What sort of things sell on the Internet ?

What sort of things sell on the Internet ?

or things that sell and things that don't

One of the first questions I am always asked by someone wanting to open an ecommerce site is "What should I sell ?"

Over the years I have developed some rules of thumb about what will make a good product range.

1. Have a Theme

Probably the most important thing to come up with is a new angle or theme for your site. 

For most products, shoes, clothing, cameras, books etc etc there are thousands of sites selling exactly the same thing. The only way for you to be different is to focus on a particular customer base or need.  For example I used to run a site that specialised in healthy footwear ie shoes that not only looked good but do you good too.  Once you have your theme it is vital that you stick to it. This will mean spending time hunting out products that support your theme and rejecting anything that doesn't.  The pressure will always be there to expand your product ranges just a bit, then a bit more and before you know it you will just be another retailer with a vague brand.  If you customers can't say instantly what you are then you have failed.

This leads me onto my second point:

2. Don't try to be another Amazon !

It is better to have 5 stores all targeted as specific customer bases than have one large store that sells everything. To be a general department store takes very deep pockets and Amazon is already there, doing it bigger and better than you ever could. The secret is to find a niche market that is big enough for you to make a good business from but not so big that you will attract the interest of the large players.  Remember if you get large enough Amazon may buy you as a quick root to market. See Zappos.com for an example where this happened. Be the best in your niche.

What to look for when you are selecting the market niche to play in ?

3. Find a niche customer base who satisfy these three criteria:  Access, Desire, Money

Access - it's no good trying to sell products to people that aren't on the net. Obvious but often overlooked. 

Desire - Obviously the more attractive your products the better, but what about things that are more than just attractive. Think about what latent need your product fill eg healthy shoes weren't just footwear but were a solution to painful backs, bunions etc Once a customer had bought a pair that worked from us they came back again and again.  

Money - Targeting kids used to be the thing to do as not only had they money but they were on the internet and had very low attention spans so constantly wanted something new. However, post crunch, this market has died with half of them are unemployed. It's vital that you select a market that has money to afford your wonderful products.