That big question hangs over every new entrepreneur. You have the drive and the ambition, but you're stuck on figuring out exactly what to sell. It feels like the biggest decision you'll ever make for your small business, because it is.
You aren't alone in this. Almost 400,000 new businesses start each month in the US alone, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data. That's a huge number of people wrestling with what to sell to build a successful future.
Many people think success comes from a magical idea that appears out of nowhere. The truth is much more methodical. This guide will walk you through a real process for making that critical choice to sell online.
Before You Read On
This is part of a series blogs based on my book, "Know What You Sell", available on Amazon. Ultimately, we developed the Free Inbound Marketing Assessment Scorecard to help you decide how to develop, position and successfully market your product or service. It takes less than 2 minutes and you get a customized report based on your answers which you can use as roadmap through the ever changing world of marketing and sales.
Too many aspiring business owners wait for a lightning bolt of inspiration. They believe they need a revolutionary invention to succeed. But this often leads to inaction and analysis paralysis.
The pressure to find a flawless, one-of-a-kind product can be paralyzing. It stops you before you even start your ecommerce business. You look at established companies and assume they all began with some stroke of genius.
The reality is quite different. Many successful sellers sell ordinary, popular products that aren't new inventions. Their success comes from a smart business model, superior marketing, or dedicated support, allowing for high profit margins even with simple items.
You've probably heard the advice to "follow your passion." While it sounds good, it's often misleading. Your passion for collecting stamps might not translate into a viable business with high demand.
A more sustainable approach is to find a problem that people have and become passionate about solving it. A business gets paid to solve problems for its customers. When you find a genuine pain point, you find a market of people ready to buy.
Think about your own life or browse social media for complaints. What daily annoyances do you wish you could fix? What products or services do you find frustrating to use? This is a great place to start looking for product ideas.
Guesswork is the fastest way to fail when starting an online store. The single most important step in figuring out what to sell is market research. It's the foundation upon which your entire business will be built.
Skipping this step is a mistake seen far too many times. You need data, not just a gut feeling. Proper research turns your idea into a calculated business decision about what products sell.
It's tempting to rely on free information you find online. You can spend hours reading blog posts and watching videos about high-demand products. But you truly get what you pay for.
Free data is often outdated, generic, or just plain wrong. It's created to get website traffic, not to give you a solid plan to sell products online. Relying on it is like building a house on a shaky foundation.
To make a serious business decision, you need serious information. Sourcing your data from multiple, reliable providers is the only way to get a clear picture of potential sales. One blog post isn't enough to risk your savings on.
So, where do you find good information? It starts with looking beyond a simple Google search. You need to dig a little deeper for quality insights into demand for products.
Government agencies are a fantastic starting point. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, for instance, publishes the Consumer Expenditure Survey. It shows you exactly what households are spending money on across various product categories.
Paid market research reports from firms like Gartner or Forrester give deep industry analysis. Think of it as a critical business investment to understand the market. Don't forget the most valuable source of all: your potential customers.
Talking directly to people in your target market can give you information you can't find anywhere else. Their words are worth more than any report, revealing what consumers love. This helps you spot a growing trend before it becomes saturated.
Good market research costs money; there's no getting around it. You should be prepared to spend some dollars on getting good information for your ecommerce website. This initial spending can help you save money significantly later on.
Think about how much you're willing to invest in your new business. A portion of that should be allocated to research right at the start. It will save you a massive amount of money and heartache down the road.
Spending a few hundred or thousand dollars on solid research could prevent you from losing tens of thousands on an idea that was doomed from the start. It's some of the smartest money you'll ever spend, just like you would carefully choose a financial product. Even before you're profitable, setting up business checking accounts and savings accounts will be your next smart financial move.
Deciding what to sell becomes much easier with a clear process. Instead of guessing, you can follow a series of logical steps. This framework will help you move from a vague idea to a concrete product to sell on your ecommerce platform, such as Shopify, Woocommerce or SAP Hybris.
Your goal is to find problems, frustrations, and inconveniences. Profitable products don't just exist; they solve something. They make a task easier, save time, or eliminate an annoyance for the customer.
Start by looking within online communities. Subreddits, Facebook groups, and online forums are gold mines of information about what selling products people want. People openly complain about their problems in these spaces.
Look for phrases like "does anyone know how to," "I'm so frustrated with," or "I wish there was a product that." These are direct signals of unmet needs. Every complaint about care products or other items is a potential business idea.
An idea is worthless if no one is looking for a solution. You need to verify that there's actual high demand in the market for a trending product. Luckily, there are tools to help with this vital step.
Google Trends is a great free tool to start with. It shows you if interest in a topic or trending product category is growing, declining, or seasonal over time. You want to enter a market that shows consistent demand or upward momentum.
