & Science niches · +13 vs the category median of 49
Market size
£1.4M/yr626K searches / yr
90-day growth
-21.7%search demand this quarter
Competition
49%top-5 click share · 19 brands · 141 sellers

Flapen Score

Paper Towels against its category

The dotted line is the Business, Industry & Science average. Past it, Paper Towels is stronger. Inside it, weaker.

62Maybe
Big MarketTrendingHigh ConversionOpen MarketLow ReturnsPrice rangeAvg priceNo Dominant BrandLow Review BarrierQuality Gap
This niche Category average

Market

The Paper Towels market on Amazon at a glance

Shoppers on Amazon United Kingdom searched for Paper Towels 626K times last year and spent an estimated £1.4M. The top 5 brands take 65% of clicks. Flapen scores it 62 out of 100, a Maybe.

01 · Demand

18.5% of searches ended in a purchase last week.

Shoppers searched for this 626K times in the last 12 months. That counts every search on Amazon United Kingdom for this niche's terms. In the latest week, 18.5% of those searches ended in a purchase. Searches in the last 90 days moved -21.7% against the 90 days before. Searches, conversion and average price together put the market at an estimated £1.4M a year.

Searches, last 12 months
626K
Growth, 90 days vs prior 90
-21.7%
Conversion, latest week
18.5%
Market size, estimated
£1.4Ma year
Peak month
September1.8× the quietest month
Top search term
paper towels310K searches a year

02 · Price

A sale here is worth £12.44.

Listings sell for £12.44 on average, from £1.15 to £24.53. Amazon reports units sold in ranges. This niche sold 100K to 125K a year. The average listing sells 3,000 to 4,000 of them. At £12.44 that is £37K to £50K a year per listing.

Average price
£12.44under the $15 to $100 sweet spot
Price range
£1.15–£24.53
Amazon United Kingdom median price
£12.12across 27,606 niches
Units sold a year
100K–125K
Units per listing a year
3,000–4,000
Revenue per listing a year
£37K–£50K
Returns
0.1%of orders · Amazon United Kingdom median 0.6%

03 · Entry bar

The bar here is reviews.

84% of listings pay for placement with sponsored ads. 72% ship with Prime. On an average day, 0.6% of listings are out of stock. The average listing ranks #67 within Janitorial & Sanitation Supplies. It carries 6,452 reviews at 4.40 stars, so a new listing needs social proof before a better product.

Sponsored listings
84%
Prime listings
72%
Out of stock, average day
0.6%
Average rank
#67in Janitorial & Sanitation Supplies
Average rating
4.40 starsAmazon United Kingdom average 4.36 stars
Average reviews
6,452per listing
Listings tracked
32

04 · Newcomers

Amazon counts 1 of last year's 3 launches as successful.

3 products launched here in the last 12 months. Amazon counts 1 of them as successful launches, new products that hit its first-year sales bar. The brands on the shelf have sold for 60 months on average, so the names here are established.

Launched, last 12 months
3
Successful launches
1Amazon's first-year sales bar
Average brand age
60 months

Products

Top Paper Towels products & what they sell for

Every tracked product: its share of the shelf, its reviews, and its price.

Competition

Competition: brands, sellers & click share

The top 5 products take 49% of clicks. Leaders hold, but buyers still shop past them.

£0£58K£115K£173K£230K101001K10K100K Review Count Sales
Beatable (≤4.3★) Contested Strong incumbent (>4.7★)

Brands

19 falling

Sellers

141

Top-5 brand share

65%

Top 20: 100%

Top-5 click share

49%

Top 20: 88%

Open market

29%

  • by Amazon21%
  • AmazonCommercial15%
  • Paper Hand Towels13%
  • Scott10%
  • PLENTY7%
  • Regina6%

Demand

Paper Towels search demand

Weekly searches over the year, seasonality beneath. Pick a range.

15K10KSpike '24Prime Day '25Spike '25Prime Day '26SepDecMarJunAugNovMarMay

No pronounced peak months · busiest ÷ quietest = 1.8×

Search terms

Top Paper Towels search terms shoppers use

The exact words shoppers type, with yearly volume, growth, and conversion.

  • paper towels310K/yr
  • paper towel65K/yr
  • paper hand towels67K/yr
  • z fold paper towels26K/yr
  • paper towels for dispenser16K/yr
  • disposable hand towels16K/yr
  • hand paper towels33K/yr
  • paper hand towels for dispenser14K/yr
  • hand towels disposable27K/yr
  • paper hand towels for bathroom9K/yr

Reviews and returns

What reviews say buyers love and hate about Paper Towels

What buyers praise, what they complain about and why they send it back, from the reviews.

Complain

Thickness21%−0.22

My toilet paper is thicker than this

Not as thick as some

Not very thick

Quality-Overall18%+0.48

Reduced quality

Bad quality

Cheap and not very good quality

Size-Overall12%−0.11

Large

Incorrect size

Small in size

Value For Money8%+2.69

Waste of money

overpriced

Not worth money

Absorbency7%

aren't as absorbent

Doesnt absorb much

It doesnt absorb water well

Love

Value For Money29%+2.69

Amazing value

Best price

Good value for money

Quality-Overall25%+0.48

Amazon affordable quality product

Brilliant quality

It satisfies the price n quality

Absorbency9%

Absorbent enough

absorbs water well

It is super absorbent for sure

Advertised Vs Actual Product4%+0.36

Does the job just fine

As Described by seller

As described

Thickness4%−0.22

Lovely and thick

Nice thick sheets

happy with the thickness

Return

0.1% Return rate 31% Fixable by listing

Quality-Overall20%█▆▅▃▆▃

Reduced quality

Bad quality

Cheap and not very good quality

Size-Overall19%▂▂▄▅▄█

Large

Incorrect size

Small in size

Value For Money8%▆▃▂▄█▂

Waste of money

overpriced

Not worth money

Thin7%▅█▂▅▅▅

Too thin

Its ok a bit thin get what you pay for handy though

Thin

Advertised Vs Actual Product6%▂▂█▂▂▁

so its deceiving

Definitely not as described

I think this is very misleading

FAQ

Common Paper Towels questions

Answered from the same tracked data.