Douyin e-commerce product selection strategy, worth 10 million yuan!

Today I will share with you 80 Douyin e-commerce product selection experiences. These product selection experiences are not only some practical skills for product selection, but also include a lot of thoughts about the origin of product selection. Although many readers prefer technical things rather than original things, Lao Zhao still hopes that this article can help everyone systematically sort out the core logic of product selection and enrich the practical skills of product selection. I am also very grateful to CK for giving Lao Zhao inspiration. If you think it is well written, please help Lao Zhao share it with friends in need. Without further ado, let’s get to the point! ~

Product selection theory

1. Any purchasing behavior of consumers must conform to the demand triangle, that is, consumers must have a sense of lack, be given clear solutions (products) and eliminate the consumer's behavioral costs. When we select products for live broadcasts or short videos, we must always use this demand triangle to verify whether our product selections can form such a closed loop in a very short time.

2. There is a certain probability as to whether a consumer will purchase a brand’s product, and the purchase probability is different for each consumer. The purpose of product selection is to increase the probability of user purchase.

1) From the perspective of product supply, the products created by the brand are solutions provided to consumers;

2) From the perspective of user decision-making, when faced with the solutions provided by the brand, there are only the following options: no sense of lack and give up, weak sense of lack and can buy or not, strong sense of lack but there are better options, strong sense of lack and believe that the brand's products can satisfy oneself;

3. Product selection for Douyin e-commerce is very difficult, because short videos or live broadcasts do not provide users with a product portfolio, but a 1:1 consumption choice. Compressing the consumer's product selection range means that the user's purchase probability will decrease, which requires a high level of accuracy in product selection. Therefore, product selection for Douyin e-commerce is very difficult.

4. Product selection is to meet the needs of consumers, so understanding consumer needs is crucial and is the core of product selection.

5. How do users’ shopping needs arise on Douyin? This point is very interesting, but few people delve into it. On the one hand, Douyin stimulates consumer demand through high-quality short videos and live broadcasts. On the other hand, consumers have already generated consumption needs and then search for solutions on Douyin. These two scenarios are typical Douyin e-commerce scenarios.

6. From demand to specific product selection, it presents a typical tree structure, which is also called the consumer decision tree. For example, if you are hungry, you will first consider several solutions:

1) Cook your own food

2) Order takeout

3) Eat at a restaurant

4) Buy some food at the convenience store downstairs

Then you decide to go out to a restaurant, but you need to consider what to eat? Hot pot, barbecue, Japanese food, stir-fry? If it is hotpot, you will also confirm whether it is Sichuan hotpot, Chongqing hotpot or Beijing shabu-shabu, and finally decide which restaurant to choose.

7. When developing products, brands generally decide what products to develop through positioning. However, there is often a misconception when doing positioning, which is to find a branch on the user's consumption decision tree that has little competition but is not so important and bind it. This branch is not the user's demand point at all.

Positioning should be about finding the user's needs, and then strongly binding your own brand with this demand, so that users will think of your brand first when they have a need. For example, the automatic coffee machines in office buildings are not as cheap as instant coffee, not as good as Starbucks, and not as convenient as takeout. Consumers usually ignore this solution that has no particular advantages.

8. From the perspective of the inherent attributes of the product, we should consider consumption substitutability, product repurchase rate, consumption superposition and consumption penetration rate in the process of product selection;

9. The inherent properties of products are mostly related to the living habits of consumers. It is difficult for merchants to influence them through subjective will, so they can be considered to be naturally formed. For example, you cannot convince a consumer whether potatoes or eggplants are more delicious.

10. Since there is no one-to-one correspondence between consumer demand and product solutions, in order to ensure that their consumption expectations are met, consumers will choose those purchasing options with the most controllable risks, such as commonly used solutions, products purchased multiple times, brands that have never been purchased but are well-known, etc. These are the main branches of the consumer decision tree. Therefore, when selecting and designing products, we must let go of our obsession with the product itself and instead try to get as close as possible to the main branches of the user's consumption decision tree, trace back to the product end from the perspective of user needs, try to avoid details, and increase the possibility of being chosen by consumers.

11. What dimensions should we consider when determining whether a hair removal device can be broadcast live?

1) Do consumers have a need for hair removal? Is this demand common? Is it strong? What is the upper limit for consumers to pay?

