This year, eCommerce continues to be a consistently growing aspect of world commerce. But, it’s also constantly evolving; what may have been a successful product on an online store yesterday may be flopping in sales today. It’s the nature of the internet itself, and eCommerce is no different. While there’s a lot that goes into your business, from web design to marketing to management software, there’s one thing at the heart of it all: your products. If your store isn’t selling good products that you stand behind and that people are passionate about buying, then the rest of your efforts won’t matter. For this reason, it’s important to choose the right product niche when you get started in the eCommerce business.
Today, we’re going to guide you through identifying your perfect niche and what we’ve found to be the top 10 best products to sell online.
Before you decide on what niche you want to tackle, you’ll have to understand the difference between an evergreen product and a trending product. The main difference between the two is sustainability; an evergreen product is one that will always be in relatively high demand, while a trending product may be in extremely high demand now and fade into obscurity relatively quickly. An example of an evergreen product would be something in the health and wellness niche, because this product type has proven to stay relevant and profitable for years. On the other side of the spectrum is a trending product like fidget spinners, which were the most popular toy in 2017, but ended up fading out of trendiness within that same year.
With evergreen products, there’s a few pro’s and con’s that you should consider:
Now, when it comes to trending products, consider these pros and cons:
So, which type of product is best for your online business? Ultimately, this will depend on what niche you’re targeting, what products your selling, what type of business you’re running and what your long-term plan is for your business. For example, if you’re running an online store made entirely of dropshipped products and you don’t expect to be running it for years to come, then only selling trending products may work for you. On the other hand, if you’d like to be running your online business for as long as you can and you plan on building it into a reputable brand, then focusing on evergreen products may be the way to go. At the end of the day, what seems to work for most online stores is a mixture of both; try to keep your main product line evergreen and supplement it with trending products that fit within your niche.
Before you dive in head-first into an industry, you’ll need to do a substantial amount of market research. This step is vital, because at this point you’ll determine what’s in demand, how much demand there is, who’s already satisfying that demand, how much competition is out there and how you can differentiate yourself as a brand that will compete and succeed. While it may sound fool-proof to start a t-shirt printing business that consists of funny designs, since everyone loves funny things, you’re in for a big disappointment. The market for graphic t-shirts is highly saturated and requires a much more specific niche than that. Buckle down and do some research into what people actually want that they’re not getting anywhere else.
So, you’ve done some research and found some promising industries that you might want to sell in. A great way to ensure that there will be demand for your product is if you solve a problem and fill a need that not many others are filling right now. One way to figure this out is by thinking about problems you already deal with that no product out there is doing a great job at solving. This also goes hand in hand with market research; find out what people are talking about and doing that can be made easier with your solution.
A key aspect of a great niche to sell products for is a passionate fan base. If you’re selling a product that’s targeted towards a group of people that are passionate about this niche and are constantly looking for products within it, then you’ve hit the jackpot. Using analytics and, you guessed it, more market research, then you’ll be able to identify exactly what types of people are in your target audience. Once you know who you’re selling to, you’ll be able to better understand how to put together your online store, product lineup, marketing efforts and overall brand identity.
Like we’ve mentioned already, if you intend on selling a product that’s trending, you’ll need to make sure to catch that trend early. If you end up joining a trend too late, you’ll miss out on a ton of profits and risk becoming a brand that seems “out-of-date” and irrelevant. Always read up on the latest news and fads within your niche and keep an eye out for products that you may want to add to your store before everybody else does.
The beauty of makeup, hair care and skin care products is that there’s a plethora of niches within it that you can target. If you’re going to be selling beauty and skin care products online, it’s vital that you pinpoint a niche within that market, or else you’ll risk competing with big box stores like CVS that sell a wide variety of products for cheap. In 2019, there’s two beauty and skin care products that are dominating: cruelty-free makeup and Korean skin care.
