Ah, the timeless question for the new ecommerce entrepreneur.
You want products that are well-received and will make you a handsome profit. How do you decide what products to sell online?
It is a great way to get right into the data. You can find high-potential products by doing some old-fashioned product research.
Check out the Dropshipping FAQ, which includes questions both established dropshippers and aspiring dropshippers have. Learn how to use Google Trends data for promising products.
Are you unsure how to navigate this maze?
You are in the right spot. This article will help you to identify the best dropshipping products and how to filter out those that aren’t worth your time.
You can find lots of useful information, no matter whether you are an ecommerce startup, or an established small- or medium-sized company.
Dropshipping is a great way to sell products online.
Before we get into the details of selling online, let me briefly explain dropshipping and the advantages of this business model.
You’ll be able to better understand the unique considerations you must make when selling products online.
Dropshipping is what you think?
Dropshipping, where merchants purchase products from third-party suppliers and then sell them online, is becoming more popular. They can reduce the cost and liability of stocking merchandise by doing this.
Dropshippers can decide the price of their products and run their business from anywhere in the world.
Dropshipping gives ecommerce entrepreneurs freedom to keep up with current trends, as they can change merchandise in their stores at any time.
These are just some of the many benefits that dropshipping offers over traditional ecommerce. Finding the right products for the right markets at the right time is all that’s required to make serious profits.
Let’s now look at some best practices to come up with dropshipping product concepts that work.
How to dropship products online: What to sell online
1. Brainstorm Dropshipping Product Idea
There is no need to start from scratch. You already have a lot of ideas for dropshipping: products that you love, hobbies, and new passions.
Google Trends is a tool that can help you find new opportunities and rationalize product investments to plan your dropshipping business. You can start by tapping into the inspiration and information you already possess.
Note everything that comes to your mind. It doesn’t really matter if the product is a success or not. This step is crucial as it serves as a foundation for all subsequent steps.
Browse Other Shops to Find Products You Can Sell Online
Sam Walton, Walmart founder in 1980s, was caught crawling on his knees around stores. Later, he told a friend that he was measuring space between product shelves in order to determine the display style of his competitors.
Walmart was selling $400M+ at the time. Walton realized that he could make more if he could learn the strategies his competitors used to sell their products.
Look at the best-selling products, promotions, and other items in other stores when you visit them.
Many shops have huge amounts of data and use entire departments to manage their sales and choose their products. You can use this information to your advantage. You should browse a lot and visit often. This will help you to find the best dropshipping products for your online storefront.
Here is a list with resources and stores you should regularly check:
- Amazon’s Best Sellers
- Ebay Daily Deals
- LightInTheBox Top Sellers
- Our What to sell online
- Dropshipping is a great way to make money.
2. Discover the best dropshipping products on social shopping sites
Polyvore has over 100 million products and Wanelo has 30 million. You can also add Fancy, Pinterest and Instagram to the mix and get a wide range of products from all over the globe. They can be easily sorted by popularity and trends as well as categories.
These sites are often overlooked by people when they do their research. However, they can be very useful in gaining insights into which products are thriving online.
Each of these sites is worth checking out. Subscribe to various categories and lists. Follow the people you like and add them to your list.
You’ll be able to quickly develop profit-generating product ideas if you surround yourself with inspiration.
Ask your friends for dropshipping ideas
Next time you meet up for coffee, look at Google Trends data about popular products and get their opinions.
You don’t have to limit your reach to only your local demographic. To get more dropshipping ideas, talk to friends from all walks of life.
Dropshipping is a great way to make your ecommerce store more profitable.
3. Take a look around you for more ideas about what to sell online
Take a look around your home, at your workplace, and in the places you frequent.
Do you have any products that you cannot live without? What products could make your life easier Are there any products that are difficult to find at your local shop or in the supermarket?
These questions may be the key to your decision making when it comes to selling online.
Take this as an example: Howard Schultz, who later became known for Starbucks, came up with the idea of a coffee shop on a trip through Italy.
Dropshipping products can be easily spotted while on the road. However, it is also possible to find them in your daily life. Your daily life can be used as a databank to generate product ideas. Keep your eyes open for opportunities.
This mindset will allow you to identify hundreds of products that have great profit potential every day.