2) Apart from hair removal devices, what solutions did consumers have before? Razor? Hair removal cream? Cosmetic surgery?

3) Compared with other solutions, what are the product advantages of hair removal devices? What’s the price/performance ratio? How to perform product performance? What is the expected conversion rate?

4) What other factors prevent consumers from purchasing through live streaming? price? What is the cost of studying?

These are all issues that must be considered during the product selection process for Douyin live streaming, rather than simply considering: What brand is this? Who sold it? What is Tmall’s monthly sales? How is the review? Is the cooperation discount high?

12. Under the premise of sufficient market supply, there will be multiple solutions to a certain consumer demand. If a brand wants to develop a product to meet a certain consumer demand, or choose a product during a live broadcast, it needs to consider and compare these solutions and select the most appropriate product direction to improve the accuracy of its work.

13. To list all user solutions that meet the same need, we can think from the following three levels

1) Competition at the brand/product level: Merchants offer products in the same category. Since brand products compete around certain solutions for consumers, such as Anta and Erke competing to meet users' demand for sports shoes, this competitive relationship is explicit and fierce, both in terms of consumer cognition and sales channels.

2) Parallel competition: Products with similar attributes but not belonging to the same category also have a certain competitive relationship. Instant food products such as Zihaiguo and Ele.me are also competitors because they both satisfy consumers' hunger needs, and this competition may be more intense than brand/product competition.

3) Vision competition: On the surface, the two products have no overlap in terms of categories, but there is a certain implicit competitive relationship between them. Now all major Internet platforms are competing for users' time. Their competitors are not only each other, but also movie theaters and ice rinks. They are all competing for users' limited time.

Among these three levels of competition, people tend to pay more attention to brand and product competition, but ignore parallel competition and vision competition. This is why some brands don’t know how they will die.

14. When selecting products, you should not only consider the competition from similar products, but also consider consumer habits, product efficiency and convenience from the perspective of parallel competition; consider the consumer's cost-bearing capacity from the perspective of vision competition, and ultimately make a product choice with a higher probability of purchase; taking the hair removal device as an example, everyone can definitely analyze that the hair removal device is definitely not a good choice for Douyin live broadcast.

15. Repurchase rate is also a factor we must consider in the product selection process. Consumers will purchase products again after a relatively certain period based on their usage habits.

16. The two factors that affect repurchase rate are frequency of use and product depletion rate. The lower the frequency of use, the lower the repurchase rate of the product, and the higher the frequency of use, the higher the repurchase rate of the product. If the product depletes at a slow rate, the repurchase rate of the product will also be low.

17. The reason why medium and high-frequency consumer goods are consumed so quickly is that they are closely related to consumers’ living habits, that is, the use of the products is part of consumers’ living habits, or the products are becoming part of consumers’ living habits by binding to certain living habits. Therefore, when selecting products, we must adapt to the consumer's usage scenarios and not increase the consumer's behavioral costs.

18. Category repurchase is not the same as brand repurchase. For example, consumers need to buy toothpaste and shampoo every month. However, this repurchase does not mean that consumers will choose the brand they are already using. Every repeat purchase is an opportunity for a brand to compete.

19. When selecting daily chemical products, why is the strategy often adopted to offer discounts for multiple purchases or give away shower gel for free when buying shampoo?

This type of product is a medium-to-high frequency consumer product. Brands usually attract consumers to buy larger quantities in order to overdraw the user's future consumption space in advance. The strategy usually adopted is:

1) Discounts for multiple purchases: Users are encouraged to stock up by offering discounts for multiple purchases. Consumers are also willing to accept this approach based on relatively fixed usage expectations.

2) Buy-one-get-one-free promotion to extend the usage cycle: By using the buy-one-get-one-free promotion, consumers’ perception of cost-effectiveness can be amplified, and conversion rates can be increased. At the same time, the consumer’s usage cycle can be extended, which is conducive to the experience of product effects.

20. For low-repurchase categories such as integrated stoves and sweeping robots, brands should first consider self-optimization within the shopping scene and improve the competitiveness of targeted consumption, rather than using short videos or live streaming to sell products;

21. If the brand is good at traffic delivery, it can directly choose to purchase low-frequency products or purchase high-frequency and low-frequency products to operate. If a brand is good at consumer maintenance, it can consider choosing products with high repurchase rates. Even if the customer acquisition cost is relatively high, the cost can be spread through continuous repurchases.