If you’re looking for a passionate niche to target, there’s probably nothing more passionate than the vegan community. Vegans are always looking for products that fit their lifestyle, whether it’s food or clothes; makeup is definitely no exception. Right now, “cruelty-free makeup” (defined by its assurance that no animals were harmed in the making of the product) sits at a high 14,800 searches per month, with the market expected to grow by 6% in the next few years. This is a product that’s looking to be evergreen, so hopping on this trend is relatively low-risk.
The other most popular niche in this market is Korean skin care, which includes skin care products that originate in Korea. Why specifically Korea? Known for extensive skin care routines, and impressive results, Korean skin care products have taken the world by storm with the promise of skin that can’t be achieved by the typical one or two step routines. This, combined with the fact that South Korea is the fourth largest cosmetics exporter in the world, makes it unsurprising that this industry is projected to hit $13 billion in revenue by 2020.
These products are in high demand, with the “Korean skin care” keyword coming in at a hefty 40,500 searches per month. Another major perk of this niche is that you’ll be selling multiple products at once due to the routine aspect, meaning you can stock individual serums, oils, creams, scrubs and face masks as well as routine bundles on your online store.
If you’re going to be selling cruelty-free makeup or Korean skin care products online, there’s two main methods you can use:
By now it’s no secret that every market is slowly shifting towards reusable and eco-friendly products; restaurants are replacing plastic straws with paper, grocery stores aren’t stocking plastic bags, and almost every company is working overtime to show how environmentally conscious it is. People are passionate about saving the planet in small ways; research actually shows that customers are willing to spend more on a product if it comes from a brand that practices sustainability. Slowly, but surely, eco-friendly products are becoming an evergreen niche that is only rising in popularity, and there’s a few key products that you can start selling online right now: reusable straws, bamboo cutlery, and reusable grocery bags, which are searched 3,000, 3,600 and 18,100 times every month respectively.
If you want to start an eco-friendly business online selling reusable products, there’s two different approaches that you can take to make money:
One thing to keep in mind if you decide to sell these types of products online is how you’re going to differentiate your store. While this niche is a great one to get started in, it’s true that a lot of online stores are selling these products. But, do all of them have great copy and marketing efforts that gives their brand a sustainable image? Are all of these online stores stocking products with fun designs or even further niche aspects? Is your store going to specialize in one product, or even one variation of a singular product like metal straws or wicker bags? Think about what you’re going to do to make your store and brand stand out from the rest.
One product type with possibly the most amount of unique niche opportunities is subscription boxes. With a subscription box, you’ll be assembling several small mystery products centered around one specific theme into a box sent out monthly, quarterly or however often you want. This product is a great opportunity to hyper-target a highly niche market with a variety of products delivered directly to customer’s door on a regular basis. The possibilities are endless when it comes to subscription boxes: you can focus on organic ground coffee, vegan makeup, DIY origami sets or anything else you can think of that has a market for it. This product type mixes well with most of the other product niches on this list, giving you the opportunity to target two different markets at once.
If you want to start a successful online subscription box company, there’s two main ways you can do this:
Of course, you can also do a mixture of these two methods. You might have some custom-made handcrafted products that you’d like to sell alongside products that you’ve sourced from a supplier; there’s no limit here, so feel free to customize your box however you want!
As smoking cigarettes becomes increasingly unpopular, alternatives like vapes, e-cigs and CBD are rising in its place. One major benefit of tapping into this market is the passionate community that comes with it; people who vape and use CBD treat it as a lifestyle and are into every aspect of it, from machines to flavors. Both are massive trends right now and are expected to take off once more states begin to legalize marijuana; the industry is expected to grow to $61 billion by 2025. A huge amount of people is searching for these products, with “vape mods” being searched 740,000 times every month, “vape juice” being searched 420,000 times and “CBD oil” being searched 650,000 times.
