What to Sell on Shopify: Best Products, How to Find, Product Criteria
Shopify is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms for new and experienced sellers. One of its main attractions is that it makes it easy to sell any type of product. That said, not all products will work for your business. If you want to sell on Shopify or through any other sales channel, you will need to know what to look for in a product.
Table of contents
In this post, we will outline how to find profitable products to sell on Shopify and what you should look for in a winning item.
Product Criteria
The first thing you should look for is demand. If you want a successful eCommerce business, you need to sell something that people want. After that, there are several other key traits you should look for:
1. Size and Weight
The size and weight of your items are important factors to consider as they directly impact your shipping costs. Naturally, smaller, lighter items can be delivered at lower costs. Small items also take up less space
Packaging is also something that you will want to consider. An item may not be that big but if it is packaged inefficiently it can take up unneeded space.
2. Target Selling Price
Next, you will want to determine your target selling price. Generally, the ideal price for eCommerce products falls in the range of $15 to $50.
Items that are more expensive usually don’t convert as well as lower-priced items. This is because higher-priced items need more consideration. Customers will do a lot of research and evaluating before selecting what to buy if they choose to buy it at all.
This does not necessarily preclude you from running a business with more expensive products but it is often not the best choice for newer sellers.
In the early stages of your business, you will likely need to rely on paid marketing to get customers. If you’re not able to convert visitors into sales it will take longer to make a profit.
3. Margin
Margins measure the profitability of each item. Naturally, you want items with a high margin as it will make it easier for your business to generate income. A general recommendation is to look for products with at least a 65% - 75% margin. This means you should aim to source the product for 25% - 35% of your selling price.
4. Seasonality
Finally, you want to consider the seasonality of a potential eCommerce product. Seasonality measures the change in demand for an item during certain parts of the year. For example, holiday decorations are a highly seasonal item as people only tend to buy them at unique times of the year.
If you want your business to generate consistent income, you’ll want to find a product that is not overly seasonal.
10 Best Products to Sell on Shopify
1. Kitchen Goods
Kitchen goods have remained one of the most popular products on online marketplaces and eCommerce shops for some time. There are plenty of kitchen goods suppliers that offer high-quality items at low costs.
2. Cosmetics
Beauty products such as cosmetics are another item with consistently high demand. These products work great with marketing on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest.
3. Toys
Toys are a small, low-cost item that enjoys steady demand all year long. They even see an added interest around the holidays. Some of the top toys you can sell include plush toys, action figures, mini-vehicles, and customized items.
4. Shoes
Shoes are another product that you can sell successfully all year long. Plus, these items are small, lightweight, and come in standardized packaging. If you choose to sell shoes on your Shopify store, you can develop your own shoes, or resell name-brand shoes. You can get these items wholesale, or by having your supplier dropship the product to the customer.
5. Water Bottles
Water bottles are a solid product to sell for Shopify store owners. Many are looking to move from using reusable bottles to reduce the impact on the environment. Like other items on this list, these items are small, making them ideal for cost-efficient shipping.
6. Men’s Grooming Products
Women’s beauty products have long been one of the best products to sell on Shopify. But now, men’s grooming products are quickly becoming a hot item with great profit potential. Good men’s grooming products include waxes, clippers, balms, and oils.
7. Office Supplies
Office supplies are gaining traction as more people now work from home. Shoppers are actively looking for items that are both functional and decorative. You can easily get many good office products for your store, given their low cost.
8. Apparel
Clothing items are generally a safe bet when you are looking to launch a Shopify store in the USA or anywhere else in the world. Some types of clothing are better suited for eCommerce than others.
If you need a good clothes category, athleisure is a good choice. These comfortable pieces can be worn both casually and while working out.
9. Travel Accessories
After spending so much time at home, many people are eager to travel. As such, travel accessories can be an effective item to sell on Shopify. Popular travel items include storage bags, makeup bags, wallets, and more.
10. Digital Art
Lastly, we have digital art. While not a physical product, it is hard to leave these items off the list given the massive rise in popularity the past year. Whatsmore is Shopify just added functionality to support selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on their platform. Look for these items to continue to grow in the years to come.
How to Find Products to Sell on Shopify
With a better idea of what to sell on Shopify, let’s take a look at the different tools and techniques you can use to find even more products:
1. Google Trends
Google is hands down the most popular search engine in the world. Every minute, millions of people use the search engine to discover new things.
With data on all the search terms used by the public, Google has great insights into current interests. There is nothing legally stopping them from sharing this data. You can access it for free by using Google Trends.
After you open the tool, type your product idea into the search bar and select the time period. You will then see a line chart showing the interest in the search term. The tool also lets you add other terms to compare their interests side by side.
Further down the page, you can see a breakdown of interest by region. There are also lists of related topics which you can use to find new product ideas.
2. Social Media
Next, you will want to look at social media. People use various social platforms to discover new products and discuss their interests with friends. You can look at the trends on networks like Pinterest and Facebook.
By finding trending hashtags you can see how many people are posting about a given topic and what those posts are. Additionally, social media is a popular place for affiliate marketers to showcase different offers. Affiliates tend to focus on the most in-demand items. You can use these to inform your
3. Online Marketplaces
Analyzing online marketplaces is one of the most effective ways to find new product ideas. The needs of marketplace buyers may be different when compares to direct-to-consumer (DTC) shoppers. However, it can still serve as a good guide to finding products that can make money on Shopify.
Popular marketplaces to find product ideas include Amazon, Etsy, AliExpress, Alibaba, and eBay. Start by visiting a marketplace and reviewing its best sellers. This will quickly show what is selling well.
Online marketplaces have the added advantage of third-party software. There are many apps and tools designed to help sellers run their businesses successfully. These come with sales data that you can use to get a more detailed picture of the demand for the item.
A great example is the suite of tools offered by AMZScout, with the AMZScout PRO Extension, you can pull up any product or niche on Amazon. You can see how much revenue the product generates, its monthly sales, margin, competition, and much more.
Knowing the details of how products sell on a marketplace can help you find winning products. But, it is also important to know what people are searching for on online marketplaces.
AMZScout has several keyword research tools for Amazon sellers. You can use these tools to see how often customers are looking for a certain item. There is also the Reverse ASIN Lookup tool. With this, you can take any product on Amazon and find all the keywords that it currently ranks for.
Because the majority of all shoppers begin their product search on Amazon, this can be invaluable information for finding the best products for your business.
4. Reports
Another way to find trending products is to use the various reports offered by AMZScout. With the monthly Amazon Report, you can keep up to date with the latest Amazon trends and news. It also includes a curated list of niche ideas you can explore.
How to Integrate Shopify with Amazon
Shopify makes it easy for Amazon sellers to connect their seller account to the eCommerce platform. You can do so right from your Shopify dashboard. As a basic requirement, you will need to have your Amazon account.
1. From your Shopify dashboard, find the Sales Channel section in the left-hand menu.
2. Click the + icon. This will open a window with the available channels you can connect to your Shopify store.
3. Find Amazon and click the + icon.
4. On the next page, click Connect to Amazon.
5. You will then receive a series of steps to complete the integration.
6. After you complete the steps, go to your Amazon Seller Central account and authorize access to Shopify.
If you want to take a different approach to connect your sales channels, there are alternative options available. These are primarily, third-party app and services that provide a hub for managing your marketplaces accounts and eCommerce stores in a single place
Conclusion
eCommerce makes it easier than ever for buyers and sellers to connect. Whether you sell on Shopify or a marketplace like Amazon, it is essential to perform product research. By following the steps in this post, you will be on the right path to finding strong items for your business.