22. Products with low repurchase frequency are more suitable to be entered during the growth stage of a category. Once the category enters the mature stage, stock competition and economies of scale will squeeze the growth space for new brands. For repurchased medium- and high-frequency consumer goods, it is feasible to either quickly enter the category during its growth stage to seek rapid growth, or maintain old customers during its mature stage.

23. The superposition of product consumption should also be considered during the product selection process. What is consumption superposition? To put it simply, some categories of products in daily consumption have a relatively long usage cycle and a low repurchase rate, but users may purchase multiple products within a short period of time. There are quite a few such product categories, such as cosmetics, clothing, stationery, books, accessories, etc.

24. When a category of products has high consumption superposition, the product's usage cycle will be extended accordingly and the repurchase rate will be reduced accordingly. Therefore, there is a certain reverse effect between product repurchase rate and consumption superposition. For example, when buying lipstick, a girl who is used to buying only one lipstick will have a higher and more stable repurchase cycle than a girl who buys five or six lipsticks at a time.

25. Based on the superposition of consumption, we roughly divide products into two categories:

1) Low consumption superposition: For products such as air conditioners, washing machines, and refrigerators, most users only buy one, which has low superposition.

2) High consumption superposition: Users will buy more than 2 pieces of products such as socks and underwear, which are highly superimposed.

26. For a consumer product category that is not sold at a high frequency, if there is a certain degree of overlap in consumer consumption, the probability of product sales will greatly increase. For example, purple clay teapots have a relatively long service life, but their consumption is highly cumulative, which is why many teapot lovers buy multiple teapots.

27. Most girls will buy several facial essences at the same time (whitening, anti-aging, stabilizing...). As for eye creams, which are also essence products, most of the girls will buy one after another after using one. If a brand needs to develop an essence product to enter the market, considering the multiplication of consumption, it is recommended to start with facial essence.

28. In the process of selecting products for short videos and live streaming, compared with consumption superposition, the consumption repurchase rate is the priority that needs to be guaranteed, because based on the regular purchasing behavior of consumers, it is easier to convince consumers to place orders and stock up, as long as the product functions are impressive enough and the product price is low enough. Only the second tier will consider products with good consumption superposition.

29. When selecting products for short video and live streaming sales, give priority to products in the medium- and high-frequency repurchase categories, and then choose products with good consumer superposition in the medium- and low-frequency repurchase categories.

30. If the consumption superposition of products is good, the use cycle of a single product will become longer, and the consumer's repurchase cycle will also be extended accordingly. Therefore, a perfect category with a high repurchase rate and good superposition is extremely rare. Tea is a very good category in live streaming.

31. The repurchase rate of beauty products is relatively high and the consumption superposition is also good. Consumers' consumption tends to be brand-driven. In terms of categories, whether it is cosmetics with higher stacking ability or skin care and personal care products with shorter repurchase periods, they all perform well in the live streaming sales process; however, small and medium-sized brands are difficult to be selected in the product selection process, and their display opportunities are constantly compressed.

32. Food products have good consumption superposition and low repurchase rate, but consumers consume quickly, prices are low, and users have low decision-making costs, so conversion is relatively easy; consumers tend to buy for the sake of trying new things, so brand sales are highly dependent on traffic exposure, which is very suitable for live broadcasts and short videos. Products with good taste, strong curiosity and a certain degree of scarcity will have more opportunities. Countless popular short videos and live broadcasts have verified this rule.

33. The priority order of product selection indicators should be: consumption substitutability > product repurchase rate > consumption superposition.

34. If the products are solutions to the common needs of the target population, then medium- and high-frequency repurchase products are given priority, followed by medium- and low-frequency repurchase products with good consumption superposition, and finally consider products with low repurchase and low consumption superposition.

35. Product selection is a design of user consumption probability. Products with low repurchase and low consumption superposition have the lowest consumption probability. Therefore, you must be very careful in the product selection process.

36. Consumer popularity can help us improve accuracy when selecting products with low repurchase and low stackability. However, there are certain conditions: strong consumer demand and a certain consumer base, and the consumption benefits can be easily understood by consumers. If this cannot be achieved, the development of products with low repurchase and low stackability is likely to be a self-satisfaction of the founder, and there are currently quite a few such founders.

