Analysis of the selection ideas for hot-selling products in the e-commerce industry

"On e-commerce platforms, choosing the right product is 80% of success." I believe that many e-commerce people have their own understanding and feelings about this sentence to a greater or lesser extent. In the daily execution process, it is difficult to accurately quantify the effects of work in stages such as product selection and operation, and ultimately the energy and advertising investment fail to achieve the predicted ideal revenue indicators.

However, this sentence also indeed illustrates the importance of the e-commerce industry during product selection. The author believes that only if you have your own unique understanding of product selection and market forecasting capabilities, then you can have at least a 50% chance of selling out your product. If you make the wrong choice and violate the product selection logic, then you will definitely face a 100% failure. Next, the author will gradually analyze from three dimensions: <Analysis of common pitfalls in product selection>, <Reference ideas for product selection>, and <Control of product selection rhythm>. I hope everyone can learn something!

1. Analysis of common pitfalls in product selection

Before advertisers prepare to launch their campaigns, blindly following the trend in product selection is the most deadly!

The following are the three major pitfall scenarios summarized by the author, which merchants should try to avoid in their choices

Scenario 1: Follow the trend and select products

Advertiser: My friend has been selling mosquito repellent lamps on Tencent for four months. They must be very profitable. I will start looking for a source of goods right away.

Result: The mosquito killer lamp entered the market at the end of the volume washing period, it was difficult to grab the volume, and the conversion cost was very high.

The correct approach: Consider the product’s urgency and the length of its sales life cycle, and choose relatively suitable products.

Scenario 2: Subjective product selection

Advertiser: We have an exclusive patented design for our pet feeding machine. I think it’s a very good creative product. I haven’t seen anyone else trying it yet, so if I take the lead, it will definitely sell well!

Results: It was found that the potential customer base of this product was relatively narrow, the user base positioning was quite different from the direct e-commerce population, the product was not well exposed, and the conversion rate was low;

Correct approach: You should conduct a detailed market research analysis, explore the selling points of the product, and ensure that it stands out from the competition before deciding whether to put the product on the shelves for sale.

Scenario 3: Homogeneous product selection

Advertiser: Selling mature and low-priced products on e-commerce platforms, such as garbage bags, and want to increase the price of the products

Results: Products are highly homogeneous, highly substitutable, and uncompetitive in price. Users are more inclined to buy from e-commerce platforms or nearby offline supermarkets.

Correct approach: If you choose to sell low-priced products, you should consider whether the profit margin has a greater downward advantage than that of your peers or focus on high-quality products.

2. Product selection reference ideas

1. Grasp the marketing nodes

Taking Japanese home appliances as an example, merchants can make product selection references and prepare supply in advance based on the marketing nodes throughout the year.

January to February: People get rid of the old and welcome the new, visit relatives and friends, and the demand for household cleaning products explodes. The demand for practical kitchen utensils and small appliances as gifts increases.

During the Spring Festival: Traffic competition is at its lowest point throughout the year, and traffic is cheap and easy to grab. It is recommended that merchants prepare sufficient supply in advance and increase their investment to grab traffic during the Spring Festival.

March to May: Peak season for kitchen appliances sales

April to May: Spring and summer seasons, refrigeration, insect repellent, and storage demand increase; cooling home textiles, mosquito repellent small appliances, refrigeration small appliances, storage products gradually increase in volume

June to July: Summer products enter the peak sales season

August: Summer products begin to enter clearance period

September to October: As the seasons change from autumn to winter, the demand for storage increases; storage products are hot sellers

October to November: As the weather gets colder, the demand for warmth increases greatly; warm home textiles, heating and insulation small appliances and daily necessities are hot-selling

December: As the New Year approaches, the demand for household cleaning products gradually increases

2. Product selection reference dimensions

Key points of the idea of ​​hot-selling products

Product seasonality: Consider whether the product is seasonal, such as: summer: mosquito repellent lamp, winter: heater

Product cyclicality: For example, protective glasses may not last long, and other backup products may be needed in time.

Product’s outstanding selling points: Can the product solve certain pain points of users? For example: meat grinder, one machine with multiple uses, mincing meat in 8 seconds

Broad audience: The audience should not be too narrow, such as telescopes, and the product cycle is relatively short.

Price competitiveness: Is the purchase price favorable and close to the user's psychological expectations?

Hot product attributes: Is it a verified hot product? Such as the platform's historical hits, competitor hits, and Tencent's investment in hits

3. Recommended platform paths for product selection

B2C e-commerce platforms: Pinduoduo, Taobao Tmall, Vipshop, JD.com, etc.

B2B e-commerce platforms: Alibaba, 1688, Made-in-China.com, DHgate.com, TospinoB2B, Global Sources, TradeKey, etc.

Third-party information flow platforms: Youmi Cloud, EDX, etc.

Other mainstream advertising platforms: Kuaishou Jinniu, Duxiaodian, ByteDance (TikTok, Toutiao...)

Tencent platform: Top product market of the week, potential product dashboard of the week for large e-commerce, etc.

4. Product selection reference decision scoring

Final scoring reference

90 points to 100 points: The best quality product is determined, and the final supply source and all resource positions are opened for testing.

80-90 points: High-quality product judgment, depending on the need to reserve supply and select mainstream resource positions for test placement

70-80 points: Potential products are identified, a small amount of supply is reserved, and a small amount of test advertising is selected in the more mainstream resource positions

Below 70 points: Products can be kept for reference and need to further highlight their advantages for reference in the next round of product selection.

3. Control the rhythm of product selection

1. The life cycle of hot products

If the product you choose works well now, does that mean you don’t have to worry about it anymore in the future?

No! Hot products have a life cycle. We must control the rhythm in advance and prepare the next product for testing!

Depending on whether the product has obvious off-season and peak season, we can divide the hot products into two types:

1. There are off-season and peak-season (such as seasonal products and demand products): corresponding strategy: it is necessary to predict in advance and prepare for seasonal products;

2. No off-season or peak season (such as daily necessities, digital home appliances, etc.): corresponding strategy: need to regularly observe the advertising situation and select new products in time;

Author: Silk Road Praise

Source: Silk Road Academy