Finding the Market Gap:
How to Choose Products That Sell
The digital age has brought billions of consumers all over the world online, offering them a modern and convenient way to shop on websites and platforms like Cafe24, Lazada, Facebook, and Instagram. And with a wide array of shipping services available, online retailers can now provide consumers with what they need, when and where they need it. No longer are we limited by our location and the stores in our towns or neighborhoods, whether bustling or quaint. Just by typing the name of a product or service, you can find hundreds of different options offered by various online sellers and retailers.
And if you’re an aspiring online entrepreneur, this is a great time to start your business. With markets brimming full of opportunities, you can take the plunge and be your own boss. But before you do, there’s one important question you should first ask yourself: What products should I sell?
“What products should I sell?”
When thinking about the products one should sell, many would go immediately to the things they love, whether it be personal accessories, cosmetics, or even quirky socks. After all, passion is at the heart of so many successful businesses. And while passion is indeed important, it is only a part of the many things you should consider when finding a winning product for your business.
In a poll conducted by CB Insights, out of 111 startups, 35% ended up failing primarily due to a lack of market for the products and services they offered. In other words, no one was buying from them.
“… out of 111 startups, 35% ended up failing primarily due to a lack of market for the products and services they offered.”
So while you may love a certain product, it may not be enough — your target market needs to love it too. Though personal passions may not always be the right path for your online business, there is one thing you can do: find the market gap.
What is a market gap?
A market gap is the difference between consumer demand and the supply available in the market. In simpler terms, it is a product, service, or technology that people want or need, but are not able to access. It is a problem that has not been addressed and needs to be solved.
Consumers create demand. Businesses aim to provide the supply. By finding out what your target market wants, you gain the advantage of desire. And by identifying what they want that they cannot get elsewhere, you gain the advantage of highly responsive consumers and a potential for great sales.
When you have identified a market gap that you can fill, you’ll be able to find products that sell. If done correctly, customers will come to you instead of you going to them. And as most successful entrepreneurs already know, it’s all about working smart, not hard.
Finding the market gap
Market gaps can be solved in several ways:
1. By providing a new product
This means providing an entirely unique solution to a problem — even one that consumers do not know they have! Market gaps that require this solution have led to some of the world’s most innovative products and services. When people needed a faster way to move (other than riding horses), cars were invented and introduced to the market. When smartphones first arrived, they provided a desire for multimedia communication that people did not even know they had until they were shown the product. As you would expect, this method requires true ingenuity and insight.
2. By improving on a product
This refers to adding new features to an existing product to better address the needs of consumers. An example of this is the e-cigarette. The first few iterations of the e-cigarette have been around since the early 1920s. However, it was not until the 1990s that the product really took off when Hon Lik (considered the father of the modern e-cigarette) invented a version that was able to provide users with doses of atomized nicotine. It was then marketed as an alternative to traditional cigarette smoking, and with the introduction of new flavors, the e-cigarette became a huge hit, especially for those trying to quit normal cigarettes.
3. By introducing a readily available product to a new market
This method requires no innovation, but rather an eye for new business opportunities. One of the best examples of this in recent years was the mass reintroduction of protective medical equipment to the general public when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Surgical masks, as well as other protective medical equipment like surgical gloves and face shields, have long been available on the market, especially within the medical community. But when the pandemic began hitting every part of the world, regular citizens soon became part of that once small market. Due to the market gap opened up by the pandemic, various medical equipment have been reintroduced to the wider population by various businesses.
Understanding the different ways in which to solve the needs of consumers will guide you in choosing the right product for your online store, especially those that have the potential to become big hits in certain markets.
Questions to ask to help you find your market gap
1. What are the current events that are affecting people’s shopping choices?
Current events shape people’s shopping behavior because it determines their present needs and priorities. Much like how people will look for a fire extinguisher in an event of a fire, news of deteriorating air quality will bring about a rise in the demand for air purifiers. While air purifiers have always had their own share of the market, including people with allergies and other health conditions, current events will tell you when it’s best to sell them to make the highest possible profit. Staying up to date with the latest news will ensure that you are ahead of the competition.
“Staying up to date with the latest news will ensure that you are ahead of the competition.”