37. Consumers of some categories will pay attention to the brand and are even willing to pay a little more for the brand; consumers of some categories will not pay attention to the brand and think that the price is fine. This phenomenon is actually related to users' perception of product category homogeneity. That is, how big the differentiation is between products in the same category in consumers' perception. For example, consumers will think there is a huge difference between SK II and domestic brands that cost only a few dozen yuan, but consumers will not feel much difference between Northeastern rice and ordinary rice.

38. Based on consumers’ homogeneous cognition, we can divide commodities into two categories:

1) Homogeneous categories: Users believe that products in the same category are basically similar, with no significant differences in function and quality. They are unwilling to pay for brand premiums and pay more attention to cost-effectiveness when purchasing. For example: wash basin, socks, towels, slippers, etc.;

2) Heterogeneous categories: Users believe that there are obvious differences in function, quality and consumer benefits between products in the same category. Users are willing to pay a premium for the brand and believe that the brand can bring them different consumer benefits. For example: educational institutions, libraries, medical institutions, etc.

39. In theory, users of any category are composed of users with homogeneous cognition and users with heterogeneous cognition. That is, there must be some users with homogeneous cognition and some users with heterogeneous cognition, but the proportion of the two varies in different categories. Many shampoo and shower gel brands that have been driven out of the first-tier city markets are also doing well in the third-tier and lower city markets.

40. In a relatively clear heterogeneous market, try to choose products with higher visibility. Consumers pay more attention to them and are more sensitive to prices. Promotional prices are more likely to stimulate user conversions. This is one of the reasons why big-name beauty brands have become the main force in product selection for short videos and live broadcasts.

41. In a relatively clear homogeneous market, consumers will have a basic price judgment range, that is, consumers will roughly estimate how much the product is worth. In order to stimulate consumers' enthusiasm for consumption, the promotional price must break through this price range. For example, a pair of slippers usually costs 10-15 yuan, but now three pairs cost 19.9 yuan including shipping, which may be a big deal. This is why the low-price gameplay in the live broadcast room was established before.

42. Since users of the same category are divided into homogeneous and heterogeneous types, it is necessary to consider the main attributes of the user group when selecting products. For example, for the same beauty live broadcast, it may be a better choice to sell branded products on Douyin and unbranded products on Kuaishou. Because there are certain differences in the user groups of the two platforms.

43. Don’t easily make high-premium products in homogeneous categories, and don’t easily make cost-effective products in a heterogeneous market. Both of these will only bring trouble to yourself.

44. Consumers buy certain products without thinking, such as a pack of instant noodles or a bottle of water; but consumers need to think for a long time when buying certain products, such as a mobile phone or a house. The degree of consumer involvement in purchasing different products is what we call consumer involvement.

45. There is a correlation between consumer involvement and homogeneous perception of product categories. Generally speaking, the higher the consumer's level of consumption involvement, the clearer their understanding of the differentiation of brand products, the more time and energy they spend on product research, and the more likely they are to recognize the premium portion of the brand.

46. ​​Consumer involvement and product price are also related. The lower the price of a product, the more casual the consumer's consumption will be, so the mentality of trying something new or just buying one is very common. This is also the reason why products with low average order value are easy to sell during short videos and live streaming. However, as product prices continue to rise, the amount of payment will put more and more psychological pressure on users, and the randomness of consumption will rapidly decrease. Consumers will mobilize System II to compare and select products more carefully. This is also the reason why the conversion rate of high-priced products is low in the process of short videos and live streaming.

47. Generally speaking, consumer involvement and price are positively correlated: when the price is low, the consumer involvement is low; when the price is high, the consumer involvement is high. But there are always some exceptions, that is, in some special circumstances, the consumer involvement of high-priced products is low, while the consumer involvement of low-priced products is high.

1) The low level of consumer involvement in high-priced products is still related to consumers’ cognition. If the product’s professionalism exceeds consumers’ cognition but they have to buy it, or if consumers are clear about the price range of the category, the above situation will occur;

2) The high level of involvement in low-priced products is related to the consumer's consumption cost. Girls not only consider the price when buying clothes, but also the social risks; mothers not only consider the price when buying milk powder for their babies, but also the safety risks of the product;

48. Why do we prefer big-name beauty products such as Estee Lauder and L’Oreal when selecting products? It is because they have the first-mover advantage that they first increase consumers' consumption involvement. After the product is recognized, consumers' consumption involvement decreases and purchasing habits are formed. During short videos and live broadcasts, as long as consumers find the price is low, they will quickly make a deal. It becomes difficult for other brands to increase consumer involvement to break this habit, as consumers are unwilling to spend time on research and comparison.