You’ll quickly be able to create a list of dropshipping products that you like by being active in your ideation. Be alert, keep a journal, and write down everything.
Dropshipping: What to Avoid
You shouldn’t be looking at TrendHunter.com and SpringWise.com when creating your online product list.
They are not necessarily bad. They can be used for many other purposes.
However, when it comes down to creating product ideas and deciding which items to sell, many product trend websites publish ideas that are too expensive for average merchants. This is because too many people have already sold these products.
These products may not be available for dropshipping. While you may have great dropshipping product ideas you will likely struggle to find suppliers for these items. .
How would you promote Wearable Sleeves to Help Stroke Victims Recover, or Herb Inspired Fragrances through dropshipping?
How to sell online: Top-selling Products
Next, we will discuss how to narrow your dropshipping product ideas by filtering them according to the following considerations. You can ensure that your dropshipping product list contains only the best.
Dropshipping ideas will continue to be updated as you find new product trends and draw inspiration.
In just minutes, anyone can import many popular products into their shops.
It can be difficult to know how to decide what products to sell online. This is based on how they will fit into your marketing campaigns, look good on your homepage, make sense in the context of your brand.
These are the top-selling items, also known as ‘Alpha Products’. They draw lots of customers to your store. Once you have found your Alpha Products it is easy to fill the rest of the shop with cross-selling and upselling.
1. Look for Dropshipping Product Ideas with Niche
Dropshipping has made niche shops a fad. Since then, niche shops have become a successful ecommerce strategy rather than a novelty.
It’s logical. It’s not worth fighting with big stores to get potential customers’ attention. Avoid broadening or generalizing categories. Every day, thousands of offers are being presented to the masses.
Instead, you should look for niche products that are not being offered by larger companies. You can tell that cycling gear will appeal to cycling enthusiasts even though there isn’t a specific interest group for a belt.
Find your niche market. You’ll be more likely to make a profit selling products online if you have niche dropshipping ideas. You can start by selling products in a steady niche for dropshipping, as these items are more popular.
2. You can find products to sell online by using the ‘Stay Away” categories
Even though some products in this category might overlap with niche products it is important to limit your product selection by excluding products from the’stay away’ categories.
Certain product categories have seen significant growth over the past decade. There are too many small shops and strong players that supply these products.
Take a look at the top categories of online shopping: appliances and furniture are not among them. Consumers have already chosen their trusted stores after spending more than 759 Billion on fashion-related products.
You can cross off the following categories from your list: books and appliances, everyday items, and sports. If you want to succeed in dropshipping, you will need to avoid making product-related mistakes. It is also important to find a niche and be specific.
3. Find Online Products Customers Will Buy Again
Online orders can be very profitable. However, it is not a good strategy to rely on multiple people purchasing your product once.
Consider online products that customers will buy again and again over time. This is how you build brand loyalty. People will use your products many times throughout the year, such as party supplies, cosmetics, and clothing.
After their first purchase, target them with remarketing and follow up with personalized email marketing to build a strong relationship that will bring them back.
If you tailor your retouch campaign to these customers, the lifetime value can be greater than any of your other customers.
4. Social Media: Check the Demand
Social media can be a great place for customers to show their interest. YouTube searches for the product name can be a great way of finding out if people are posting unboxing reviews and making viral videos. To see if there are any problems with the product, you can also look at the comments.
Other social media channels such as Instagram and Facebook are also important. Facebook search can be used to find out what videos are trending in your industry or for a specific keyword. You can also customize your search to see which words are most popular.
You can also use Instagram to search for products. You just need to search for keywords relevant to your industry using the search bar. You can find products that are getting lots of attention in your area.
Be careful that products don’t become trending on social networks for inappropriate reasons. YouTube videos can become viral if people love a product. However, people use social media to vent about things they don’t like. Before you make a purchase, ensure that the product is thoroughly researched and that the attention is positive.
5. Take advantage of the price sweet spot
When selling online, there are some general rules that you should remember: The lower the price, higher the conversion rate. You’ll need more work if the price is higher.
Andrew from ecommerceFuel believes that the ideal price range for ecommerce products is between $100 and $200. Richard from ABLS says it’s between $75 and $150. My experience is that the sweet spot price for me is between $40 and $60, with a 200% markup.
