Even if you have determined the category and selected a product that you think is good, don’t rush to start. I suggest you re-verify your product based on the following questions to see if the product has the potential to become a lasting “explosion”. “money” potential. If there are no issues with your product, you can act as quickly as possible.
1. What is the potential market size of the product?
The product must have a certain market demand and be a product that is urgently needed by a certain group of people. Otherwise, no matter how good the product is, it will not be sold every year. How many sales are there.
How to determine the market size? One is to guess based on existing experience; the other is to use some tools to estimate.
Google Trends is a great tool. By entering keywords, you can view the search popularity globally or in a certain country, and you can view data such as changes in the search popularity curve in the past five years, as shown in Figure 2-35. If the search popularity is lower than 50, this product does not need to be considered.
You can also check the popularity of the search volume of related topics containing this keyword. Keywords with higher search popularity can be used as products according to the situation. Keywords or specific product selection directions, as shown in Figure 2-36, “fisherman hat” can be used as a product selection direction.
The sales volume of products on various platforms (for example, Amazon, AliExpress) can also be used as reference data. Various product selection tools can also tell you the sales volume of products within a certain period of time.
2. What is the degree of competition?
The degree of competition of the product should be moderate, and you should avoid red ocean categories. If the product you choose is only sold by a few people, and the sales volume is good, then it proves that the product is viable. Market. If there are many competitors in the market, then this is also a sign that the market has been validated, but you may need to determine how to differentiate your brand and products from those of your competitors and develop your own positioning to maximize Find more precise customers with less promotion costs.
Google’s keyword tool can tell you the approximate search volume of the selected keywords and tell you how competitive the keywords are. , the more money it will cost to rank at the top of the page, as shown in Figure 2-37.
You can also verify each other through Amazon and WinningDSer and Oberlo. If the sales volume of a certain product is very large, and your price has no advantage, and you have no new ideas, don’t try it because the first entrants have already made their brands bigger and stronger, and are basically in the leading position in the industry. If you are selling this product to compete, it will be very difficult to achieve good results. Imagine that the number of reviews for your new product is only in single digits, while your competitors have more than 3,000 reviews. Such a gap cannot be solved in a short time. No matter how well you promote it, customers may buy products with more reviews. Just like when you buy something on Taobao, for the same price product, there is a high probability that they will choose to buy it on Taobao. Buy from merchants with large sales volume. This will result in a low conversion rate of your products, high conversion costs, and sales volume that cannot cover the costs. Therefore, “novice” sellers should try to avoid the advantages of big sellers when selecting products. , look for blue ocean small categories.
3. Is this product a temporary hot spot? Is the market stable or growing?
The products sold follow the trend of a certain period of time. Hot spots are both opportunities and dangers. If this product is suddenly popular and you want to follow the trend, you can use dropshipping. If you want to stock up and vigorously promote sales, you must pay attention to inventory and avoid it. Sluggish sales due to the subsidence of the epidemic
It is profitable to follow the market trend, for example, the popularity of personal protective equipment caused by the “new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic”
If the product is popular. If the market is stable, then no matter what happens, there will be customers with fixed demand. It is safer to sell such products. You can stock up in small batches to test the market. Even if you stock up on large quantities, you will eventually be able to sell them out.
< p>4. Who are the target customers?
Both Facebook ads and Google display ads are promoted based on the characteristics of customer groups. You don’t need a very accurate customer role, but you should understand the types of customers your product faces. , whether customers have the ability to purchase products, whether they are willing to purchase online, etc. If your product is relatively high-end and expensive, then there will be fewer buyers if you promote it in underdeveloped countries in Africa. For example, if you sell wigs, you can focus on promoting them in Africa, Europe and the United States; if you sell golf-related products, it is recommended to promote them in countries where this sport is popular
5. What is the sales price and how much profit is there< /p>
When selecting products, you must carefully calculate the profit of the product, otherwise you will fall into the dilemma of making no money at low prices and unable to sell at high prices. If your product is too cheap, it means you have to sell a lot of it to make a decent profit. At the same time, as your sales increase, so will your customer service needs, and you may end up in a situation where you’re “very busy but making too little money.” In addition, selling products that are too expensive means that customers will choose products very carefully, you will face more picky customers, and product sales will also be affected. It is recommended that the product price is between US$15 and US$75. Products with a price below US$15 are likely to have no profit. Selling products above US$75 depends on one’s financial ability.
As for the profit margin of the product, it cannot be too low, preferably 30%~50%, because when you start selling online, you will soon find that there are many small expenses that are not included in your plan. To generate, there needs to be a high profit margin as a buffer to cover the small expenses incurred. It is not recommended to sell products with a gross profit margin of less than 20%, because later you will find that the gross profit margin of 20% is not enough to support operating costs. You may say that it is feasible to make small profits but quick turnover, but it is difficult to find products with low cost, large sales volume, high profit and low risk. Generally, the profit of low-priced products after deducting operating expenses is too low.
6. What is the product size and weight?
Product size and weight may have a significant impact on your sales unless you have excellent logistics and supplier resources. For new sellers, it is best to choose products that are small in size, light in weight, and not easily damaged during transportation. The transportation cost of such products is relatively low. Many customers expect free shipping. If the product is too heavy, the shipping cost will be added to the product price, which will cause the price to be too high. For “novice” sellers who have not yet explored better logistics methods, sales will be affected by high shipping costs. impact.
7. Is the product fragile, perishable, or seasonal?
The packaging and transportation of fragile products require special attention, which will increase packaging costs. If “violent” delivery occurs, the customer is likely to receive a damaged product, which may easily result in a return. Perishable products need to be shipped quickly and freight is more expensive.
An ideal product should be able to have relatively stable sales throughout the year. Selling highly seasonal products has certain risks. If you choose to sell highly seasonal products, you must carefully consider inventory to avoid slow sales and warehousing problems caused by out-of-season products. Therefore, new sellers should try their best to choose products that have no season, no holiday characteristics, and can be sold all year round to minimize the risk of product selection errors.
If you are unable to determine whether certain products are seasonal products, you can open Google Trends (Google Trends), enter the main keyword of the product, and view the annual search curve of the product. If there are large fluctuations in the search curve of a product, it means that the sales of the product have obvious off-season and peak seasons, and the product is a seasonal product.
8. Can the product solve any pain points or have any unique advantages?
Products that can solve problems have advantages. Because there must be some customers who are troubled by what they are experiencing and are actively looking for solutions, so you don’t have to market your product hard to find them, they will take the initiative to find you. For example, tattoo stickers allow people to achieve the effect of a tattoo without having to endure the pain of tattooing.
9. Are there any restrictions or regulations?
Before launching a product, you need to ensure that the product does not infringe (neither brand nor packaging infringes). There are two main websites to check whether there is infringement: @USPTO official website, click on the “patent” option to search. @Google Patent Network, enter the main keyword of the product in the website to search. If the patent results are found, then this product is not suitable for you to sell, because once complained, the store may be closed, and you may even have You may face a certain amount of compensation.