Find products: tips & strategies for your online shop

Online trade is booming, in the first quarter of 2021 alone e-commerce was able to record an increase in sales of 28% with goods sales of EUR 21 billion . This in turn means that there are already countless products on the market. Fortunately, there is always a problem that still needs to be solved, a niche that has not yet been served or an innovative product idea. So you will definitely find a product that expands your range or that you can use to start a new online business. We will help you!

In this article, you will learn different product discovery methods, how to develop lucrative product ideas and uncover interesting product niches. This is how you find the best products for your online shop.

HOW DO I FIND PRODUCTS THAT SELL WELL?

There are so many ways to find the right product for your online store, so where do you start? Here we present various approaches on how to find the perfect product for your start in the online business.

1. Research trends

Google Trends is the best way to research what is currently being searched for most on Google and where the interests of potential customers lie. Furthermore, you should always keep your eyes open on all social networks for new products that fit the current zeitgeist and promise potential.

A little tip on current trends: trends come and go, so be quick. Other online retailers are also observing current developments and want to generate higher sales with trend products.

2. Find a problem solver

Selling products that solve the consumer’s problem is lucrative in many ways. Customers are actively looking for the product and are more likely to invest money in it. The vacuum cleaner robot is a good example of a problem solver. Sure, vacuuming is not a real problem, but it is an unpleasant task and a time-waster for many, so that they are willing to spend higher sums of money to have this task done for them.

So how do you find out what the consumer’s problems are?

Ask yourself which problems you would like to solve in your life and pay attention to which processes could be optimized in everyday life. Let yourself be inspired by your surroundings, maybe even ask friends and relatives in which areas they would like support and help from a product.

3. Take advantage of passions

Many people spend obscure amounts of money on their hobby. After all, an angler not only needs his rod, but also the right clothing, bait, spare line and much more. Even runners, who supposedly only need their legs to pursue their hobby, spend huge amounts on the perfect running shoes, breathable clothing and technical gadgets. Find out what niche you could serve within a hobby or if you could even create a better product.

You can also start from your own passion and create a product or even a whole product catalog from it. Johanna’s stationery online shop odernichtoderdoch.de started out as a lifestyle and DIY blog. Little by little, the blogger was able to find out through her articles what her readers were interested in and was able to build her shop on that basis.

4. Browse B2B marketplaces and portals

This method is one of the best ways to discover new products. After all, where better to find inspiration than directly at the source? On B2B marketplaces like Alibaba.com , you will find a huge selection of different products.

Other B2B marketplaces are:

• AliExpress
• Global Sources
• The well-known sales portals such as Amazon and Ebay also allow you to find new items for your online shop. Look at the bestseller lists in each category to see which products are selling well.
• As a newcomer to e-commerce, you probably don’t start with a huge product portfolio, but concentrate on a few products. In the best case, these should have a special unique selling point and/or only little competition. How to find a niche product is explained below.
• HOW DO I FIND THE RIGHT PRODUCT NICHE?
• Defining your niche is an important process in building your online shop. Here you focus on a special group of customers, offer products that sell well to this group, build your online shop accordingly, invest in advertising on suitable channels and also define your price regarding the niche. You’re basically building your online store to target this exact group.
• Contrary to the assumption, it is better to define the niche as specifically as possible , because the competition is usually too strong for large niches.
• Find a profitable niche through mind mapping
• There are several ways to find a profitable niche, the most common way is through brainstorming using a mind map . It’s a good way to bring together different aspects of a customer group and thereby discover new niches. Start with a product idea in the middle and start making any associations with it. Go into detail and visualize your future customer base.
• You can use special tools to further refine your niche. The simplest method is the Google search. Enter your product idea in the search field and see what products are on offer. This is how you can exclude products with too many competitors.
• Use Google Suggest to specify your niche
• Google Suggests is a great way to see what search terms and extensions are related to your product idea. To do this, type your product idea into the Google bar and look at the extensions.

A similar system is the use of keyword research , for example with the Google Keyword Planner . The tool is designed to advertise and set prices with Google Ads, but you can use it as a research method. The positive thing about this tool is that after entering your product, you get a whole list of search terms, which are also equipped with the search volume. This will help you figure out which niches are more profitable than others.

In order to be able to evaluate a niche , you should include the following aspects in the analysis:

• How big is the demand for the product?
• How big is the competition?
• How strong is the competition?