1 - Choose What Products To Sell
Before we start selling online, we’ll need to establish a business plan and decide what items you want to sell through an online marketplace.
You may already have an established retail location for selling offline. But if you’re just starting your business, you’ll need to carefully consider what you’re going to sell.
When deciding what to sell, consider demand, potential profit margins, and your own interests.
We’ll use various online tools to gauge demand and come up with ideas for products to sell. Here are a few useful tools to check out:
Google Trends
Google Trends is a tool from Google that provides data on the popularity of search terms over time. You can use this tool to see which searches are gaining popularity, enabling you to hop on product trends while they’re on the rise.
Other keyword research tools:
You can also use other keyword research tools, like SEMrush and KeywordsFX, to help you determine which product-related keywords are most popular. These tools also show you related keywords, which can give you additional product ideas.
Social media:
Browse social media sites, as well as forum and review sites, to see what products people are talking about. Also, look for problems people are mentioning that a product could help with.
Competitor research:
Research the products other online retailers, especially big-name brands, sell to see what’s selling well. See if you can uncover any trends in product types. You can also browse sites like Amazon and eBay and explore the trending pages.
You’ll also want to know your potential profit margins. Look into how much products similar to yours sell for, and estimate how much it will cost you to produce and distribute your products.