Owning an online store, whether it’s conventional, dropshipping, eBay or FBA e-commerce model, trending products could sell themselves without having to spend too much time and money on marketing. The thing is, it often takes time to experiment before you can find the selling products or categories for your store.
However, today’s trends in data analytics can be combined with proven business strategies to select the most lucrative products or product categories for your business. In this article, we’ll discuss why you should or shouldn’t follow your passion, how many products to sell, what not to sell, SWOT analysis, niche strategies, and use the data.
1. Following Passion: Yes or No
Follow your passion! It’s an old adage that many parents, teachers, counselors, and friends have been telling us. Whenever you’re in doubt, just follow your passion. Whatever your heart tells you is likely the best option.
Well, in business, it isn’t. Making a wise decision in business requires more than a gut feeling. You need to be strategic, verify information, and use the most reliable data. Logic and data work better in business, not feelings and personal preferences.
2. How Many Products to Sell
If you’re tempted to scale as big as possible in the first few weeks of the business, think again. If the business uses the dropshipping model, it’s possible to experiment with selling as many products as possible out of multiple product categories. (Reference: What is dropshipping?)
However, selling too many products only confuse store visitors. Not only because of analysis paralysis, but also because having too many choices is simply demotivating. This being said, it’s recommended that you only sell a few proven products that are likely to become best-selling.
3. What NOT to Sell
Of course, you shouldn’t be selling anything illegal and infringes others’ copyrights. Next, you shouldn’t sell anything that’s offensive, such as politically incorrect items. Some states don’t allow people to sell and buy alcoholic beverages online, so if you’re considering to sell them, make sure to consult with a business legal counselor.
Selling guns and ammunition, as well as certain animals and food products, for instance, might not be allowed in certain states. Just make sure that you follow all the laws and regulations on these restricted products.
4. SWOT Analysis
Before you decide on the products to sell, be clear about the SWOT analysis, which is based on your and your business’ variables. Strengths and Weaknesses are internal assessments, while Opportunities and Threats are external assessments.
Strengths: Take note of your strengths, interests, and passions. What do you love to do? What makes you rise in the morning? What do you every single day rain or shine? What are your experiences?
Weaknesses: What makes you cringe? What makes you feel depleted? What don’t you like to do, even though you’ve been doing it for years? What skills that you’d love to acquire but haven’t been able to:
Opportunities: What keywords searches caught your attention? What trends do you recognize early on? What products are in high demand that you’ve been noticing?
Threats: What products are in high demand but not many people are able to obtain? What products are fads? Why do people stop buying certain products? Which competitor products are likely to win over in competing with yours?
5. Niche Strategies
Understand certain niche products that are likely to receive repeat orders. In general, consumable or disposable products, high-priced items needing accessories, hobby-related products, and products that are hard to find locally would do well in an e-commerce environment. These products are also called “long-tail” products.Be open to finding other “long-tail” keywords related to the niche(s) you’re targeting. Sometimes, the longer the keyword’s tail, the better the outcome, as it allows you to use laser-sharp targeting tactics.
6. Supporting Data
Today is the era of Big Data. In fact, the current output of data is 2.5 quintillion bytes per day. With so much data flying around the Internet, there must be a few data sets that matter to your business.
Finding trending products to sell is now a matter of how well your data sources are.
Locate best-selling items on Amazon with Jungle Scout, eBay with ShelfTrend, and an instant product evaluator tool by A Better Lemonade Stand. The algorithms provided are designed to capture essential data points for decision making in selecting best-selling products.
Even if you sell on your own e-commerce site and not on Amazon or eBay, you can still use those tools, so you’d be able to grasp some ideas of products that sell really well. Next, you can use the information for your own store after some adjustments.
In conclusion, choosing products to sell on your store requires logic and data, not mere passion and gut feelings. With the proliferation of Big Data and proven business strategies, your next best sellers are just around the corner. Seek, and you shall find.
Image source: Pixabay
Jennifer Xue is an award-winning author, columnist, and serial entrepreneur based in Northern California. She is also a digital strategist for Oberlo. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, Fortune, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Business.com, Business2Community, Addicted2Success, Good Men Project, Positively Positive, and others.