The easy availability of almost everything online does not only attract customers to purchase. It also has a ripple effect on the other side of the business – which is aspiring online sellers and entrepreneurs. Once you have made the mindset to start an online business, you reach a step closer to the next big challenge, which is – understanding how to find profitable products to sell online.
Whether you want to start with a single product or a complete product line occupying a specific niche in the chosen market, you must know that:
- Every profitable product solves a pain point faced by the prospects
- Most profitable online businesses serve an underlying passion and/or mission
- Everything that you want to sell online might be already available on the Internet in the same or
- similar form
Indeed, coming up with innovative product ideas can be a little tricky amidst the wide variety of needs and wants around us. Even the most motivated individual can be found stuck in analysis paralysis while brainstorming new and unique product ideas. In reality, there is stiff competition in almost every industry, let alone in the most popular product categories.
Fortunately, you can still find golden opportunities in different markets, proof of this being that new products are getting launched all the time. To help you get started in learning how to find unique products to sell online, we’ve put together this complete guide.
What Matters Most While Searching for The Best Product Ideas?
Finding new product ideas to sell online requires extensive research. You can start by trying to find an unmet need of potential customers. If there is an existing gap, it indicates that:
- There are no products available to fulfill this need.
- The existing products are neither sufficient nor liked by the buyers.
This will take you closer to introducing your product ideas in the market. Before you do so, go through the five important stages of learning how to find profitable products to sell online given below:
1. Perform market research
After selecting one of the product ideas or product niches you have in mind, it is important to validate it by studying the market. Before you start selling anything online, you must know whether there is adequate demand for the product(s) you want to sell to build a potential business.
If yes, consider more information about your unique product ideas by asking the following questions:
- What is the market size of the chosen niche?
- How are similar existing products in the market priced?
- What will be the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of your product or product line?
2. Research competition
At this stage, you need to take cues from the competitors in your industry. Have a good understanding of their product features, pricing, key differentiators, market share, strengths, and weaknesses. Read their online customer reviews to see where they excel and what the customers complain most about.
For example, if buyers complain about the high pricing of a mediocre-quality product, you can take this cue to build the USP of your product ideas about both pricing and quality.
Also, remember to study how your competitors market their products – study their online store, check their social media presence, and see for which keywords they rank in the search results.
Interesting Read: Competitive Analysis for E-Commerce: Definition, Importance, Steps, & More
3. Understand your target market
To ensure that you are selling the right product, you also need to have a good understanding of the right audience or buyers. The target market will be made of individuals who have different needs around the product you want to sell online. Within them, you need to find who will be the most ideal fit for your product(s). Proceed with developing your product idea(s) by finding out more about:
- Who are your potential customers and what does their buyer persona look like?
- What do your potential customers look for in a product like yours?
- What are their interests and in which age group do they fall?
- What is the income range of your target customers?
- When are your customers most likely to buy your product?
This will help you understand which products and product features buyers value the most.
Interesting Read: How to Validate Product Ideas: Steps Included
4. Assess the type of product to be sold online
A crucial part of finalizing one or more unique product ideas is to decide the type of product you want to sell online. This will ultimately determine the selling price, marketing strategy, and scale of operations.
Here, the types of products mean the following:
| Type of Product | Description |
| Commodities |
|
| Niche products |
|
| Physical products |
|
| Digital products |
|
5. Consider trending products and products with seasonal demand
Trending products, as the name suggests, form a part of product ideas that gain significantly high demand during a certain period. In some cases, their selling period can be redundant in nature, which is when you can test your innovative product ideas to sell products at a premium price due to the perceived exclusivity of your products.
Similarly, you can include products with seasonal demands in your list of product ideas. You can start with products in high demand for the current season (example – Diwali gifts) and then prepare to sustain the business with the next product lineup (example – New Year gifts).
5 Tips to Find Profitable Product Ideas in Less Time
If you have an entrepreneurial mindset and are working on problem-solving product ideas, you know well that you cannot skip facing challenges before you start selling online. However, you can take the following tips into account to weed out certain hassles from your path:
1. Consider your personal passion
Indeed, there are inherent risks associated with choosing product ideas based on your interests. But it does not always have to be a recipe for a disaster that follows. In fact, your expertise and know-how can help you make profitable product ideas live.
Market-to-founder fit also matters as it will help you stay motivated to overcome the hurdles by being deeply invested in your product ideas.
2. Solve a pain point faced by prospects
Along with utilizing your expertise and knowledge around a niche market, you can also focus on solving a customer pain point after noticing common causes of frustrations around an existing product line. Keep in mind that even small annoyances around you could be just what you need to find the next few profitable product ideas.
how to find unique products to sell online, how to find profitable products to sell online, how to find trending products to sell online, product ideas, new product ideas, innovative product ideas, unique product ideas
3. Research about niche products
Niche products usually appeal to enthusiastic hobbyists as they are usually more inclined to pay for the exact product they want. Here, their willingness to pay more can be considered an important qualifier when you evaluate niche product ideas.
Other benefits of starting to sell niche products online is a higher level of engagement and brand loyalty.
4. Explore online marketplaces to gather product ideas
Even if you prefer to sell through your online store, you can still feel free to gather inspiration around what’s popular and trending on existing marketplaces. You can start browsing Amazon and Flipkart, specifically the sections like ‘Most Popular’, ‘Trending’, etc. that showcase the current demands.
5. Look at product ideas with higher profit margins
Unique product ideas with little overhead can provide a low-risk way to start selling online. It can be because it is easier to attain higher profits compared to the product ranges that are quite expensive to produce or source.
FAQs
How to find an idea for a product?
For this, you need to perform market research, check the existing competitors, and look at customer pain points to find a profitable product idea.
What are three sources of new product ideas?
You can find new product ideas from existing customers in your target market, the companies are already selling something similar to what you want to sell, and the prevailing issues or pain points that still persist.
Where do companies get ideas for new products?
They look for product ideas from their team members, be it in sales, marketing, research, or manufacturing departments. Besides this, they also analyze customers’ needs to get ideas for new products.
The Bottom Line
Finding profitable product ideas can be instrumental to the success of your online business. The selection of products will shape the entire business from scratch. Hopefully, these tips will help you reach closer to the best product ideas you can make live.