In the vape market, you’ve got several products at varied price points that are frequently bought together, including vape juices, vape mods and tanks, coils, vape pens and more. CBD has its own community that sometimes intersects with the vape community, in that they use many of the same mechanical components, but they focus less on flavored vape juice and more on CBD and hemp products (such as tinctures, edibles, isolates, capsules, oils, vape concentrates, topicals, etc.). This all means that you can sell a wide variety of products that can all be purchased together, giving you many opportunities to upsell and cross-sell. This, combined with the fact that most of these components and products require repeat purchases, is great news for renewed business.
To start selling vapes, e-cigs, or CBD online, you can take a few different approaches:
But, there’s one thing you need to be aware of before you start selling: potential risk. Because these products are age restricted and, in some places, illegal, you’ll need to take several precautions before you open up shop. For example, only certain payment processors will work with you to accept payments on your online store, so do some research to determine which payment gateway is best for you. You also may need to implement age/identity verification onto your online store to keep your business safe.
Now that wireless technology isn’t relegated to films about the future, and is now something that you can easily buy and attach to your mobile device via Bluetooth, everyone is dying to have it. A seemingly endless amount of devices now has a wireless Bluetooth variant, including wireless Bluetooth earphones, wireless phone chargers, wireless Bluetooth speakers, and even smartwatches that connect with your smartphone.
While Bluetooth is nothing new, the introduction of Airpods and the phasing out of headphone jacks on phones has made Bluetooth audio devices a necessity for many smartphone users. In fact, the wireless audio market is expected to reach the $31.8 billion mark by 2023, and “wireless earbuds” has a monthly search volume of about 480,000. One major benefit of Airpods existing is just how overly priced they are; this may not sound like a benefit, but it is for an online retailer that can supply high-quality Bluetooth earphones for less than half the price of what Apple is offering. This gives you the unique opportunity to target individuals who are looking for a set of wireless earphones, but aren’t willing or able to shell out what many brands are charging for them.
Smartwatches are a booming niche that more and more people are looking towards; no longer are only Apple users with big wallets the ones who can have and use smartwatches. There’s a smartwatch for every price range, from watches that range in the thousands of dollars to ones that range in the tens. For the purposes of selling online, we recommend sticking to the lower tiered variants because selling high-ticket items is a risky online business practice that isn’t best fit for someone just starting out. People are also much more hesitant to drop thousands of dollars on a whim purchase, so you’ll see higher sales with a more limited product. The best types of smartwatches to sell would include those that are meant for fitness or health tracking, which typically can track steps, heart rate, and even sometimes sleep.
One great aspect of smartwatches is that you can also sell accessories as a supplementary upsell. People love to customize their tech, and smartwatches are no exception. You can offer a variety of colors and designs for wristbands, watch covers and more.
If you want to start selling wireless earbuds and smartwatches online, consider the following:
Proving to be one of the biggest breakout evergreen niche products this year, shapewear is taking women and men by storm. Shapewear can be defined as tight fitting undergarments that are designed to control and shape your body and can be targeted towards anyone who feels the need to shape their body to a different desired look. Spanx has historically been the industry leader here, targeting mainly women and new moms that want to shape their figures. However, men’s shapewear is a trend that shouldn’t be overlooked either; while “shapewear for women” has 9,900 searches per month, “shapewear for men” only differs slightly at 5,400 monthly searches.
Shapewear is a versatile product that can be implemented in a variety of online stores, including those selling lingerie, women’s fashion or general apparel. These products are small and lightweight, making them easy to ship. There’s also good potential for high profit margins here, though be sure to sell high quality products and stay aware of your suppliers; some waist trainers may actually be damaging to those who wear them.
