How to create a successful product for the online market?

Running an online business is difficult. Fierce competition, an oversaturated market, and changes in customer behavior have made it more important than ever to be secure and convenient.

So before you create a brand, decide what you will sell. This is the key decision.

What products to sell online?

No matter what industry you work in, there are two types of products:

• general consumer goods.
• niche products.

General consumer goods are goods or services that are essential for life and everyday life and are always in high demand. For example, this includes everything that is bought in Auchan or Epicenter - food, sports equipment, clothing and footwear, children's products.

Niche products are intended for a narrow category of customers. These are mostly unique products. Niche products are most often made in small batches or to order. For example, a beaded necklace, a leather laptop bag, frozen yogurt.

Often, store owners use a combination of general merchandise and niche products. Large online stores can afford a wide range of products. To survive in the face of fierce competition, offer customers products from both groups. For example, Tyler's sells products from popular brands such as Billabong, Yeti, or Simply Southern, along with niche clothing and accessories.

How to choose a product for sale?

Here are 7 key tips to help you do this:

1. Problem-solving

Choose or create a product that solves the problem.
"If we tried to come up with a good idea, we wouldn't be able to create it out of the blue. You need to solve a problem in your own life," Brian Chesky, co-founder of Airbnb.

For Kyle Kirkpatrick, an Olympic gymnastics coach, it's important to listen to music while his athletes are training. That's why he needs headphones that won't fall off while running or jumping on a trampoline. What used to be an inconvenience, he turned into a brilliant business idea - the invention of Decibullz.

Think about whether you can improve the product's characteristics? Enter a new market where there are no aggressive competitors? Offer customers an unusual product positioning?
Determine how the product or service will bring value to the customer's life. Analyze your own life and figure out what makes you uncomfortable.

2. Passion for work

Find products that you and your environment are passionate about.
Running your own business is like waiting in line for hours on end and a rocky terrain where it's difficult to grow anything worthwhile. But passion for what you do will help you get through the hard times and create a branded message that will convey to customers the attractiveness of the product. And if you create an emotional story about the product, you will stand out from the competition.

Torgsoft is built on one of the main values: to benefit business by automating its processes. This has helped us survive crises over the years. By informing our customers about how to do business better in difficult times, we receive sincere gratitude and loyalty.

3. Loud brand message

Research the target audience - the brand should communicate with potential customers in a way that addresses current issues and does not hit the audience's pain points. Build loyalty based on the analysis of the target audience. Here are some questions that will help you do this:
• What kind of communication does the client prefer?
• What is the best way to position a product?
• Can you imagine brand information on a website and how to attract potential customers with the help of layout, color scheme, and calls to action in the text?

Solo Stove has created a "club" of loyal customers, which helps it constantly improve its brand and reputation online: it posts honest product reviews and actively engages the community in honest feedback.

4. Become a trend

Take advantage of the emerging market and find a place for your brand. To succeed, keep up to date with news about popular products and services that have been trending for the past month.

Unexpected but true: the most successful product of the furniture magnate IKEA is meatballs! In the spring, the retailer tweeted a recipe that blew up the Internet. It was a recipe for popular Swedish meatballs that can be prepared at home. Every year, IKEA sells many more of these meatballs than it sells Billy bookcases, which are considered to be the best-selling furniture. And yet, the meatballs are sold 22 times faster.

It turns out that the main product of a furniture store is not furniture, which is especially interesting from the point of view of online marketing. So experiment to make your online store take off!

5. Products and secret desires

Find products that satisfy the most intimate desires - we always come back to what brings us joy. A successful product is one that takes into account the passions of customers.  Consumers spend a lot of money on secret pleasures, while maintaining a deep loyalty to brands that understand their weaknesses.

From the very beginning, Jeni's Ice Cream sought to match this emotion with its target audience. Jeni's knows that ice cream is a real pleasure, so they make products with fresh ingredients and focus on the joy that customers will experience.

6. Identify and serve niche segments

Working for a niche segment is a great way to create an offer that solves a problem and entertains the audience

Serving such an audience means ensuring stable attendance. Customers will keep coming back to you.
Let's take the LARQ brand as an example:

LARQ is the world's first self-cleaning bottle. A bridge between innovative technology and the ability to drink clean water, an environmentally friendly choice for those who value health. Thanks to its LED technology that destroys germs and bacteria, the brand has captured the imagination of people who value environmental care and their own health.

Ideas for niche products for online sales in 2020:

1. Fast but healthy food.
2. Craft beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic).
3. Gift sets.
4. Organic products and cosmetics.
5. Personal gliders.
6. Food for critters.
7. Camera and photo accessories (such as drones and tripods).
8. Corrective underwear.

7. Business opportunities are always and everywhere

Being an entrepreneur means being forward-thinking. Pay attention to the behavior of society: what do you want to change? Is there an opportunity to improve the lives of your friends and neighbors? What products are quickly gaining customers and what industries are taking off? Also assess your strengths and interests. You'll see, the result will not be long in coming.

How to start selling online?

So, you already have a product, and you're ready to enter the market - online. However, before you rush to create an online store, be sure to do the following:

1. Research the market.
2. Prepare the product for sale.
3. Gather a list of potential customers and set up ads.
4. Start researching which e-commerce platform is more profitable to sell on (e.g., your own online store, Amazon, Facebook). Use marketplaces to expand your sales channels. Here we tell you how to sell on Rozetka and Prom.ua.
5. Create a high-quality product description (do not neglect images).
6. Build a market entry strategy.

E-commerce assistants:

• Returns and delivery. This is important to meet customer expectations after the purchase so that they continue to buy from you in the future.
• Marketing. Get to know the values and weaknesses of potential customers, and constantly maintain their interest in the product.
• Measuring success. Think about how you will track business growth. Customers don't care whether they shop on Amazon or in your online store, they care about convenience.