49. Products with low consumer involvement can speed up users’ decision-making. If it is a low-priced product, the probability of consumers being persuaded to try new products is still increasing. This is also the reason why consumers tend to choose products below 150 yuan when selecting products through short videos and live broadcasts.

50. For products with high consumer involvement, the more important issue is the rigidity and urgency of demand, especially for high-priced products. For products with high consumer involvement, if the rigidity and urgency of consumer demand cannot be increased, it will be difficult to convince consumers simply by relying on price. If it is a new brand or an unknown brand, the conversion rate will be lower, so be careful when you encounter such products when selecting products.

51. For brand entrepreneurs, product selection or product development is very important. Don’t try to consume high-involvement products lightly, unless you have particularly strong content capabilities and can afford the funds to communicate with users slowly. If you have already entered the category, it is recommended to choose a suitable price range, which can help reduce consumer involvement and impress users through product use to create stickiness. Of course, the product power must be strong enough.

52. Another important dimension to consider when selecting products is the life cycle of the category. Each category has its own introduction period, growth period, maturity period and decline period. The value of the category life cycle lies in helping us go beyond the specific operations of brands and products, and helping brands find trends from the perspective of category development.

53. If the product selection is in the brand introduction stage, it will have the following characteristics:

1) At this stage, the number of loyal users is limited, and only a few of them continue to pay for the product. The product has not yet entered the mainstream group's field of vision, and demand has not yet been stimulated;

2) Brand concentration is very low and sales of a single brand are limited;

3) The development of new users is very slow, and mainstream users are only at the stage of being curious and occasionally trying. The user base is at a relatively low level, and the sales scale of the category market is relatively low.

54. From the perspective of product selection, you must be very careful with products in the introduction stage. It is not easy to persuade the consumer group and the conversion rate will be very poor. Even if such products are sold through short videos or live broadcasts with the credit endorsement of KOLs, the conversion rate will not be very good.

55. Whether a product category in the market introduction stage can move from niche consumption to the mass market depends on whether consumer demand in the mainstream market can be stimulated. Before that, the market needs to be educated. There are two paths:

1) Brands increase their market investment to stimulate consumer demand among mass users. Luckin Coffee raised 1 billion yuan in financing and started educating the market, but no one can say whether it can hold up.

2) Changes in the external environment have forced users to change their consumption habits. For example, due to the epidemic in the past two years, the sales of snail noodles, self-heating pots, and self-heating hot pots have skyrocketed, but it is still a question what will happen after the epidemic ends.

56. Hair dye, fragrance, and oral beauty products have entered the middle and late stages of the introduction period and may enter the growth stage at any time. At present, its performance in the market is still mainly based on niche consumption, and the category gross profit margin is relatively high. If it does not pursue large-scale sales growth, its profitability is still good. But if you want to educate the market, the marketing expenditure will be staggering. This depends on the trader's sense of smell and trading rhythm.

57. When selecting products, it is recommended to introduce period products as supplements, plant seeds and wait for an explosion. If you are starting a brand business, it is recommended that you carefully observe the changing data of the consumer population and try to enter the market close to the end of the introduction period.

58. If the product selection is in the growth stage, it will have the following characteristics:

1) Mass consumer demand is activated, a large number of new users are pouring in, and consumers hope for low-priced products to reduce the cost of trial and error.

2) Due to the rapid growth of new users, the market size has expanded rapidly, and a large number of new brands have flooded into the market. Many brands will choose to compete at low prices to grab consumers.

3) The user base is growing rapidly, the proportion of new users is high, the category size is growing rapidly, the brand concentration is low, and the competition for low prices and traffic is very fierce.

59. Beauty tools, essential oil therapy, and nail products are in the early to middle stages of their growth. Brand market concentration is low and competition is not fierce. If a brand is frequently marketed and has a high cost-effectiveness, such products are the best choices for short video and live streaming sales.

60. Isolation, four major makeup items (lipstick/eyebrow pencil/air cushion/makeup remover), small makeup items (makeup products other than the four major items) and body care are in the middle of the category growth period. Consumers' demand for such products has become complex, and the demand has shifted from basic cost-effectiveness to branding, efficacy, and segmentation. Consumers are willing to pay a higher premium, but when selecting products, they must carefully distinguish the main needs of the consumer group, whether it is the cost-effectiveness demand of new users or the brand demand of repeat users.