If you’d like to start an online store selling shapewear, or if you’d like to supplement your online store with new products, here’s a few methods you can try:
People have always been, and probably always will be obsessed with their pets. Whether it’s grooming, feeding, or anything related to taking care of their pet and making them happy, pet owners will flock to any product that promises an easier time with it all. Pet supplies are definitely an evergreen product, but that doesn’t mean it’s popularity is stagnant. In fact, the pet care industry is projected to be worth $202.6 billion by 2025, so it’s not a niche that’s slowing down anytime soon. If you decide to sell pet supplies online, there’s a wide variety of products that you can offer, including pet beds (22,200 searches monthly), collapsible bowls (3,600 searches monthly), cat self-groomers (2,400 searches monthly), dog hair removers (4,400 searches monthly) and reflective dog collars (2,900 searches monthly).
If you’re interested in selling pet supplies online, here’s the two main methods that you may want to use to get started:
Products in the health and wellness niche have been, and continue to be, evergreen. But, that doesn’t mean new trends within the niche don’t pop up from time to time. At the moment, there’s two main aspects of this niche that are blowing up: matcha and keto.
Specialty detox teas and juices are hot in the health and wellness world right now; especially when it comes to matcha products. Matcha tea and powder is similar to green tea, in that it comes from the same plant, but it differs by being less processed and containing significantly more health benefits. Interest in these products is huge at the moment, with “matcha tea” coming in at 110,000 searches monthly and “matcha powder” at 74,000 searches. This market is green in more than one way; it’s worth about $300 million and is expected to grow by 8% every year.
Keto refers to the ketogenic diet, which is based on the thought-process that, by eating foods high in fat with adequate protein and low carbs, you’re forcing your body to burn fats rather than carbs. This diet is hugely popular right now, making its name as the hottest weight loss diet on the market; “keto diet” gets 94,000 monthly searches, “keto diet pills” gets 49,500 and “keto powder” gets 8,100. If you’re interested in getting into the health and wellness business and selling nutritional supplements online, then hopping on the keto supplement trend may be a great way to get started.
To start selling health and wellness products online, there’s a few things you’ll need to consider first:
Time and time again, jewelry has been proven to be an evergreen product. But, it’s also a highly saturated market that’s typically extremely difficult to break into and be successful in. You’re going to be competing with both big box retail stores and well-known online brands, so you need to focus on a niche that will make you stand out. Currently, there’s one major niche that are the most promising in the accessory world right now: minimalist jewelry and watches.
The minimalist design trend has consistently risen in popularity for years, with its modern aesthetic seen in almost every industry, from furniture to web design. As of 2019, the niche industry that’s currently being most influenced by minimalism is jewelry, including everything from necklaces, bracelets, and earrings to watches and other timepieces. The numbers prove this, too: “minimalist watch” and “minimalist jewelry” are searched 12,100 times and 8,100 times every month respectively. The best part about selling minimalist jewelry online is right in the name; it’s minimal and lightweight without any complicated designs or aspects, making it easy to ship. Classy and trendy designs are also a great opportunity to attract influencers who can show off your product to their base that may be interested in what you have to offer.
How to Sell Minimalist Jewelry & Watches Online
If you’d like to start selling minimalist jewelry and watches online, then you’ll have to consider a few key things:
One of the hottest accessory trends right now that’s selling online like hot-cakes is enamel pins. These small, metal pins come in an infinite number of designs, perfect for adding a simple customized bit of personality to any jacket, bag, or lanyard. Coming in at 5,100 searches per month, it’s no lie that a substantial amount of people is searching for “enamel pins” to buy online.
When it comes to selling enamel pins online, you have two real options.
While there’s a wide variety of industries and niches out there that you can get started selling in, one thing always remains the same; you need to prioritize differentiating your store and your brand so that you stand out among the rest.
One thing that we didn’t delve too deeply into in this blog is actually building your online store to house your niche products, which you have options as to how you’d like to accomplish that. There’s a variety of online marketplaces and eCommerce platforms to choose from that may best suit your new online business, so your next step in this journey should be determining where your store is going to live online. And if you don’t know where to start - start with the simple step: create your website!
Good luck selling!