Finding the right products for your store is kind of like cooking --except if you don't know what you're doing the first thing that burns is your wallet.
So, you’ve decided to start an e-commerce store, but you’re still figuring out what to sell on it. Will you go with niche skincare products; the kind that promise to make a customer's face glow like a nuclear reactor? Or maybe you’re considering slapping your logo on yet another eco-friendly reusable straw --because, clearly, the world needs more of those.
To help you settle on the perfect idea, here are 3 tips for picking products that (probably) won’t leave you broke and crying into a pile of unsold inventory!
1. Profit Margins Matter
Have you ever noticed that products with razor thin margins also tend to be razor thin? Yes, we're including some philosophy in this post (¬‿¬ )
You might think you’ve stumbled upon a product so groundbreaking it’ll make sliced bread look like a bad idea. But here’s the brutal truth: if your product doesn’t have a decent profit margin, you’re not running a store: you’re running a charity (with your sole beneficiary being the oblivious factory in Guangzhou that’s cranking out those products for you.)
Don't pick a product with margins thinner than the beer at a summer festival. You’ll be selling truckloads of the stuff just to break even --assuming that nobody returns it. And there will always be someone returning it. ALWAYS. Like entropy, or death, or taxes, returns and refunds are fundamental laws that govern the universe. Aim for products that take this into account. That is to say: products you can sell at a price that doesn’t make you feel like you’re robbing your customers blind --or worse, robbing yourself.
2. Does Anyone Actually Want to Buy This Crap?
You dreamed of a sock empire, but all you go was a sock eviction notice
Listen, pal. Just because you’ve got a love affair with socks that scream, “LOOK HOW COLORFUL I AM!” doesn’t mean the rest of the world is frothing at the mouth to wrap their feet in your peculiar brand of quirky. Your grandma might buy a pair out of pity, but that's not exactly a business model.
What we're trying to say is: don’t get all starry-eyed over your genius idea until you’ve done the unsexy work of market research. That means using Google Trends, stalking Amazon’s best-seller lists, and getting cozy with keyword research tools to see if there’s any actual demand for the products you've got in mind --or you might as well be trying to sell snow to penguins.
Launching a product nobody wants is like opening a steak booth at a vegan festival. Unless you’ve got some inside scoop that everyone’s suddenly going carnivore, you're in for a rough time. Pick products that solve a problem or tickle a fancy that your target customers actually have (solving a problem is generally a better way to go though). It might sound obvious, but it needs to be said: folks shouldn't think, “Why the hell would I buy this?” while they're browsing your store.
3. Can You Ship It Without Losing Your Sanity?
Shipping already sucks. Don't make it worse for yourself.
Let's say you’re thinking about selling an 4-foot-tall glass dragon with LED eyes and a built-in flamethrower. Sounds badass right? Yes (incredibly badass), but it also sounds likes a one-way ticket to Shipping Hell, population: you.
You generally want products that are small, light, and won’t shatter into a million pieces if someone sneezes on the delivery truck. We’re talking stuff that slips into a box nice and easy. If your shipping strategy involves more planning than a lunar landing or has more steps than your last attempt to build an IKEA bookshelf, you’re setting yourself up for a world of pain (and some seriously passive-aggressive emails from customers). Keep it simple, or prepare to drown in a sea of bubble wrap and regret.
Conclusion
"Alright, let's slap our brand on these bad boys and get to making some REAL paper."
Picking the right products for your e-commerce store is a lot like playing darts with a blindfold on --with fewer face-falls or 'attempted murder' lawsuits, if you know what to look for. Keep those profit margins thick, make sure there’s an actual market for your genius idea, and keep the shipping logistics as painless as possible. If your great idea turns out to be a dud (no shame, it happens), better to find out before you’re buried under unsold inventory.
Once you’ve got your winning product lineup, you’re going to need a fulfillment partner who won’t add to your headaches. Luckily, that’s where Mix-Mix Mail comes in! With our warehouses strategically located on both sides of the Pacific (Tokyo and Los Angeles), we’ll make sure your carefully selected products get stored, packed, and shipped wherever they need to go. Let us take care of the logistics, so you can get back to curating the best products for your customers ;)