Covid-19 has accelerated the need for online business. Retailers are moving online at a running speed. With the increase in competition, sellers find it difficult to start online. Following are the reasons to make online business tough Competition is harsh Products market are flooded Consumers are demanding comfort like never before
If you are thinking of starting an online store, the first and foremost thing is to select a product to sell. Deciding your company name or design, choosing the type of product to sell holds the first place.
Each of your business decisions from logo, website design, and marketing to shipping and order fulfillment will impact based on the type of product you sell.
Hence, the components of your online marketing strategy are worthless without the proper product to sell. The positive outcome of an online business starts with an amazing product.
In this guide, we will discuss how to determine niche products and begin selling online.
Your product must solve people’s problems. It should be required, niche-specific and unique.
Conduct Market and Competitors ResearchFirst of all, specify your choices for online selling. Determine the industry you are interested in and what sort of product you desire to sell. Once you decide the product and industry, start conducting market and competitor research.
Google, social media, quora, and online forums are good places to search for the product market. Conduct a survey and understand buyer persona. Talk to people about their interests to dive deeper.
Research for the product competition of your niche product. Go for a competitive, trending product instead of going for anything new. Examine what others are doing and where they are lacking. Determine where you can be better than your competitors. Whether you can offer better shipping options or a lower price?
The most effective way to find the best product is to find something that solves a problem. If the product can resolve customers’ problems, they will queue up to get your product. Look for your own problems. If you find any trouble, others feel the same and they are willing to pay for its solution.
Hence, determining the pain point of people will benefit you to find the best products to sell online. Look for the products that the audience is excited about. A niche product is easy to market and your brand voice directly reaches customers. A niche product can lead to high engagement and high-converting rates.
Search for Products that people are Passionate about
Passionate fans of your products bring in 2 benefits. First, they make a purchase from you, which you obviously want them to do. Second is they never get tired of praising your products to other people. These people become your brand ambassador who markets your product to their friends and relatives without any cost.
But what type of products are people passionate about? Look for the products that help improve people’s identity. Say, for example, grocery is not a thing people are passionate about as it is a daily need. But if you have a specific diet control product, it is a passionate one.
Passionate products will also help in formulating a brand message that is meaningful, authentic, and real. It is the principal driver of your business.
Find Products with Brand Potential
Once you have identified your potential product, what's next? Now, you need to investigate your aimed audience. You need to create a branding message that makes a splash in the competitive market.
Creating a memorable brand means you need to analyze your target audience. A few questions to get your answers are,
To grow your online store it is important to create the purpose for your product. The customers must relate to your product and brand.
What Type of Products to Sell Online?
There are two major types of products to decide upon.
Let's look more at them.
Commodities are products that are high in demand and usually serve a day-to-day life purpose. The potential market of these products is very high as it has an ongoing demand. But the competition is also too high for these products. It’s hard to stand out when you are competing with big brands.
Niche products are the unique ones that serve specific needs. It is easy to reach your intended customers with niche products. You can charge more for these products that mean higher profit margins. However, the market is smaller, which leads to slow growth.
Selling physical products includes product time, warehouse, and cost for labor, storing, and shipping. You need to decide on your business model and whether you will sell a completely new product or buy from a wholesaler or apply dropshipping.
Digital products include eBooks, apps, games, or courses. It seems easier as you do not need to store or ship products. As soon as a user makes a purchase, digital products can be immediately available to them. However, digital products have to be made by yourself and many marketplaces do not offer to sell digital products.
How to Start Selling Online?
Now that you know the tips to select a product, it’s time to know how to set up your online business and start selling.
As discussed earlier, research the market and choose what you want to sell. Keep in mind to sell niche-specific, a product that solves a problem and desired products. Also, define your target keywords and create your brand story.
There are many big players in the market to choose your E-commerce platform. Magento, Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and more. The requirements of your business will help in choosing the right platform but Magento is the great choice for you. It has everything to build a fully-featured and responsive website to help grow your business. Hire Magento Developer that will help you build your store and fulfill your custom requirements.
Product pages are where the visitor gets converted to customers. The product page has two main elements, product description, and product image. Product image must catch user attention and content must include the problem that the product solves and its benefits. Optimizing content and images helps search engine crawlers to index your product pages and show higher on SERPs.
Once your online business is all set up, you need to market and promote it to drive traffic. For a higher ranking on search engine results pages, optimize your website with context to SEO. Higher rankings help in more visitors and increased sales. Show up on social media sites and attract customers to your site. Build your email list and broadcast your products and services.
Summary
The success of an E-commerce business begins with an amazing product. Product is the heart of your brand that will facilitate your marketing strategies as well. The product you sell must be niche-specific, full of desire, and have branding potential.
You can also create your own product but it requires a lot of hard work. Hundreds of people enjoy your product with your idea and the one that only you sell is a different level of happiness.
So, now is the time to find your niche-specific product, start selling online and drive traffic to your store.