01Selection strategy of independent stations
The independent station selection is more important than the platform selection, because in the independent station selection, half of the success will be achieved if you choose the right one. The purpose of selecting products is to find the demand, and the market can be found only when the demand is found.
It is a little different from the platform. The platform can directly search the products of competitors for reference, and then refer to the targeted options of the platform rules. The rules of independent stations are few and the information of competitors is difficult to search, so the selection of independent stations is particularly important in the early research and demand discovery.
So how should independent stations choose products? AllValue will share some ideas and methods for selecting independent stations. Before selecting products, we should clarify the following three steps:
According to the different regional markets, the selection direction is also different. The most popular products in Europe and the United States may go unnoticed in the Southeast Asian market. Every country or even region has its own habits and customs, so we should combine our own advantages to choose products. Novice sellers are not recommended to shop, but can combine the advantages of the local shopping platform and supply chain to choose products.
According to the data of many parties and the experience of self promotion, as well as the selection skills and strategies, it can be roughly summarized into three types.
1. Supply Chain Options
This mainly refers to enterprises represented by factories, which basically have no demand for selected products, and the number of SKUs depends on their own conditions. Such businesses not only need to put their products on independent stations, but also need to make a lot of materials to understand the unique advantages of products with customers. The advantage of this selection method is professional, but the disadvantage is that the cost of material production and promotion is often large. Therefore, it is recommended that you promote it by quoting "high zero price".
2. Reference options for vertical fields
In this case, it refers to the positioning of a vertical field and the analysis of goods in this field as far as possible. This kind of product can be used as a leader in the industry. The disadvantage is that you often need to work hard on details, such as product grouping, to make it easier for customers to search for products. The advantage of this type of product selection is that the customer group is relatively clear and the promotion cost is moderate.
3. Popular style options
If short-term profits are not taken into account, we only want to make orders quickly. We generally suggest that merchants can consider promoting only a single product, which requires an absolute price advantage. Such products are generally quick to make orders and have relatively low promotion costs, but the disadvantage is that the profits are very low.
The above are three common selection strategies. Selection is not only about methodology, but also about finding the right goods.
02Selection principle of independent station
After screening the supply chain and commodities according to the above selection strategies, not all commodities are suitable for independent stations for novice merchants. The novice merchants can refer to the following points to further filter the commodities.
Logistics
In terms of logistics, the selected goods should be able to be transported through cost-effective logistics methods, such as international E postal treasure. These goods are generally small, light and not easily broken.
Price
In terms of price, if the selected goods have premium space, such as the products that can be priced to about 3 times the price on AliExpress, if there is not enough premium space, it is likely to lose money and make a profit, because the marketing expenses of independent stations account for a large proportion.
Characteristic aspects
In terms of characteristics, these products should be able to solve some pain points and make people look bright. This is what we often call "AHA moment", which can make consumers have the impulse to consume.
Compliance
In terms of compliance, do not choose promotion channels or illegal goods, such as infringing and counterfeit goods.
Attractiveness
In terms of attractiveness, do not choose the commodities that can be seen everywhere on the street, which is lack of consumption impulse.
In researching products, you can also do some work in the following areas:
1. Research platform data, such as Amazon's Best Seller and New Arrivals;
2. Facebook and Instagram feed information, like/collect ads with more like comments, or visit the landing page to add to the shopping cart, so that Facebook will think you are likely to shop, and the background algorithm will push more shopping ads to you, so that you can learn their advertising materials and copy, page layout and products of independent stations;
3. Research some crowdfunding websites, such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter;
4. You can find inspiration for products in domestic Tmall, Taobao, Tiktok, etc.
After the product is selected, how to judge whether the product is worth going on sale?
You can observe the situation of the goods you choose on the e-commerce platform, such as AliExpress and Amazon. If you observe the number of suppliers of Amazon, the number of evaluations of individual companies, the number of suppliers and sales of AliExpress, here it is not to say that the higher the higher, but to make a reference to see whether the product has been oversold on the platform;
You can also check the popularity of this product and related keywords in Google Trends; You can also find the selling points of the product in the comments of the third-party platform.
03New seller's selection ideas
1. The commodity price is between US $10-50
The price of goods is very important. This is something consumers must consider before placing an order. The $10-50 range can be said to be the best price range, because it is easy for buyers to make impulsive purchases.
2. Goods should be light
When selecting products, you can try to find similar products of the same size on third-party platforms and estimate them according to their shipping prices.
3. Consider the ranking of goods in large categories
Referring to the data of the platform, after entering keywords, the search results on the first page have at least 2-3 listings, which also means that there is a certain demand for this product in the market.
4. The quality of goods is not easy to be damaged or deformed
Many bad comments come from the deformation of commodities caused by breakage and extrusion during transportation.
5. The cost price of goods can be lower than 25% of the selling price
Seeing 75% of the profit space, I think it is too much, but our selling price needs to be combined with freight, advertising expenses, storage fees, VAT and tariffs that may be involved, labor costs, profits, etc., so that the 75% profit space will be more reasonable. (Source: You Like Allvalue)