The profits within the $40-60 price range are sufficient to cover your shipping and marketing costs up to $20 per sale. Because the buyer is less considerate when purchasing from this price bracket, the conversion rate is typically higher. With less expensive items, you won’t need to provide as much customer service.
These are the main reasons why your store will be more successful in developing markets. Dropshipping from China allows you to sell products anywhere in the world. While $30 might seem small to Americans, it can be quite significant to someone from South America or Eastern/Central Europe.
It’s worth researching different markets before deciding where to sell products. It’s a good idea to go through your products and cross out any dropshipping ideas worth more than $60. For an idea of what conversion rate you can expect with different products, see our article on average conversion rate for ecommerce.
6. Use ePacket to Dropship Products
ePacket allows you to ship quickly from China to more than 30 countries around the globe. Be sure to comply with all rules regarding weight and size. The product’s maximum weight cannot exceed 3 kgs. The package size should not exceed 14 cm x11 cm and 90 cm between length, width and height. The product to be shipped must not exceed $400 in value.
7. Dropshipping Products That Last
Dropshipping products that you sell online can be shipped anywhere in the world, provided you have set certain parameters. It is possible that shipping can take a while, with lots of unloading and loading.
You should avoid choosing fragile products, such as china ornaments. They may break in transit. This is something that you can’t control. It can also lead to unhappy customers, many returns, and can damage your store’s reputation.
What’s the takeaway? To save time on returns and refunds, choose a product that is strong and can withstand long transit times. These items can eat into your profits.
8. To validate products, you can sort through reviews
Reviews are not only a great source of information for other customers. Reviews are a great way to determine if a product is worth your investment.
Find out what customers are saying about the products you have in your store. You might find comments and feedback that will help you decide what product to sell next. Perhaps your customer is happy with your clothing product, but would prefer more sizes and colors.
You can also check reviews of products in your industry if you don’t own a store. Use Google Trends to find out what products are in fashion and get feedback from customers about the product.
Although you will probably steer clear of products with many negative reviews, it is possible to be positive about some reviews. You can differentiate your brand immediately if your customers aren’t happy with the product or the delivery service.
9. To Sell More Dropshipping Products, Know Your Marketing Channels
Once you’ve learned how to sell products online with the potential to make a profit, it is time to start thinking about your marketing strategy. It is not enough to have great dropshipping products ideas.
A plan must be created for how these products will be sold. This is an essential part of ecommerce success.
You can sell more stuff online if you have the right marketing strategy. Marketing is what will make you stand out among your competitors. It is essential to understand all the marketing channels available to your business.
Simply put, different marketing channels will be more successful for different products. After you’ve chosen the product, it is time to determine which marketing channel would be most effective. Try out different marketing channels for free to see how your audience reacts to your products. Then, you can take it from there.
Although advertising a hoverboard worth $800 on Facebook is not advisable, you may be able to advertise it using Google Ads. Hoverboards are not something you buy by chance. Most people will search for information on it online, such as which shops sell it.
I spent hours studying how others choose their marketing strategies, but nothing that met my needs. Rand from Moz’s tables that show the ROI, effort and cost for each channel were very appealing to me, although it was published in 2009.
There are many lists and guides that list all marketing channels. However, none of them place marketing from an inventory perspective. I decided to create a marketing table and product evaluation. The design of the table is very similar to that on Moz’s blog. However, it was based on my personal experience and some insights from the internet.
There are many other marketing channels, but I doubt that any PR stunts, cobranding opportunities or video marketing will be the best options for someone just starting their business.
Affiliate marketing is something you may want to explore in the future. Be realistic about your available resources, such as time, money, and knowledge, before deciding on the marketing channels that will work best for you. You can then eliminate dropshipping ideas not suitable for those channels.
10. Keyword Tools & Google Trends
If you plan to use Google Ads to market your site or just want to increase organic traffic, keyword tools and Google Trends will be essential.
These tools allow you to identify which products are hot. These tools allow you to check the demand for dropshipping products.
Keyword Tool
Look at all of your product ideas. The Google Keyword Planner tool will allow you to enter each product’s name and variant. The system will then provide data on how competitive keywords are. This will give you an indication of the competition that you may face when trying to sell these products in your store.
