If you own an eCommerce website, selling tech products will help increase sales. Here are 7 ways to find the best selling products for your tech store.
You’ve got all the workings of a profitable business with a successful e-commerce site. Traffic is flowing, sales are booming, and people sharing their experiences across social. Your brand and platform… primed for take-off.
How so?
Americans spent an extra 16% on electronics compared to 2017. Our love for tech raised the consumer electronics industry to well over $266 billion in 2018!
Tapping the best selling products in tech is a lucrative venture for your business.
Introducing and/or expanding tech items to your online store is no more than getting it listed. The low overhead and high margins offer huge profitability. This article shares where and how you’ll source tech for your e-commerce business.
The Best Selling Products in the Technology Niche: 7 Smart Ways of Product Sourcing
Hot products matched with a great experience builds communities. Smart brands can create excitement throughout the buying experience and journey. This turns every customer into an enthusiast with a promotional platform (social media).
Tech enthusiasts want the latest and greatest and will pay a premium. They turn to the web for on-going discussions and promotions. Offering these products places your brand in the center of this discussion.
What this means:
- Your goal is finding the freshest gadgets and tech
- Your mission is attracting the enthusiasts
Here’s how you’ll merge them using sourcing methods and community feedback.
#1. Reverse Engineering Competitors and Listings
Why go through the trouble of sourcing when you can use your competitor’s efforts in your favor? Companies declare products they’re ordering from overseas through bill of ladings.
Try:
- ManifestDB
- Datamyne
- ImportRadar
Bill of lading information is public knowledge but difficult to navigate. These companies compile databases to find supplier names and orders. You can use this to discover what your competitors import like hot tech products!
#2. Monitoring Popular Ad Campaigns
Businesses (you’d imagine) wouldn’t spend money on non-performing campaigns. You can use ad listings as a signal for popular and hot tech products.
A Google search will reveal your competitor’s ads and the products they’re promoting. You could also browse industry sites and popular blogs for display advertising results.
You can use SpyFu to track advertisements, too. This handy product lets you search listings by URL, keyword, or brand. You can set up alerts and even get ad sped estimations you could use to replicate their efforts.
#3. Tapping Hot Discussions with Social Media Tools
Brands take to social media for engagement and campaigns. This open engagement could become part of finding what to sell online. Your competitors reveal their intent through promotions, sales, and new releases.
Try using:
- Brandwatch
- Buzzsumo
- Mention
You will add your competitor’s brand names and/or keywords to the tools. The tools will track their activity and display results in a report. Check your reports to get ideas throughout the major sales seasons.
Collect a broad data set through various social channels. Use popular platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. But, don’t discount platforms like Reddit, Tumblr, and niche forums.
#4. Comparing the Competition with Open Data
Competitors and marketplaces share open data for those willing to look. You could scout niche sites like headphonesaddict to big platforms like Amazon.
You’ll check:
- Popular pages
- Top/bestsellers
The popular/top pages and listings are usually generated by their platform. The competition uses the top/popular to entice customers. Yet, you can deduct what’s selling from the open data.
Other on-page indicators may include:
- Number of reviews
- Social media shares
A well-reviewed and shared product mean it’s selling. Use one of the other sourcing methods to then get in touch with a supplier. Then, use their sales page as inspiration when crafting your own.
You could also infiltrate the competition:
- Call, posing as a customer, and inquire about products
- Join their affiliate program and request sales data
Sneaky? Yes, but it’s a great shortcut when sourcing niche products.
#5. Letting Others do the Research for You
Two opportunities come to mind:
- Outsourcing product research
- Buying industry reports
Your business could outsource the research through virtual assistants. The VA’s tasks would include compiling competitor’s product and marketing data. Your VA could use the mentioned social tools to track competitors on your behalf, too.
Got money in the budget for R&D? Consider going to the source by buying industry reports. Marketplaces like Reportstack and Mintel offer reports compiling industry and consumer stats. The reports sharing buying habits and breakdowns of what products are selling.
#6. Scoping the Industry via Trends and Alerts
Google provides two tools worth exploring during product research:
- Google Trends
- Google Alerts
Look at the popularity of a tech product by adding it to Google Trends. You can set the timeline and see whether a product is on the rise (or falling). An early entry could place you in an advantageous position as a leading supplier!
Do note the tech adoption lifecycle, though, and aim to be part of the early majority. The early majority has a large customer base so you’re not chasing products on the verge of dying off soon.
Place the items you found in Trends into Google Alerts.
Google Alerts sends a report when keywords get mentioned. This report could include examples like your product search or competitor brands. Use this data to verify your product selection and later marketing efforts.
#7. Having a Face-to-Face with Enthusiasts
Don’t discount face-to-face communication as a form of product research. Young tech enthusiasts often dictate the next, big thing. Ask your younger family members or conduct a poll with your younger customers.
Include your older community members and customers, too. They may have a slower adoption but their better access to funds can reveal what will sell.
Try in-person feedback at:
- Events
- Meetups
- Meetings
Get the product in their hands for real-world feedback. Then, use their quips and thoughts in your research and sales/marketing copy.
It’s Time to Scale Up with Tech
Adding the best selling products in tech creates an incredible growth potential. This post shared several different ways to source tech products. Now, it’s on you to go out and apply these strategies!
Intimidated by your online competitors? Don’t be.
Bridge the gap by adding tech products and increase profitability. Use your newfound profits to explore exciting ideas. Then, read our helpful business guides to grow into an unstoppable brand!