Day 3: Choosing the Category of products to sell.

In our previous post HERE , we discussed and pinned down a strategy for the eCommerce Business we are creating. From the previous post its very clear that as per the strategy we are going to follow, we would be selling only a certain category of products to start of with in our marketplace. So, in this post we would be deciding that.

Since we are starting an eCommerce platform with a shoe string budget, and a team of just 2 members… its very important for me to choose the product category wisely ( as the entire success rate of this eCommerce business depends on this factor ). Here are a couple of important points we are considering:

• The Category should be an already hot selling eCommerce category ( one way to find that is by taking a look at the Best Sellers section in Amazon. It displays the current best sellers section wise. Check HERE )
• The products in the category should not be a short term fad ( Eg: Board games, a recently launched book etc. )
• The price of the products in the category should not be too high ( Eg: TV, Washing machine etc. ). Products within the price range of $5 — $20 is a very safe bet.There will be a wide range of audience buying such products every day.
• There should be many products in the chosen category. Because we will be putting in maximum effort to sell the first set of products. Once we do that successfully, we would have a database of people who we have sold to and we can easily keep up-selling & cross-selling to them. Its much easier to sell related category products ( Eg: You have a customer who has bought a laptop from you. You can easily sell related accessories to him like: Mouse, Bag, Decals, Stand etc. )
• The product should not be bulky either. As you would be getting orders from across the world. If the product is heavy, it would add up to the Logistics cost & indirectly increase the product cost. If your product cost is high, it would become difficult to compete with other players.
• Also the product should be brand-able in future. If we are able to sell these products successfully, it would be good to make a brand out of it and start our own manufacturing.
• As much as possible the chosen category should not have big branded players competing in it.
• The category should have different qualities of the same product, so it can be sold at a different price point for different sector of people.
• As much as possible the category should have products that does not have an expiry date. Or else the burden of selling the products before expiry will become intense.

phew! that is quite a lot of permutation and combinations to choose a category from :)

Well, taking into account all the above pointers, the product I chose to sell is…. Mobile Phone Cases & Covers :)

But Why?

• Everyday a new mobile phone is getting launched in Android and every year Apple releases a new model of its iPhone.
• As soon as a new model is released, it sells like hot cakes ( Believe-it-or-not, a couple of days back Mi Max opened Sales in Amazon at 10:15 AM …. & all the phones got sold out at 10:17 !!! Yes in 2 minutes ). I've seen this happen earlier for various models. Which means that everyday Millions of Mobile phones are getting sold. Apple is launching its iPhone 7 this September & for sure the smart folks at Apple Inc. will sell at-least 10 Million of it in a couple of weeks.
• 90% of people who own a smart phone would need a Case ( I personally use a case even-tough I don’t like putting one, as my previous phone just fell and broke ). So I have a BIG market to address. Yes, I understand that there are many selling cases already… but that is too small a number compared to the market size.
• Mobile phones are here to stay & its not a Fad. A case has become a necessity. There are hundreds of models of phones from different manufacturer's at different price slabs. I see So much of an opportunity!
• People across the globe require mobile phone cases and shipping a case to any part of the world is very easy & cost effective also.
• There are not much brands competing in this space ( except a few known names like Spigen, Otto etc. which is nothing near significant ). So I have the opportunity to create my own brand name in this niche as well.
• And Yes, its not a perishable product & does not have an expiry date to it.
• Mobile Phone cases fall under the category of “Mobile Accessories” and if I can sell 10,000 pieces. I will have a database of 10,000 people owning smart phones. These buyers will have more requirements like: Chargers, Decals, Bluetooth speakers, Mobile phone screen guard’s, VR Goggles, Phone stands, Mobile phone insurance etc. I can upsell these items in future!
• And most important of all. With such a convenient product I can for sure give the best quality than any of my competitors! I can become innovative and sell cases with beautiful artwork printed on it…. possibilities seem limitless :)

Image credit: Cover it up

Product: Mobile Phone Covers & Cases

Category: Mobile Phone accessories.

So Yes, I have finally decided what product to sell :)

…Now next comes the most important part:

• Fixing a selling strategy & the USP ( either its gonna be based on Price, Quality or Innovation ) for which people should buy Mobile cases from me.
• Deciding on how to get the first 10K pieces ready for sales ( Manufacture or buy it from China etc. )
• Deciding on the online selling strategy.

Will be covering the above items in the next Topic :) STAY TUNED.

Check out the next Topic: Fixing the Sales Strategy