If you want to sell products online, you need to know what people are looking for and willing to buy. You need to research the market demand, the competition, and the advertising strategies for your product idea. You also need to consider the needs, wants, and expectations of your target customers. These are the essential factors that influence their buying decisions.
Needs are the basic requirements or reasons why customers buy a product or service. They are the minimum criteria that a product or service must meet to be considered. Wants are the preferences or desires that customers have among different options. Expectations are the additional values or benefits that customers associate with a product or service. They are especially important when products or services are similar or indistinguishable.
For instance, when buying a logic book, university students may need it to have relevant logic concepts, use simple language, be easy to understand, and have affordable prices. These are the same factors that apply to online sales as well. The internet is just another channel to sell products. The basic principle of demand is the same everywhere and always.
The next thing you need to think about is the level of competition or market share that your product will have. This is the ratio of your brand sales to the total market sales. While you may have your own idea of who your competitors are, it is ultimately the customers who decide which products or services they compare and choose from. Therefore, you need to select a market segment where you can have a competitive advantage or at least a strong position. The main goal of entering this business is not only to meet the needs and wants of your customers, but also to do it better and more profitably than your competitors. Otherwise, your competitors will win over your customers.
The third factor you need to look at is the general interest level in your product. This helps you to see how your demand and competition numbers fit into the bigger picture. In other words, if there is low demand and high competition for your product, it may not be a good idea to sell it. But your research does not end here. There is one more thing you need to do to find the hot products that you are looking for. You need to find out how others are advertising those products. If there are many of them doing it, it may indicate that it is a good product to sell. The final step of the process is to analyse and evaluate all the information that you have gathered. You need to weigh the pros and cons of demand, competition, and advertising, and make a decision based on how they balance out.
Here are some of the factors or aspects that you need to measure: (a) low demand means few people will buy your product (b) high competition means low profit margins © high advertising costs increase the price of pay per click ads and the level of competition (d) low general interest, combined with low demand and high competition, makes your product unattractive.