2. What are the current trends?
While there is always an emphasis on providing what consumers need, there is also an equal push to give what consumers want. After all, needs and wants are not always the same, and online entrepreneurs should aim to provide for both. People are social creatures by nature and will follow the latest trends and buy into the new products and fashion popularized by artists and influencers — it’s a great way for people to feel relevant and validated after all. Current trends should be seen as an opportunity and guide on how to choose products and sell them.
And as for one of the most important trends for business leaders of the 21st century, it’s going online. Selling goods online through global platforms like Cafe24 is the best way to reach consumers around the world.
3. Who are you selling your products to?
As an online seller and entrepreneur, the world is your market. However, that does not mean you should sell to absolutely everyone. Targeting a specific set of people by looking at their age, gender, location, and preferences may work better for you in the long run. By selling to a niche market, you’re able to tailor your products and services to fit specific needs and wants to the dot. This translates to better sales when compared to generic products or services.
4. What do your customers expect from you?
If you’ve had a business for a while and you simply want to improve your sales, then consider your previous and current customers as your most valuable sources of information. After all, they already have an idea about what your business offers, as well as your strengths and weaknesses from a consumer standpoint. Send them a friendly email or survey asking for feedback on what you can do to improve. Make the deal sweeter by offering a promo or discount if they respond. This is one of the most reliable ways of identifying your customers’ needs, wants, and demands and see how they can be addressed.
Another way is to review your online store’s analytics and identify your best-selling products (and the ones that remain stuck in inventory). From there, you can infer what kind of products your customers will respond to the most.
Doing all this should give some insight into which of your products perform well, what products you should offer, or if it’s time to find a different market for your products, especially if they’re not selling the way you expect them to.
5. What are your own expectations and demands as a consumer?
By looking into your own expectations and demands when dealing with other sellers, you’ll have some insight into the consumer pain points that can be addressed with your own business and products. This is a simple and neat hack that will give you instant results.
6. Do you have all the necessary skills and resources to produce your chosen products without compromising on quality?
If you already have an idea of what you want to sell after all the previous questions, then you’ll also have to determine whether you have the ability to provide the product or service you’ve chosen. Some of the things to consider are your skills and resources — time, manpower, storage, and most importantly, capital. Skills are especially important if you plan to manufacture your own products or decide on providing a service. For example, a graphic artist cannot suddenly decide to offer copywriting services and expect success if they aren’t able to write well. Resources, on the other hand, determine if you can start your business. Arguably, it is the more important consideration between the two because skills can be outsourced, while resources are set limits that a business owner must work around. Each product has varying requirements. If you fall short on even just one, you will not be able to provide a satisfying product or service.
7. Are you personally invested in your products?
Being fully invested, mentally, emotionally, and financially, accounts for the passion needed to make those sales numbers go up. The first believer in your product or service should be yourself. If you are not invested in your products, then it’s easy to lose heart and give up at the first sign of trouble. At the same time, it will be harder to boost team morale (if you have one) and even more difficult to convince your prospective customers to invest their loyalty into your business.
You’ve discovered your best-selling product. So what now?
Your entrepreneurial journey does not end once you have found your market gap and decided on your best-selling products. After all, there is still the very important question of just where you’re going to sell them. When choosing your platform or marketplace, you’ll have to make sure that it allows your products to reach your target consumers. Otherwise, all the effort you put into finding your market gap will all have been for nothing, with you being unable to sell to those that matter. You must sell where the gap is. Your gap could just be in a specific city or region, but most likely, it’ll be scattered all over the globe, with thousands if not millions of potential customers waiting for it to be filled.
Fortunately enough, we have the answer to this dilemma.
Cafe24 is a global ecommerce platform that has been helping over 1.9 million entrepreneurs reach their customers, no matter where they are in the world. It offers international shipping and has partnered up with some of the best couriers like NinjaVan to make sure that your products reach your customers in a timely manner. Cafe24 also allows for omnichannel selling as well as the creation of localized stores, available in 8 different languages, to help you grow overseas. With a highly regarded reputation and trusted by big brands like SM entertainment, Cafe24 will ensure that your products and services sell.
