Are you looking at expanding your eCommerce store by researching and developing new products? If yes, then you have come to the right place. Hi, my name is Francisco, and I am the owner of Planet Marketing, a Digital Marketing Agency. My company specializes in Google Ads, Facebook Ads and Remarketing. Over the years, I have helped quite a number of eCommerce stores achieve real growth in a competitive environment. Whether you wish to extend your reach locally, or globally, I am here to help you. This article is divided into the following sections;
- Researching new products for your eCommerce Store.
- Other tips for expanding your eCommerce Store.
Researching New Products for your eCommerce Store
The world in which we live today is ultra competitive. You need to be always on your toes if you want to make it! Greater online connectivity brings both challenges and opportunities. One major challenge is that there are so many others vying for a slice of the same cake. The good news is that you can expand your eCommerce store by researching and developing new products. The following are ideas to help you come up with new products for your eCommerce store;
Look up best selling items on Amazon
Get ideas for new products from best selling products on Amazon
Go to Amazon to check out the top selling products there. These are the products that are in demand. So, you can come up with new products of your own based on these products. And you can use these products to expand your eCommerce store.
Go through reviews on Amazon
Read product reviews on Amazon to find out what people are looking for
Still on Amazon, you can get a lot of new product ideas from the reviews sections. Most people leave suggestions there relating to products that they have bought. For example, people may say a particular purse is too big or too small or too heavy. You can then use these comments to come up with a product that’s the right size.
In the above screenshot from Amazon, you can see that people are on the hunt for fast chargers for their Apple devices. If you manufacturer these products, you can then come up with appropriate products to meet this demand.
Get ideas from your Facebook Page
You can also use your Facebook Page to find out what people are on the hunt for. The assumption is that you have a Facebook Business Page. That’s a great platform for interacting with people. And it’s absolutely free. Go through the comments that are left on your page, and you will be able to understand what people are looking for. You can then develop new products.
Get ideas from online reviews
Check out the reviews that are left by people on your site, on Yelp and on other platforms. First check out feedback relating to your products and your business. Again, the idea is to find out what people are looking for. Once you have understood this, you should be able to come up with new products for your eCommerce store.
Go through Reddit
Reddit is another platform on which you can carry out research about new products. It has billions of monthly users. These people leave comments about a wide range of things. By simply surfing through subreddits that relate to your business, you will be able to find ideas for new products for expanding your eCommerce store.
Get ideas from Quora
Another place where you can find great ideas for new products to expand your eCommerce store is Quora. Again, this is a place where people congregate to ask questions about everyday issues. In fact, you can ask a question on Quora about the things that interest you.
Or you can follow relevant topics. After asking, you will get a lot of answers from both experts and novices. You can then use these answers to come up with ideas for new products for expanding your eCommerce store.
Use Google Trends for Market Research
Use Google Trends to carry out Market Research
You can also use Google Trends to find out how the market has been performing in terms of your target products. As an example, if you are interested in Yoga Mats, you can carry out a search for that term on Google Trends.
The results show you how use of that keyword has expanded over time. You can filter results by date or by country. That way, you will be able to see the trends in your particular locality. The above screenshot shows what I am talking about. You can see that interest in Yoga Mats has dropped from a peak around April 202. However, it appears as if interest is on an upward trajectory once again.
Carry out Keyword Research
Researching new products to expand your eCommerce store can also be done through keyword research. Keywords are the words and terms that people type into search engines when looking for something online.
There are many keyword research tools out there. An example is Google’s Keyword Planner, which is part of Google Ads. So, if you use Google Ads, you already have this tool in your Dashboard.
You can also carry out simple keyword research through the suggestions facility in Google. Start typing something in there, and you will see what others have previously searched for. Use this information to develop new products and services that meet people’s needs.
Other Tips for Expanding your eCommerce Store
That’s how to carry out research for new products for your eCommerce store. It’s important to find out what people are looking for. You can then answer their demands by developing new products. However, new products are not the only tool that you have as far as expanding your eCommerce store is concerned. The following are other ideas to help you grow;
1. Advertise on Facebook
I noted in the introduction to this article that I specialize in Facebook Ads. It should, therefore, not be surprising that I put emphasis on Facebook Marketing in this section. Please note that though I focus on Facebook, this tip for expanding your eCommerce store covers all Social Media platforms. Some businesses will do well on Facebook, while others will do well on Instagram or Twitter. So, the choice depends on the nature of your business.
Why Facebook Advertising Works for eCommerce Stores
Facebook Advertising has really taken off over the past few years. And there are several good reasons for that;
It is cheaper
For one thing, advertising on Facebook tends to be cheaper than on Google and on other platforms. So, Facebook works very well for small to medium sized businesses that do not have huge advertising budgets.
In fact, you can start your marketing efforts on Facebook by creating a Facebook Page for your eCommerce business.That’s free of charge, so there is no excuse for not having one.
A Page acts as a platform on which to interact with current and prospective customers. It’s also a platform on which you can promote new products for your eCommerce Store.
Facebook is huge
Find more statistics at Statista
Each day, over 1.82 billion people use Facebook. So, the platform is a huge cauldron from which businesses can find their target audiences. Wherever you are and whatever you do, there can be no doubting that you will be able to find the kind of clientele that is needed for expanding your eCommerce Store on Facebook.
Another major draw for Facebook Ads is that they can be highly targeted. Truth of the matter is, Facebook knows a lot about its users. It knows who they are, what they do, where they work, how they spend their free time and what they like.
You can use this knowledge for expanding your eCommerce store by reaching out to people who are most likely to react positively to your ads. Thus your ads will have a higher CTR. And you will also have lower advertising costs since you will be achieving better results for less money. This frees up resources to help expand other areas of your business.
