Maintaining your webstore: choosing products to sell online

January 18, 2016 Blog
Print Webstores are increasingly considered to be the perfect place to maintain trade-related business as they have an exceptionally wide, sometimes even international reach, and, being not limited to a local market, have the right potential to attract far more customers. Nevertheless, an integral part of opening an Internet shop is making a decision what kind of products you are going to offer your webstore visitors. Taking part in AliExpress affiliate program makes the decision process more easy and even more challenging at the same time – given that the number of goods being presented on the website currently exceeds 100 million items, you have plenty of room to experiment with adding this or that category of items on your website, but, simultaneously, you can’t keep from contemplating long and hard what you are going to sell in the long run. What it is necessary to take into account is the fact that there is a certain category of goods that not only is trending nowadays, but will also keep staying in demand in any economic conditions. But, if you didn’t manage to specify a category that is unique enough in your case, or found out that this market segment is already taken by an extremely powerful player, there are other ways to go.

Choosing products to sell online: learning what to set aside

Even though it may sound quite obvious, some categories of goods have a limited potential of generating excessive sales and bringing you a considerable profit. These categories typically include:
  • Any basic, common and standardized items that are sold by a large number of sellers and have no distinctive features making them stand out and be remembered and desired.
  • Items that can easily be bought in a conventional offline store – mostly the essentials that need to be purchased quickly, and which delivery is not supposed to be long awaited.
  • Items that need to be checked and tested physically before the purchase in order not to leave the purchaser disappointed. These include expensive, often branded shoes, clothes and accessories, as well as various electronics.

Choosing products to sell online: defining the necessary characteristics

So for what traits, features and peculiarities should you look in a product in order to honour it with your approval and add it to your affiliate website?
  • Concentrate on items that will see a significant demand in the foreseeable future. Remember that ultra-fashionable goods don’t tend to stay popular for a long time, so even if a product is on the peak of its popularity right now, make sure it will be able to generate enough profit for you before it goes out of fashion.
  • Since you need a consistent flow of buyers, don’t limit yourself with goods that can be characterized with a seasonal demand, like Christmas gifts or Halloween decorations. At the same time, don’t be afraid of items like swimwear or outfits for beach vacations – remember, your webstore has a worldwide reach, so demand for these products can hold steadily all year long.
  • Choose the price range for your goods attentively. You need to find a good balance between overpriced goods not meeting enough consumer interest, and really cheap products that can’t result in decent commission payments.