Google Ads will charge more for keywords that are highly competitive.
Click on ‘Keywords Ideas’ to see the number of searches for each Low Competition Keyword. These keywords are more affordable and will be easier to find when someone searches for the product on Google.
Let’s suppose you could get all that traffic, and 2% would buy from your store. Is this enough demand? Finding the right balance between demand and competition is key to making your product stand out from others.
You can also use these 18 SEO tools in addition to Google’s keyword software. While some of these tools require a monthly subscription they are much more effective in generating data about the keyword competition.
Google Trends
You can do the same thing at trends.google.com. You can enter each product idea into the search box and find the trends based on search volume. You can view historical data on the frequency of keywords searched over time, as well as what is currently popular.
Are the trends increasing or decreasing in popularity? Do you see any patterns? Are there any spikes? This information can help you decide if it is the right time to sell a product. Google Trends allows you to see search data by country or region, which can help you gain a better understanding of customer behavior.
11. How to determine which products to sell online
Dropshipping is generally avoided for products that have low or no search traffic (less 500 monthly searches). You should eliminate all products that are highly competitive according to the Google Keyword Analysis Tool if you want to grow organically.
You want to strike the right balance between a low search volume and enough competition to indicate that there is a demand for your product. It all comes down to balance.
12. Use Seasonality to Decide What to Sell Online
It may be exciting to see a surge in interest in a product on Google. But be cautious. You could find that the product is highly sought-after because of the season.
Avoid seasonal products such as Christmas decorations unless you intend to close your shop after the holidays. You can reduce your sales cycle by focusing on seasonal products.
The majority of Christmas decorations sales occur in winter and autumn. These are probably the best dropshipping options for this season, but you will need to have core products that can be sold all year.
Selling online can be difficult when items are subject to seasonality. You can make your online business more sustainable by selling a mixture of popular items at different times throughout the year.
Take Care with Copyrighted Images
When sourcing brand items for your store, be careful. It can be difficult to find suppliers who sell copyrighted items.
You could be selling counterfeit products if you source copyrighted goods from unknown suppliers. Items that have logos or designs that look too similar to others can lead to legal problems or worse, could tarnish your business’ reputation.
This is why you should be cautious when selecting items for this purpose. Avoid any brand that is a copy of another brand. Instead, focus on creating your brand. This will be more sustainable over the long-term. You’ll also be proud to grow your business.
13. How to Sell Products Online: Competition
Now you have the ability to refine your list using proven strategies and are left with the last dropshipping ideas.
Competition is the last important consideration. You’ve avoided the competition from giant retailers like Amazon by ignoring the broad categories.
Don’t forget that niche products are not something you were the first to think of. It’s a tedious task to evaluate your competitors, and there are many ways to do so. However, one thing is certain. It is important to verify that the product you are trying to promote has not been advertised elsewhere.
14. Get Samples from Suppliers
After you have chosen dropshipping products for your online store, request samples from suppliers to see if they are suitable and to go over the steps that your customers might take. You can be confident in your product by learning about shipping times, product quality, and tracking capabilities.
Sell Amazing Stuff!
You need to have a clear process for selecting products in order to determine which items are likely to make you money as an ecommerce entrepreneur.
Dropshipping products are often chosen by people on a whim rather than after careful consideration. This is a waste of time and effort.
These considerations will help you narrow down your options and determine which products you want to sell. Do your research to find the best dropshipping products for your ecommerce store.
These are some of the things to consider when you decide what to sell online.
- You can supply niche products that are not available in the larger market.
- Avoid general items that aren’t in high demand.
- Identify the online products customers are most likely to buy again.
- Social media research can validate demand.
- You should set a price range that will convince buyers to buy.
- Leverage ePacket for your products.
- Dropshipping products that last.
- To validate products, you can sort through reviews.
- To sell more products, you need to understand your marketing channels.
- Use keyword tools and Google Trends to your advantage
- You must find a balance between demand and competition for a product.
- Seasonality is a good way to decide what you want to sell online.
- To find saturated product ideas, check out competitor websites.
- To learn more about delivery times, order samples from suppliers.