Get in touch for the best Facebook Ads to help Expand your eCommerce Store
Facebook Ads can be created by anyone. However, it takes some doing. Most people do not have the time to go through the intricacies. That’s where I come in. I am a specialist in Facebook Advertising. I understand fully well how you can use the platform to expand your eCommerce Store.
So, don’t hesitate to reach out to me for help. If you are worried about setting up, you can sign up for my Facebook Ads Setup Plan. Under this plan, I do all the initial donkey well. And I leave you with 2 live ads and a landing page. Afterwards, you can take over the handling of your ads.
Alternatively, you can sign up for my DIY Facebook Ads Marketing Course. That way, you can learn how to create your own Facebook Ads.
2. Do Remarketing
With remarketing, you can boost your conversion rate by as much as 400%. That’s a lot! So, this is a good way of expanding your eCommerce Store. But what is remarketing and how does it work? All eCommerce businesses are engaged in trying to get people their websites. That’s a daily chore. Perhaps you have done SEO. Or maybe you use Google Ads.
The challenge is that only about 2% of the traffic that you get on your eCommerce Store converts. The rest of the people leave without buying anything.
In fact, quite a number first add items to their carts, before leaving unceremoniously. That can be frustrating. After spending so much time and effort on advertising and SEO, it’s disheartening that you only get to convert 2% of the people.
Enter Remarketing
There is a bit of good news, however. You can expand your eCommerce store by giving yourself a second bite at the cherry. Instead of letting people go after they have visited your site, you can show them your ads as they move across the internet. That’s remarketing.
Most people abandon their carts simply because they are not really convinced that what you have is what they are looking for. With remarketing, you get a second chance to convince them.
So, you can do remarketing on Facebook via Pixel, or on Google. Once Pixel is installed on your site, Facebook begins to track what people are doing there. And the next time that they visit Facebook, they are shown your ads.
3. Expand to other locations
Ecommerce businesses have one major advantage; they are not that encumbered by Geography. Most businesses now ship their products and services worldwide. Of course, there are some businesses, such as restaurants, that are, by their very definition, rather localized.
However, for the majority, there is a chance for expansion through the spreading of their areas of operation. As an example, you may have been a cosmetic products business shipping only in Californian. One logical way of expanding would be to start shipping to every part of the United States.
And, while you are at it, why not also ship to the rest of the world? Things are way easier in this regard for eCommerce stores than they are for traditional brick and mortar businesses. For an eCommerce Store, expanding is a simple matter of finding the best ways of shipping to other parts of the country or the globe. The costs of expanding are, in this regard, not overwhelming.
4. Sell on other platforms
Most eCommerce businesses only sell on their own store. However, that’s not the best approach. One way of expanding your business is by taking your store to other platforms. There are many such platforms out here. You could, as an example, start selling on Amazon.
Amazon is the world’s biggest online retailer. By listing your products there, you ensure that you are exposed to the millions of people who buy through the platform. Another option is eBay. Again, this is a huge platform on which you can expand your business.
You also have the option to sell on other platforms, such as on AliExpress. The idea is that the more platforms on which you are selling, the more exposed your business will be to potential customers. It’s a good way of expanding your business beyond the limits of your own eCommerce website.
That, as noted earlier, is usually inadequate, especially at the onset. You need time for your platform to begin to rank well enough to get you meaningful organic traffic and sales.
5. Do Affiliate Marketing
Use affiliate marketing to expand your online store
Affiliate marketing is another good option if you are looking to expand your eCommerce store. The idea is to hire hundreds, if not thousands of people around the world to market your products and services on your behalf. I have written quite a lot of articles on Affiliate marketing for this site. Feel free to check them out.
All I can say here is that Affiliate Marketing is great because you don’t have to pay anyone anything till the desired outcomes have been achieved. As an example, if you want to have people buy a product from you, you will only pay a commission to the affiliate when a sale has been made. Meanwhile, you will have thousands of people trumpeting your business around the world.
6. Spy on the Competition
As a business, you should make it a habit to constantly research what your competitors are doing. If they have come up with new products, you can try to outdo them by coming up with similar but better offerings! But how do you keep track of what the competition is doing?
Spy on your competitors
Well, there are many tools out there that you can use in this regard. You can, as an example, use a tool like SEMrush to carry out competitor analysis. That way, you will be able to compare your performance in relation to that of the competition for your chosen keywords.
Better still, you can simply check out your competitors’ eCommerce stores every now and then. That’s another way of finding out what they are doing. From the information that you gather, you will be able to determine the best trajectory to take your own eCommerce store as far as expanding is concerned.
7. Work with influencers in your niche
This is a great idea as far as expanding your eCommerce store is concerned. Let’s assume that you manufacturer fitness equipment. And let’s say that you have come up with a new product. How do you get it out before a likely audience? Well, you can sweat through SEO and the other tips given here.
However, the best approach is probably to use people who have huge followings and who are influential in your field to market your new product. These are referred to as influencers.
There are many fitness gurus on Social Media. Some of them have millions of loyal followers on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Imagine then having one of these people endorse your new product. That’s a sure way of getting exposure! Of course, real influencers cost money, but it’s usually money well spend at the end of the day.
Summary
Expanding your eCommerce store is imperative. However, it’s not easy. Every business that’s out there is on a never ending quest to achieve growth. There are many steps that you can take to achieve this aim. One way of doing it is by researching new products. In this article, I showed you some of the ways and tools that you can use to research for new products.
You can use Social Media, as an example. And you can carry out keyword research to determine what people are saying online. Another ways of expanding your eCommerce store is by doing Facebook Ads. If you need help getting started, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. I have helped countless businesses similar to yours attain their goals through marketing on the world’s biggest social networking platform.