You can also analyze keyword search volume. Tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush show you how many people are searching for specific terms each month. High search volume for problem-related keywords is a very good sign that you have found trending items. This goes a long ways toward deciding what to sell.
A popular product that doesn't make money isn't a business; it's a hobby, even if it is in high demand. You have to understand the potential profitability from the beginning to ensure high profit. This means doing some basic math before you sell anything.
You need to figure out your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). This is what it costs you to source or make one unit of your product. You then subtract that from your potential sale price to find your gross profit margin.
Make sure to account for shipping, marketing, returns, and payment processing fees from credit cards. A healthy margin is necessary for long-term survival and your ability to increase sales. Even simple products like bath bombs or food products need careful financial planning.
| Cost Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Product Sourcing Cost | The price you pay the manufacturer or wholesaler for quality products. |
| Shipping & Fulfillment | Costs to store inventory and ship orders to customers. |
| Marketing & Advertising | Money spent to attract customers (e.g., ads, social media, content). |
| Platform & Transaction Fees | Fees from your e-commerce platform and payment processor like Stripe or PayPal. |
How will you actually get your product into your customers' hands? This is a practical question that you must answer early. Your sourcing method impacts your startup costs and daily operations.
You could choose a dropshipping business model, where a third party handles all inventory and shipping. This is low risk but offers thin profit margins and less control over the customer experience. Your dropshipping business is only as good as your supplier.
Or you might decide to manufacture your own product, which is common for unique beauty products or items with natural ingredients. This gives you full control but requires a much larger upfront investment. You also have to manage inventory and fulfillment yourself.
Another option is buying wholesale. You purchase products online in bulk from a manufacturer or distributor at a discount. This is a middle ground between dropshipping and manufacturing your own items and is a common path for a new small business.
Before you quit your job and take out a loan, test your product idea. A small-scale test will tell you if you're on the right track with your trending products. It helps you get real-world feedback without risking everything.
One way to do this is with a presale. You can set up a simple landing page that describes the product and its benefits. Then, you can drive a small amount of paid traffic to it and see if people are willing to pay for it before it's even made.
This approach works for physical items and digital products, like downloadable coloring books or guides. You can also list items on Facebook Marketplace to gauge local interest quickly. If no one buys, you've saved yourself time and money; if they do, sales continue and you have your first customers.
You do not need to invent a brand new product category. Some of the most successful businesses simply found a better way to serve an existing market. You can look at what's already popular and find the gaps. Selling products can happen using many different methods, or combinations of techniques.
Big, established markets always have room for new players. The key is to be smart about how you enter. You can compete by being different, not necessarily by being first.
Look at products in a category you're interested in. Read the 1-star and 3-star reviews on sites like Amazon for existing products. These reviews are a blueprint for a better product.
Customers will tell you exactly what they don't like about what's currently available. If you see repeated complaints that certain phone accessories break easily, you can create a version that fixes those common issues. Since shoppers prioritize durability, you have a built-in advantage.
You can also compete on price, though this can be a difficult strategy. You might find a way to make or source a product more efficiently. This lets you offer a similar quality product for a lower price, appealing to budget-conscious shoppers. If you sell online, you can offer a better guarantee or free shipping, or maybe both!
Another powerful strategy is to "niche down." Instead of trying to sell to everyone in a big market, focus on a small, underserved segment of it. This lets you become the go-to expert for a specific group.
For example, instead of selling "pet supplies," you could focus on organic pet shampoo for dogs with skin allergies. Instead of just "clothing accessories," you could sell puffer jackets specifically designed for certain outdoor activities. The more specific you are, the easier it is to stand out from the competition.
This approach lets you connect deeply with an audience interested in what you offer. Your marketing becomes much more effective because you are speaking their language about their specific needs. They will feel like you made the product just for them, whether it's wall art with specific themes or candles with unique signature scents.
The journey to figuring out what to sell is a process of disciplined research, not a game of chance. By focusing on solving real problems and validating your ideas with real data, you drastically improve your odds of success. Taking the time to build a solid foundation is the most important choice you will make for your ecommerce business.
These steps help remove the guesswork and provide a clear path forward. Finding high-demand products isn't about luck; it's about listening to the market. This is the best way to confidently decide what to sell and build something that lasts.
This is part of a series blogs based on my book, "Know What You Sell", available on Amazon. Ultimately, we developed the Free Inbound Marketing Assessment Scorecard to help you decide how to develop, position and successfully market your product or service. It takes less than 2 minutes and you get a customized report based on your answers which you can use as roadmap through the ever changing world of marketing and sales.
We are a full-service Hubspot Certified Inbound Marketing and Sales Agency. In addition, we work to integrate your SAP System with Hubspot and Salesforce, where we have a deep delivery capability based on years of experience. Please our book a meeting service to get started.