Once you decide to start a dropshipping business, the next step is deciding on a niche of products you want to sell and finding winning products. A popular niche with plenty of winning products has a greater chance of earning you high profits. But how do you find winning products? The answer is: through lots of product research! Product research allows you to look into the market and see what kind of products customers are demanding and whether the demand for those products is growing or declining.
Read ahead to find out more about what product research really is and why it is so important in determining the success of any dropshipping business. After that, we’ll also walk you through 9 of the best tips on how to conduct product research so that you can find winning products to sell and your business is guaranteed success.
What is Product Research?
Product research essentially involves market research involving a product idea you might have and looking for answers to whether that product might sell successfully. During product research, you will attempt to find the answers to certain questions relating to the product. For example, you might want to see if the product you’re selling will succeed in your local market. Or you might want to see if there are other alternatives to the product you are thinking of selling.
The process of conducting product research helps you with your product development process and allows you to identify how the product will perform. Once you complete product research, you can have a better idea about whether it is a good idea to try selling that particular product. If you have multiple different products in mind, the product research process can help you narrow down certain products.
Why Is Product Research So Important?
Product research is an essential part of your product development process for several reasons.
It helps you ensure there is demand for your product: With sufficient product research, you can know for certain that the product you are thinking of selling is in demand and that there will be plenty of potential customers willing to buy it from you.
It allows you to make high profits: With product research, you can find winning products that cost you less and can be sold for high profits.
It helps you grow your business sustainably: As you continue to do product research and find more and more winning products to sell, your business will likely grow in a sustainable way and help you keep your business successful.
It keeps you up to date with trends and styles: With more and more research, you’ll always be up to date on the latest market trends and styles, meaning you can take advantage of this knowledge to continue selling products that are fashionable and in high demand.
It allows you to keep up with your competition: Knowing what your competition is selling and being able to sell more products than them can help you stay on top of the competition. You’ll be able to retain more customers and build your brand.
Perform Successful Product Research: 9 Best Tips
When it comes down to the question of how to do product research, we have put together 9 of the best tips to help you get started. These tips will not only help you find winning products but will also teach you how to evaluate the size of the potential market for those products.
Tip 1: Check Out the Best Seller Lists on Different Online Stores
If you don’t know what kind of niche or products you should try selling, you can use the bestseller lists on different online stores to give you some kind of direction.
On Amazon, for example, you can check out the Bestsellers and even take a look at the reviews for those products. You should also check out other online marketplaces like eBay, Wish, Etsy, Ali Express, and so on.
Tip 2: Take a Look at Your Competitor’s Stores
Once you’ve got an idea of what niche of products you’re interested in, look up other stores in your area that sell similar products. You can gauge which of their products sell the best and look at their reviews, as well.
You can also get a better idea of how much competition you’ll be facing and if you stand a chance at breaking into an already saturated market or if you are one of the first businesses to break into the market.
Tip 3: Use Google Trends to Determine Market Size
If you want to know the size of the market for a product and how many people would be interested in actually buying that particular product, Google Trends is a great tool for you to use. Google trends allow you to see the trajectory of demand for products over time and show you whether demand is consistent or periodic.
Google Keywords is also a helpful related tool, as well as Google Insights. Together, these tools give you an idea about the demand for a product, the market size, and some insights into market demographics.
Tip 4: Use Facebook Audience Insights for Audience Demographics
Facebook Audience Insights is another very helpful tool for finding out more about audience and customer demographics when it comes to different products.
You can find out more about your customer’s gender, age, location, and other insights by searching different keywords. You can also see what kind of content your audience engages with and likes.
Tip 5: Use Amazon Product Research Tools
While the Bestseller lists on Amazon can be helpful, you might already have specific products to sell in mind that aren’t on those lists. If you want to look up other products, Amazon product research tools like Amazon keyword search, the filter function, and reverse ASIN lookup can be very helpful for finding different products.
You can also look at Amazon stock stats, their sales trends predictions, and different product side-by-side comparisons. All of these tools are free to use and can be a huge asset when it comes to successful product research.
Tip 6: Research Products on Social Media Apps like TikTok and Instagram
Don’t underestimate the power of social media when doing product research and looking for winning products. You can take a look at product hashtags on TikTok and Instagram and keep an eye on the latest trends on these platforms.
You can also check out the highest-performing ads on these platforms. Pinterest is also a great platform for understanding what products are currently in demand.
Tip 7: Find Your Target Customers
Many of the previous tips can help you find your target customers or audience. These are the people that you will want to market and advertise your products to and the people that will be most likely to buy your products.
For example, if you decide on selling baby clothes and accessories, you can already narrow down a majority of your audience being women between the ages of 20 to 35.
Tip 8: Find Out if the Product Is Available Locally
If you plan on dropshipping your products or following the traditional retail route, it would be easier for you to source the products you sell locally. So, look up different suppliers for the products and see if they are located close to you.
This can greatly reduce your shipping costs and other associated costs. On the other hand, customers might be more willing to buy a product online from your business if it is not otherwise easily available locally.
Tip 9: Determine Your Selling Price
And finally, a major part of product research is determining the price you will sell your products for. It would be a good idea to first take a look at your competitors and check out what price points they sell similar products for.
Then, you should take a look at your base costs and other operational costs and set a price that is not only competitive but also offers you a decent profit margin.
Wrapping It Up
No matter what kind of business model you want to follow, be it the traditional retail model or dropshipping, product research is an absolutely essential part of selling any kind of product. Product research is important for helping you find what products are in demand, understanding more about your target audience, and having the edge over your competition. Without product research, you might find it very difficult to run a successful business or make any profits.
So, if you are interested in selling products online and have been wondering how to conduct product research, keep our 9 best product research tips in mind.