61. Essence, sunscreen and eye cream are in the middle and late stages of their growth. The growth rate of new users has slowed down, and the main consumers have begun to turn to repeat customers. Demand has also shifted from basic cost-effectiveness to branding, efficacy and segmentation. Consumers are willing to pay a higher premium for brands and efficacy. If you sell goods through short videos and live streaming, give priority to branded products when selecting products. If the brand power is not strong enough, you can choose products with outstanding efficacy or targeting specific groups of people.

62. If the product is in the mature stage, it will have the following characteristics:

1) The proportion of new users is low, and repeat users have become the main consumers of the category. Consumers have increasingly strong demands for brands, efficacy, and other segments.

2) Brands’ supply of core needs far exceeds consumer demand, so leading brands have more advantages;

3) Consumers’ mainstream demands are well met, but it will take time to fill the niche demands. The market structure and brand share gradually stabilized, and brands began to enter the stage of stock competition;

63. The four categories of products, namely, basic skin care and facial masks, toothpaste and toothbrushes, shampoo and bath products, and facial cleansers, are in the mature stage of the category. When encountering such product selection, we should focus on products that consumers have demand for, and try to choose brands that have good user experience and a certain degree of popularity. Do not choose user needs that are too segmented, which will greatly reduce the probability of sales.

64. When selecting products, try to avoid products that are in the decline stage. The recession usually occurs because the product category is replaced by new products, consumer demand shifts, and there is no chance of recovery.

65. Consider product selection from the perspective of price. If the brand’s consumer value perception is relatively clear and has been recognized by consumers, such as products like Apple mobile phones, a promotion can trigger users’ crazy buying sprees. On the contrary, for a new brand, consumers have a relatively weak perception of the brand’s value, and a significant discount is needed to stimulate users’ enthusiasm for consumption. Therefore, it is reasonable to have high discount requirements for new brands when selecting products, otherwise it is difficult to guarantee the sales results of short videos and live broadcasts.

66. Price is a very important factor affecting consumer behavior:

1) Light decision-making range: The product price is far below the upper limit of consumers' ability to pay. Consumers in this price range will not think too much when shopping. For example, when buying a bottle of water, a bag of instant noodles, or a bag of walnuts for 1 yuan, consumers will make decisions very quickly.

2) Re-decision interval: Product prices are in the upper-middle range of consumers’ ability to pay, such as buying a mobile phone or a refrigerator, and users make decisions relatively slowly.

Therefore, the price of products sold in short videos or live broadcasts should generally not exceed 150 yuan. The conversion efficiency of products in this price range is relatively high. If the price exceeds this range, the conversion rate will be greatly reduced.

67. When selecting products for live streaming, you should keep the thickness of the products in the core price range, and then extend the price upward or downward. There are two benefits of doing this:

1) In the core price range, it can ensure that users have sufficient product choices, increase the probability of transaction, and quickly switch to another product if one product does not work;

2) In non-core price ranges, they probe users’ spending ceilings and establish a low-price image;

68. When selecting products for live streaming, if the main focus is on low prices, it must be that the consumer himself really wants to complete this task, but it is difficult to accomplish due to price barriers. However, by telling consumers through short videos or live broadcasts that the product you choose can not only help you solve the problem but also requires a low cost, you can increase the probability of consumers purchasing.

69. When selecting products, we can also consider what kind of bad experiences the target consumers have endured in the past when doing something? Do they intend to change this pain point? Can our product selection help them change this bad experience? How to present this change in live broadcast or short video content?

70. The point that confuses many people about product selection: it has certain rules, but there are no fixed regulations. It is more of a flexible operation within a range.

Practical experience in product selection

71. There are actually several scenarios for product selection

1) For brands, the purpose of product selection is first to design and develop products. You should take a good look at the previous 70 items; the second is to select products for the live broadcast room. This kind of product selection is often limited to the brand’s existing products. You need to use third-party tools such as Chanmama to verify and compare the sales volume, conversion rate, etc. of similar products before making a product portfolio.

2) For the supply chain, the purpose of product selection is to find the products with the highest sales probability under the existing resources, and do live broadcasts by themselves or form a selected alliance.

3) For influencers, the purpose of product selection is not only to ensure live broadcast sales, but also to avoid ruining their own tone by selling all kinds of products.

72. No matter who you are, to do a good job in product selection, you must have reliable third-party data tools to assist us in research, such as Chan Mama. Once you use it, you will know how useful tools like Chan Mama are to assist in product selection. If you really have no other channels to buy it from, you can get a discount by buying from me.

73. How to use Chanmama to select products for expert/supply chain store broadcasts?

1) Data Collection

Cicada Mama-Products-Product Selection Library-Classification

Choose the category you are working on and sort it by the last 7 days and the last 30 days respectively. If you are doing live broadcast, sort it by live broadcast sales. If you are making short videos, sort it by short video sales.

You can also filter products by Douyin sales list (weekly or monthly list)/Douyin hot list/real-time sales list/all-day sales list, etc.

2) Data analysis

Focus on total sales, conversion rate, and number of associated influencers

3) Sorting and classification

Make a preliminary selection based on the following five basic dimensions:

a) Category: traffic generation, flash sales, regular, tonality, or supplementary products. A live broadcast must have each functional category.

b) Brand: Brand endorsement helps conversion

c) Appearance: The product has a sensory impact, appearance, texture, usage, and effect.

d) Quality: actual effect of the product, after-sales

e) Number of products: Test more samples to increase product update rate, maintain freshness, and increase fan stickiness

74. During the product selection process, it is necessary to collect surrounding information of the selected products and do secondary verification, starting from the following aspects:

1) Product-related peripheral data: whether it has been on the Douyin hot product list, whether a KOL has appeared in a highly praised video, monthly sales on Tmall and JD.com, and store DSR rating (whether Tmall is above 4.8 points; whether JD.com is above 9 points), etc.;

2) Product quality and reputation: If it is a beauty product, you can check the ratings of the product on Meilixiuxing.com; and the word-of-mouth feedback of consumers on platforms such as Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and Bilibili.

3) Activity intensity: strive for the greatest discount without breaking the brand price;

4) Commission ratio: as high as possible;

5) Product trial report;

6) Product logistics;

7) Whether it is in season;

75. After confirming the product selection, collect relevant information based on the product selection and provide it to the anchor to familiarize himself with the product selection. Specific information includes:

1) 3-4 core selling points of the product;

2) Shipping area: which areas are not shipped;

3) Delivery time: how long does it take to ship after placing an order;

4) Quantity of products (how many are in the package);

5) Basic information of the merchant, such as shelf life, production date, key production processes, product promotion information, discount information, gift information, etc.;

76. When selecting products for influencers or supply chains, you can buy hot products from your peers at a lower price as a bonus for your own live broadcast room, which will help increase trust with fans.

77. When selecting products from experts or supply chains, another lazy way is to pay attention to the product selection of top anchors or celebrities. You choose what they choose, provided that you can get the source of the corresponding product.

78. DOU+ product testing is a good method for product selection:

1) Select 3-5 products, choose the points you want to convey to consumers for each product, and shoot a short video;

2) 300-500+ views are placed on each video for content testing, with the target audience or similar influencers with 200,000-1 million followers being the target audience;

3) Count the number of views, likes, and comments, especially the comments

79. Qianchuan product testing is also a commonly used product selection method. Use Qianchuan to increase traffic, and use the selected hot products and welfare products in a cycle until the most popular product is tested;

80. Single product model test, extend the explanation time, 45 minutes to 1 hour, order plan accounts for 2/3, click plan accounts for 1/3, budget 2000-3000, and then look at the data;

Final Thoughts

Product selection is a very complicated matter, and it is also the most important thing in the process of Douyin e-commerce. If anyone can master scientific and meticulous methods in this link of product selection, then we will definitely have a great advantage in the competition, and it will help us avoid many detours.

Product selection is a matter that has no fixed rules. Although Lao Zhao has written a 10,000-word guide, everyone must not stick to these theories and methods. It is better to have no book than to believe in it blindly! You must make judgments based on the actual situation of your project. Many brands cannot succeed in Douyin e-commerce, and a big problem is that the products are not good. If you cannot seize the category dividend + traffic dividend, you must first choose the right category and then try to catch up with the traffic dividend.

Author: Marketing Lao Zhao

Source: Marketing Lao Zhao